Christmas 2010 - Grannie and grandpa

Merry Christmas to all -

We have so enjoyed this Christmas season -especially the entertaining we did in our home and spending Christmas Eve with HDH and Christmas Day in Calgary at the Redds.It was fun decorating the house and baking, wrapping presents and hiding the treats from grandpa. We started off with a potluck with our FHE group, then having Jordan/Charla and boys for supper; inviting our neighbor for BRUNCH; having Jaima, Jeff and children for supper; preparing a basket for a single sister in our ward. We enjoyed the Almond Roca, Ferrero Rocher , Lindt chocolates - we shared them with the gang in Calgary as these sweets were too much for us. I am happy everybody still likes my Nuts and bolts. I had to make two batches to accomodate all. I enjoyed making our Christmas letter and we appreciated your letters and pictures.

Grandpa came down with a terrible cold before Christmas and we thought we would not travel to Calgary - but I am glad we did. We were passengers and our driver was Hu. The roads were excellent - and getting away seemed to help us both.

It was interesting watching the interaction of FOUR generations under one roof. Peter, Hugo, Isaac seemed to enjoy one another. And of course the star was baby Owen - everybody had to hold him. He sure is a beautiful baby. We thank you for your gifts - especially the 'baba' doll ornament for the tree. The tree looked especially lovely as we added an extra string of lights. We felt a special spirit in our home as well in the homes we visited. Christmas is really a wonderful time of year - with all the music, decorations, gifts, food and family. Thanks for including us in your festivities.

God bless you all.

Love

G and G

'Board' Game at Redds

presents from the Redds

Table setting for BRUNCH

Hu's 'viillage' display

Table setting-Karyn's floral arrangement

Christmas entertaining - the Fixsens

Greetings from 174 Oeming Road

Well, I never! I was previewing my blog prior to posting & I must have clicked the wrong key because it vanished completely. Agh!

I'll try to remember what I wrote. I excuse myself for not posting for over a month - just was not motivated. So here goes.

We seem to be a bit lazy or need more rest because the day goes by so quickly & it seems to me I haven't really accomplished much. I seem to like my bed in the morning & not too anxious to jump out. By the time I exercise, read, make breakfast, do some housework, go for a walk, shop, tend to the daily affairs - the day is almost over. I'll have to set my priorities & work smarter nor harder.

We so enjoyed attending Lindsay/Spencer nuptials. The Temple sealing was lovely& spiritual. It was so nice to see many members of the family together & enjoying each other. We are very proud of you all. We feel 'we must have done something good' to see such support & camaraderie. Thank you.

Lindsay, you looked beautiful & Spencer, we are happy to welcome you to our family. The reception was wonderfully planned. Coleen/OJ, you are to be complimented for hosting

this 'big fat wedding'. Your children truly supported each other. The program was great, & the Schneider brothers need a special accolade for their number. The dinner was absolutely wonderful. Too bad we missed out seeing the dance - but Grandpa was tired & as he was the driver, we had to leave, much to my chagrin. But I was told it was quite the affair. OJ: two down & one to go!

Diane, hosting the bridal brunch was such a neat idea - it was just lovely.

Love to all

Grannie

An Historic Occasion

Greetings from 174 Oeming Road

Hello to all -

Surprised to know I am still functioning? I have had such a busy summer with family coming from here & there I just was not in the mood to sit down at the computer. Although I must add I enjoyed reading all your posts. What I have done is I have 10 pictures on this post so keep scrolling to see them - it is quite a pictorial review of our guests & our comings & goings. Hope you enjoy them. You can even go further to view the ones I posted in July - then you will agree that it has been an exciting summer for us.

We have resumed our FAMILY POTLUCKS & the Fixsens were our hosts for the month of September. Jaima made delicious enchiladas & all the other food was equally tasty. I think Jordan has volunteered to have us in October. The Sr Schneiders will host us at the wedding reception of Lindsay/Spencer. This is an excellent time to socialize & make contact with each other. Everyone seems to be so busy with their own priorites - we need this time together to reconnect, otherwise we may forget what we look like!

