Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring-not even a mouse....

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. I love everything about it. When I was little, I thought every year, the tree was prettier than the year before. I look at old pictures and see that we had some sorry looking trees, but I still thought they were beautiful.
We always had ice cycles on them, That was pretty much Roland's and my job to do. We were told to put them on one at a time, and we did, for the first two or three, but that got old pretty darn fast. So we would take a hand full and just throw them on. Mama was very patient with us. I think she would wait until we were out of the room and then rearrange the silver strands. I loved going through the boxes of decorations and remembering where they came from.
With modern technology, we now have a pre-lit tree. We use it over and over, but I still love it, or I should say love them, as we have one in the Visiting Teaching room, and the big one in the family room. My next couple of blogs are going to be dedicated to Christmas. Today the trees, next time, Santa.
We always had big lights on our tree, and you don't see a lot of that type of light anymore. Oh, they still make them, but most tree lights are the little ones. So to this day when I see the kind of lights we used as a child I get all excited--I know, Deanna, get a life....
My Grandma Davis' tree had lights that looked like candles. How pretty they were. It was like they had bubbles going through them.
I don't remember Grandpa Prince's tree, but I do remember an experience I had with him. One year I went down to Grandpa's and he didn't have a tree. Roland and I told him we were going to get him one. He tried to talk us out of it, but we wouldn't listen. We went up to the FLAT and chopped down a little one and took it too his place. He didn't have any decorations, so I decided to use all the Christmas cards he had received and put them on the tree. I know it was not the most beautiful tree in the world, but I know it meant a lot to Grandpa (oh, oh, here comes the tears) cause he looked at it, and his eyes watered up and the tears came down. You know that is the only thing I can remember about that Christmas, but what a wonderful thing to have as a memory.

There is nothing more peaceful to me, then to turn out all the lights in the house, and then turn the tree lights on. I could sit there for hours and watch the tree--as if it was going to do anything. But you know what, "The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."--Burton Hillis.

Leaves crackling under foot, plants bloom in one last magnificent Hurray as their roots grow deep to ensure new life next Spring

Fall is here.....
I love this time of the year in New Harmony. I took the picture of the flowers after our first frost. I look at them now, and pretty as they were, it looks to me like they are crying. They know their life has come to and end. But while they are here, they sure make life better for the rest of us. I hope I can be that way. I drove around the valley this week looking at the color changes. Some of my favorite places are not colorful this year, as they were destroyed by fire, but I can still see beauty.

This deer was on my front lawn. She is lucky she is a she and not a he. Cause if she was a he, she wouldn't be.........

Deanna and the not so giant peach

FROM THIS. . . .




TO THIS..........................

I don't know why it is, but this year, I am so excited about the orchard and garden. I guess I should say about the produce we are getting. I still don't get a kick out of weeding, but I sure do like the results after it is done. It just amazes me, that you can take a little seed, put it in the dirt and then get the things we get, after it has matured. This week, I bottled peaches. Look at what they went through to get to the last step.


TO THIS. . .


And finally this...............................

I have a family here on earth, they are so good to me............

Thanks to the efforts of my daughter, Kristina, all the Grokes and Groketts were together for the first time in a long time. The last time we were together for family pictures, Robert and I had five grandbabies. Since that time, we have added eight more and two more in-laws. We had a photo shoot in St. George. The weather turned out beautiful, and we had a wonderful time. Thanks, Kris, for having the spunk to do this. And thanks to all my children for keeping their Mama happy. Cause when Mama is happy every body is happy, but when Mama ain't happy.... well you know.

Announcing the Arrival of a new Grokett....... Weighing in at 1lb.

Robert and Deanna Groke are so exxxcited. They just gave birth to a new baby--Cabbage Patch type. What a beauty she is. From a little speck to a head big as mine. The new arrival was picked Saturday nite. Her first night home was so fun. Mama Groke couldn't get enough pictures. Sadly the beauty only lived for a day, as she found herself in the best cold slaw ever made. Grokes thank everyone for their concern with this pregnancy.

A proud Mama Groke shows off her latest off spring--a result of the empty nester's group

Deanna gives the newest Groke a good rub down. MMMMMM good!

I had a "Berry" busy day.

The strawberries are red, and ready to pick

I have to get them out of the garden quick

Moaning and groaning as I lift the leaves--

Trying not to get dirt and strawberry juice all over my sleeves.

Three or four berries I toss in to my pan

The next one, I throw in my mouth as fast as I can.

Oh so good, and sweet they taste

I can’t let even one go to waste.

I pick some more,

Wouldn’t it be so much easier to buy them at the store?

Then another I pop in my mouth.

And the thought of going to Walmart heads south.

