Decorating the Christmas Tree

Decorating the Christmas Tree is serious business!

"Who knows what magic may occur, especially if Santa sees what a wonderful job is being done."

"I hope this is done right.  Every ornament must be in exactly the right spot!"

"Got to be careful.  If Grandma sees that this is out of place, I am in deep trouble."

Grandma Zucc supervises the distribution of ornaments.



MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

My daughter-in-law

My daughter-in-law, Katie really knows how to destroy what could have been a very descent picture of moi, but hey, it is all in the spirit of the Thanksgiving celebration, right?     

Making weird faces must run in the family.  Notice Jenna in the following pic.  If she had coughed, her eyeballs would have popped out of their sockets.  

If you don't recognize the place where Grandma Zucc is walking, it means you haven't been to the Outlet Mall at Traverse Mountain yet.  

This is too good!

Each year, Thanksgiving Day must to be adorned by a short program before the scrumptious meal is served.  At least this is true in our family's celebration, and I'm sure it is true in millions of homes across our great nation.

Jeff doesn't often get his picture headlined in this blog, but this is too good to leave out.  After all the kids were gathered, Jeff sat upon a bar stool and began to read a great story about how the Pilgrims and Indians got together for three days eating venison, playing games, and thanking The Almighty for their many blessings.

Everyone listened intently, and Sammy valiantly tried  to keep awake, but alas:

Jeff begins the reading.

Going!

Going!

Gone!

Soup and salad

What is better this time of year than a great soup and salad dinner?  So it was, last Monday evening!

L to R:  Richard, Pat, Jackie, Colleen, Bev, John E, John M., Nancy & Debbie.  Mike not in picture.

The occasion was just a harvest season get-to-gather, held in our basement family room, and the soups were incredibly good - chicken noodle, Italian sausage, potato, and autumn hamburger.  The salad was a tossed green delight, with ranch dressing, of course!  Homemade rolls and apple cider were served also.  To top off the meal was a fantastic German chocolate cake baked by Jackie.

A lot of mileage came from the dumb waiter joke that has made it's rounds for years.  Basically, the joke implies that we don't really need a dumb waiter, because my wife, Bev, already has one- moi.  Actually my wife and I have a wonderful, traditional marriage that has lasted over 4 decades.  Whenever someone asks what our secret is, I always say, "When she tells me to do something, I just shut up and do it."  Ha ha.   

Anyway after the main course, we played a couple of table games, mainly Fruit Basket and Greed.  I was surprised when I found out that I was the winner of Fruit Basket, being that I am probably the worst speller in the group, If not in the whole neighborhood!

Table setting

The table was set with Grandma Zucc's finest dinnerware, inlaid with 24 carat gold leaf, she says.  Notice the floating candles on both the table, and also the serving table.  This really made for a nice dinning atmosphere, when we turned the overhead lights down low.

Next week is Thanksgiving dinner!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The hand!

The hand!

Pretty scary huh?  After a nice Italian senior meal at the Brick Oven, we moved down the back roads to Sherry's house in Springville.  We arrived alive, but we weren't to sure if we would leave alive after seeing Sherry at her scariest.  

She made the most of the hand in the bowl, making sure the poor little trick-or-treaters be brave and reach in for the candy.  The hand then would automatically come down, and voice from the bowl would say something scary.  A lot of kids were apprehensive about reaching!

"You better be careful!"

  

"I hope you are quick!"

"Take only one!"

"Watch it!"

"It's going to get you!"

Even Grandma doesn't trust the hand.

Sherry can make anybody smile.

Sam finally made it home with his bag of loot.

One tired, but happy boy.

I guess one good thing about this blog is that I get to choose which pics to include in it.  Indeed, I choose the ones that will bring enjoyment to this poor, old Grampa in his later, golden years.

I hope your Halloween was as good this year as mine was!

Jenna's fourth grade class performance!

Here it is, Halloween eve!  I was invited to attend Jenna's fourth grade class performance, and I must say to my delight, that I was thoroughly entertained.  Representing the family was Jim & Rhonda, Katie, Matty, and myself.  Jenna was an outstanding performer, showing off her dancing, speaking, and acting skills.

Jenna speaks

I got "quite a kick" (enjoyment), from the variety of costumes the kids wore.  After each number one group would exit the door and do a quick costume change, while another group performed, and this pattern keep the show exciting from beginning to ending.

Jenna with friends on her right.

Jenna with friends on her left.

Jenna in the above pics is wearing Mike's pajamas and Erin's Steven Tyler Hat.  I was so proud of her, so tall, beautiful and talented.  Of course I am her grandpa, and even so, I am entitled to bust my button when grand-kids do a great job!   Right?

Three witches!

A ghost appears!

Let's dance!

"Help, I can't see!"

Which one is the most beautiful? 

Five lovely performers!

Dancers huddle under the scary pumpkin face! 

I was very impressed by the talents of one particular girl - I don't know her name.  But she showed exceptional talent and enthusiastic ability, so I wanted to include her in this posting, just because!

Fourth grader shows exceptional talent!

I believe she will excel in the entertainment business   

Last but no least, Mrs. Stockman put this program together, so I must include in this posting, a thanks to her.  I understand that Andy, my daughter-in-law, once had Mrs. Stockman as one of her elementary school teachers.  My, how time marches on!