Nothing out of the ordinary has happened here. We have our little family home evening group every other Monday. We are the hosts tomorrow. We discuss the various Conference talks , visit, & ofcourse have a bite to eat. I hope to make a peach cobbler & Grandpa will review the talk by Elder Hallstrom. Then we visit. Grandpa always orders the Conference talks on CD so plays the talk. Karyn had given me tapes of the Church hymns so we sing along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The sound is great!!

We are looking forward to THE WEDDING - I am even making part of my outfit - how do you like that?? Just can't leave the sewing machine alone. I still quilt - but v-e-r-y slowly. Too many other things to do - my pace has slowed down. Ah, such is life.

I so enjoyed attending Relief Society Conference -President Monson, who is the same age as we, looked tired when he entered, but what a talk he gave! Witty, spiritual, great counsel - we laughed at some of his stories and could identify with them. We, as women of the covenant, need to make a few improvements if we want to enter the celestial kingdom.

Love you all,

Your weary Grannie, but still intact.

Greatgrandson #15

Lake Windermere at Invermere

Entertaining Spencer/Lindsay

Karyn/Grandpa

Grandpa at Boom Lake

nasturtiums around the Mountain Ash

another visitor to 174 Oeming Rd

Outing to the Ukrainian Culture Museum

another birthday celebration

summer holidays

In Prince George /Mikyla's farewell

Brunch at Upper Crust

Edmonton Temple

Orchid from Aaron/Patti

Picture Album from 174 Oeming Rd

Family News

Hello-

I waited until Hugo was ordained a Deacon and then passed the Sacrament. Both occasions were special. Last Sunday his dad ordained him -ver y spiritual. Grandpa was able tp participate as well as all the Young Men leaders. and the Bishopric. Today Hugo passed the Sacrament. He did a super job - we are very proud of him. He is a very special person in our lives.

Love to all

Grannie

The Serious Deacon

The New Deacon

Schneide Posterity

Grandma's birthday Party

Ninety year birthday party for Grandma Schneider

What a party we hosted for Mary - OJ did everything - we just offered our home. Great Chinese food, balloons, birthday cake with sparklers & singing candle. OJ sure knows how to celebrate. In attendance were Grandma, Nancy, OJ, Elinor, Becca & David, John. Jordan, Charla, Oliver, Benjamin. L-o-v-e-l-y!

Grannie

Primary helpers

Hello -

I feel very blessed to have my very own Primary to help enhance my Relief Society lesson. Hugo, Ivy, Blake, Oliver sang I'm Trying to be Like Jesus accompanied by Aunt Diane on the keyboard. I teach TFOT. This month was Pres Eyring's Conference talk - Our Perfect Example. I took their picture and taped their song on my tape recorder. It really was a good experience for us all. The sisters enjoyed listening and seeing their picture. Today was alsoHugo's last day in Primary - he will now receive the Aaronic Priesthood and become a Deacon.

Last Sunday we hosted the Family potluck - it was fun to see Hugo playing with our greatgrandchildren. I told him that because he and Uncle John share the same birthday - May 26 - they have similar roles. Uncle John was the go-between our grandchildren and their parents. Hugo is the go-between now with the greatgrandchildren and their parents. Just as Uncle John was a positive influence so will Hugo have to be a positive influence to our great grandchildren who adore him.

That's what family is about.

Hope you enjoy the picture.

Grannie

Primary song

Mother's Day

Happy Mothers' Day

"Motherhood lies at the foundation of happiness in the home, and in the prosperity of the nation. God has laid upon men and women very sacred obligations with respect to motherhood".

-Joseph F Smith

'It has been said that a mother is the first nd most important teacher in a child's life. No one can adequately take her place. She willingly walks into the valley of the shadow of death as she gives life, and then walks alongside her children, sustaining them until they venture on their own. Even then, her heart follows close behind and skips a beat every time she hears their footsteps. Mothers are the heart of the home: they nurture and love; they create homes of harmony and warmth; they cultivate strengths and see potential. Motherhood is not merely a checklist of attributes. It's a description of a person who loves another more than life itself; a person who freely, lovingly gives her all for the happiness of another. No two mothers are just alike. And not a single one is expected to be perfect - or close to it. Mothers with eternal perspective know they do their best simply by doing a little better every day. ' -Lloyd D. Newell

Just thought I'd share this with all you mothers.

Grandpa read this today in our companionship reading. I then took the liberty to ask him if he was pleased to have ME as the mother of his children. He answered with an emphatic 'yes'.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Love

Mom

Back Home at 174 Oeming Road

Hello to all -

We have come home - I flew in on West Jet so that I could attend my sister-in-law's funeral. Hu drove Karyn and me to Willingdon on Wednesday of last week. It was good to be there. The funeral was held at the Borowich Church and the service was spiritual. The priest sang the liturgy in Ukrainian, but the message was in English. Orthodox music is in the minor key and really touches your emotions. It was nice to see the next generation attending. My generation was represented but some family members were unable to come due to various reasons. A delicious dinner was served at the Community Centre - you can't beat Ukrainian cooks! Nolan, Uncle Henry's yougest son gave the eulogy after the dinner.

Hu flew to Vancouver to drive Grandpa home - they returned about 9:00 pm.

John Schneider moved in last week for some time so I thought it would be nice to have his dad over for dinner - which turned out to be a belated birthday dinner. I will send you my recipe for chocolate cake for which I always receive compliments - OJ remarked how much he enjoyed it. It is a never-fail recipe. Hope you will try it.

Cocoa Fudge Cake

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsps baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour oblong pan, 13X9X2 inches, 2 round layer pams, 8 or 91/2 inches,or 12- cup bundt cake pan. Beat all ingredients in large mixer bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, 30 seconds. Beat on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 3 minutes. Pour into pan(s).

Bake until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean, oblong 35 t0 40 minutes, layers 30 t0 35 minutes, bundt 40 to 45 minutes, cool.

I ice with chocolate butter frosting.

Let me know if you tried it.

Love to all

Grannie

Party at 174

From Victoria

from Victoria -

Thought I would send a blog for the month of April. I will be leaving tomorrow so that I can attend Aunt Shirley's funeral on Wednesday. Grandpa will wait until Sunday to go on the ferry to Vancouver where Hu will meet him and drive him home.

We are anxious to return home - we've been away almost 2 months - so we are feeling a bit homesick. We have enjoyed our stay here and have done our share of walking. We haven't had too many sunny days but have made the most of it. We have used the city transit system - driving is getting harder in this city and we are not as sharp as we should be.

Yesterday I coerced Grandpa to accompany me to the theatre to see a local production of Kiss Me Kate - very well done. We feel quite at home at Church and have met many people who ask us to move here. I tell them I miss the Alberta sunshine!

Hope you see the four pictures I have sent - sometimes I can't see them but they pop up when I click Older Posts. Need a little fine tuning in this regard.

The Ramada Inn - where we stay seems to be a very popular place for various teams from out of town who come for competitions. I had to ask some youth in the elevator what the Ropers were - I found out that it is skipping!! Never heard of that before. They were a very enthusiastic group. Rugby, baseball, basketball teams have been here too. All were well-behaved.

Bye for now.