Halloween is fast approaching

Halloween is fast approaching, and being on the alert for interesting pics, I happened to find this wonderful witch, gracefully wrapped around a telephone poll, as if she had a crash.  My guess she was trying to text a message while in flight.  Ha ha.  

Witch crashes into pole on 13th East!

I have to hand it to people who have great imaginations, who come up with these types of displays.  They keep the rest of us with little or no imagination, entertained.

Talk about entertainment, I got quite a kick out of Rachel as she opened her traditional Grandpa Zucc birthday cereal present, at her 8th birthday party.  She received a lot of great presents, and I enjoy watching a happy, enthusiastic kid.  

Rachel has a twinkle in her eye

   
It is fortunate for everyone that her birthday is in October, as Halloween provides a plethora of opportunity for buying cheap gifts that thrill a kid.  One was a flashing mouth light.  "Hey, how could I resist."  "It was on sale at Shopko."  The best thing about this contraption is that after it dies, according to the instructions, you can just throw it away.

At each and every birthday party I attend, at Mike's house, are these two lovely blondes.  Both are looking forward to becoming not only teenagers in the near future, but also to the excitement of entering middle school.  So are their parents!  Ha ha.    

Erin (11) & Anna (12)

To finish off this posting, I want to record that last Wednesday, Matty and I went fishing, and had a great time.  This was strictly a man to man trip, but you have to realize that it was not too difficult to bring myself to his level of understanding in both word and deed.  Katie fixed us a lunch that we enjoyed - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheetoes, apples, and drink.  What could be better?  And, on they way home, we stopped at Wendy's for a couple of Frostys!  

As we drove from the pond, I pointed out the ancient shoreline of Lake Bonneville.  Not sure that he grasped the concept of such a large lake, I decided to tell him the story of Noah and the Ark.  He loved this story, especially how God told Noah to "Shut the door!"  For a 6 year old, Matty really has a developed sense of humor, and he is a joy to be around.  Thank you Mike and Katie for bringing him into my life!     

Fish in the pan

Fish on the plate

Mother nature delivers

 If I were an alien from outer space, I would be totally amazed at the variety of things that make up the planet earth.  In mid-evil times, earth, wind, fire, and water were believed to be earth's basic elements.   Today we know that subatomic particles are the building blocks of everything.  It is baffling to my mind how atoms, seemingly identical, know how to bind together to create different objects like grass, apples, an arm, a rock etc.

  If anyone has any ideas please leave a comment because I, Grandpa Zucc, would like to know before leaving this life.  At any rate, all things seem to have an esoteric sort of beauty.  Things that are considered unattractive, like spiders for example, have in their own way, beauty.  I guess it all not only depends on how one views beauty, but also on one's experience.  

Anyway, no one can deny the beauty found occasionally in the skies, either night or day.  Sometimes mother nature absolutely delivers a beautiful array of patterns and colors in the form of clouds. 

Looking west from my house

I took the photo below several years ago.  It was in the afternoon, and a storm was moving in.  Many other persons in the valley must have taken pics of this spectacular cloud formation over the Wasatch range, as a similar pic made it into the morning newspaper.

Looking east

It seems that the many varied forces of nature are continually competing for our attention, and they do get it.

Then - Now

THEN!

NOW!

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Maytag washer woman

Ol' fashioned?  If you can remember your mother doing the washing this way, you are definitely a senior citizen.  Actually I remember my mother having an electric washing machine.  Attached to a double sink was a scrub board and a handle to draw the clothes through a wringer.  When finished wringing, she hung the clothes on two clothes lines to dry.  They were attached to the back of the house and extended to the back shed.  She used wooden clothes pins to attached each item to the line.

I found this billboard in Boise, Idaho.  It was recently restored and is functional, meaning the lady actually moves up and down, turning her head.  The lady is the Maytag washer woman; however the Maytag store is long gone, being replaced by Cucina Di Paola, known to locals as a great place to by fresh Gourmet Take-n-Bake Lasagne.

Maytag washer woman

Okay, the beautiful young woman is Sable Tannahill.  She is my First Cousin, twice removed.  I believe we resemble each other especially from the eyes down through the smile.  I told her that she reminded me of my Mother when she was a young lady.  

Sable - 22 & Grandpa Zucc - 71

Sable is the granddaughter of Jean & John Foster, seated at the table.  It was for their daughter, Adora Lee that a memorial in Boise was held.  It is unfortunate that such services have to be held, but occasionally they do, and we as mortals have to adjust our lives and try to make the best of this mortality. 

After leaving Boise the next day,  we noticed the beautiful Brigham City temple.  We decided drive by, as it is just off the freeway in Utah.

Old Glory waves in front of the angel.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the Constitution of the United States is divinely inspired.  The Church was founded in 1830 in the United States.  














Across the street from this new temple is the Box Elder Tabernacle.  In many respects this building is just as interesting as the temple, if not more.  It was finished and dedicated in 1890.  I love the architecture, as it represents 19th century religious society.

 


It is interesting how much one can see and do in a day and a half.  Such was the case with us as we arrived arrived home, tired but satisfied with our short trip to Boise.   It is always good to be back home!