Love to all

Grannie

dining with the Gillilands

Juan de Fuca -

Victoria Marina

victoria

Enroute to the Library

Interviewing Grandpa

Sunday dinner

Mercer Island

Guess I better post before March is over. We have had an exciting month visiting the Schneiders in Seattle. Oliver drove us down from Edmonton and we had an absolutely wonderful trip. We stayed overnight at the Redds in Calgary - we were able to leave early in the morning, arriving in Mercer Island around 6:00 pm. Coleen/ OJ were our tour guides the first week. They took us to McCormick / Schmick restaurant for a lovely dinner. A memorable trip to the Olympic National Park followed later in the week - beautiful scenery / good hikes.

Aaron/ Patti visited the 1st weekend. We all took a cruise across Elliott Bay to Blake Island where we toured Tillicum Village to see native American culture - crafts, dances, costumes, a smoked salmon gourmet dinner. We returned home in the pm - A/P went shopping. C/OJ/P/E drove to Tacoma to an amazing concert by the 5 Browns - 5 Mormon siblings who studied on scholarships at the Juilliard School of Music. 5 grand pianos on stage, courtesy Steinway. They play classical music - modernized. They perform together, separately - solo, duets, trios. Tremendous sound. The audience gave them standing ovations, but they only played ONE encore. Guess that is all their fingers can take. They live in Alpine, Utah - they have performed around the world. All are married and in their 20's.

OJ left for Edmonton. Coleen for LA so we 'house sat' enjoying walks to the library via Ellis Pond where we would sit/ watch the ducks 'showing off' in the water.

We have done much reading at our leisure. I have also watched some DVD's, done some quilting. The days go very quickly and are most enjoyable. So far we are OK - have not trashed the house. I takes quite a bit of know-how to operate all the technology, but we use only the bare minimum.

We were so excited to get 3 exciting news: Mikyla's mission call;A/P engagement; Spencer's post-doctoral fellowship at U of T -all in that order. We could hardly believe it - thrice blessed. Congratulations to all.

We had a lovely visit from Janice - she came down Sunday-Monday. We had a good visit catching up on family news. She interviewed Grandpa about family history. We all enjoyed hearing these interesting accounts of the family especially East End - Banff days. Janice did not really know much about her mother's family. We all went to Crispy Creme for doughnuts and a hike to Tiger Mountain before she returned home.

This week, we have been alone as Coleen flew to SLC/Provo to be with the D/R and meet up with OJ who came to SLC to go to March Madness with Jim/Peter/ David.

This week Coleen will drive us to Victoria. So another chapter begins.

This has been a l-o-n-g communique, hope you can 'endure' to the end.

Love to all

G and G

2010 Blog - Happy Valentine's Day

Time to let our family know we are still around and enjoying Edmonton.The snow has not bothered us - in fact we have looked forward to our walks outdoors. It's wonderful to breathe the fresh air. Sometimes we are out for 2 hrs!

We will leave for Seattle/Victoria end of February - early March.

Nothing out of the ordinary has transpired - we just keep moving along. We attend the Temple once a week. This past week I attended the all-Spanish session. Loved the experience. And the language is still in my brain.

I have been working in the kitchen perfecting Ukrainian dishes . Our outing to Culina Restaurant was not that impressive to me. Willingdon cooks did better than that. So, I am hoping to get a typical dinner made by ME! Got to have borsch, holubtsi, nachynka, nalysnyky ....dill, mushrooms, poppyseed plus of course teach a bit about Ukrainian culture. I am getting all kinds of ideas - hope all this materializes. Keeps me inspired.

Also, we have been doing some genealogical work and we are making progress.

Our Family Home Evening group is very interesting - we take turns presenting and discussing talks from the General Conference - really helps us remember better the messages that were given.

And there is the Humanitarian Club - busy making blankets for new born - some knit, some sew, some iron. A very useful outing.

We watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Vancouver - spectacular!

We are expecting Janine and Mikyla this Thursday. Janine wants to work on her quilt, Mikyla is getting ready to go on a mission.

I do so enjoy your blogs - makes for a good "visit" and keeps me informed and in touch with my family. Keep it up.

Love to all

Grannie/Grandpa

Visitors at 174 Oeming Rd