Nothing taste better than food you have grown,

In your own little garden and all on your own.

The sun is up and I am tired

Into the house I will go before I am fired.

The berries are washed and ready to cook

I really would like to sit down and read a good book.

“Cannot be” I say to myself

As I ask Robert to take the empty pints off the shelf.

All ingredients in order, it is time to begin,

We cannot let laziness win.

The berries are crushed and measured just so

For over- doing it, would be a “No No”

Sure Jell I add, and let it cook until the mixture comes to a boil

This is just the beginning of my hours of toil.

Mix in some sugar before it starts to jell.

Too much or two little, it won’t thicken well.

Another rolling boil as you wait and stir

Let it boil a minute—on this you don’t want to err.

The timer rings, for the bottles you reach

This time it is for the strawberries, but next time it could be for a peach.

Being careful not to burn me,

I pour the jam real slowly.

The Kerr lids have boiled for 3 minute or more

This is help them to seal, I am sure

Wiping the top of the jar so clean

I have to do this or later the jam will turn green.

I cover the bottle with the flat and a ring

Screwing tightly and waiting anxiously for the jar to ping

Such a beautiful sound to the ear

Because it tells me my jam will be safe for a year.

The kitchen is a mess you can be sure

Jam is every where from the top to the floor.

Does it bother me? you ask

No sir, in the lime-light I bask.

Knowing the strawberries in the summer I did grow

But now I can enjoy them even during the cold and the snow.

Only her hair dresser knows for sure!

  There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

 -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Today, my cousin, Brent, wrote about the wild roses growing around New Harmony. Brent likes to get me thinking about my childhood. And he is very good at it. I was going through some of my pictures to find pictures of me in front of the yellow roses Brent talked about. In doing so, I came across a lot of pictures of me and my curly hair. When I was a teen, the in- thing to do was straighten your hair, I have always liked doing my own thing, and figure if Heavenly Father gave me curly hair, it was because he wanted me to have it. Therefore, I have never tried changing it, and to be honest, I am very thankful for it. When I see some of the stuff people go through to make their hair look good, I just shake my head--as if to say I don't have to do that--Nanny Nanny BooBoo

I am happy to say some of my curls are working their way down the line. My daughter, MaLynda looks like I did at that age. She is the top picture. Oh, and don't tell anybody, but she is wearing a wig. My granddaughter Aspen Hughes is getting more curls every day. She is the bottom right and I am the bottom left.

Yes there was a little girl who had a little curl and when she was good, she was very good, but when she was bad..........

Our black and white world

When one of my daughter's was a lot younger she ask me a very serious question. Don't worry, MaLynda, I won't tell them it was you--giggle. Her question to me was,"Mama, when you were little was the world black and white or was it in color?." Yesss, I got a good laugh from this, but I also knew it was a sincere question. I think she must have been watching a black and white movie thus prompting this line of thinking. Well, MaLynda you know your mother is a very big procrastinator. So some 15 years later, I will answer your question.

My world was both. I lived in beautiful New Harmony, and had family that I knew adored me, in that aspect, my world was colored, but many pictures taken during that time were black and white. However, you're Grandpa Vivian purchased a new camera and it actually took colored pictures. What I find interesting today is that even though a lot of these older pictures are in color, I prefer them in black and white, and thus with the magic of todays world, I just hit a couple of buttons and I can get these pictures in various shades. And with certain coloring tools, you can even add color to your black and white photos.

I yearn for some of those black and white pictures. This blog was prompted by my sister-in-law Karen, who sent me an e-mail this morning entitled "Our childhood in black and white." I almost deleted it, but decided to check it out. I am so glad I did. it brought back some fun memories-- memories such as watching, Saturday morning Micky Mouse cartoons over to Grandma Davis' or Going down to Grandpa Prince's to watch Lawrence Welk, with Lowell and my cousin Mervin Prince. How about singing "Happy Trails To You." with my cowboy hero, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Even today, I love to watch the reruns of Andy Griffith. He lived in Mayberry USA, and I lived in New Harmony, USA. We didn't have a barber shop--just my Uncle Sheldon Grant, but we did and do have a post office where we learn the latest. He had Aunt Bea. I had my Aunt Laura, My Aunt Camilla, My Aunt Sylva, and my Aunts Veda and Venice, not to mention 60 other aunts who lived in New Harmony, to watch over me. Oh, and I even had my own Aunt Bea look-a-like-- Aunt Clara Grant. Not to be out done, because of my Dad, I could even whistle the tune that always took Opey and his Dad fishing.

How many nights did I come home from school to watch Superman, who was faster than a locomotive, and leap tall buildings in a single bound? Oh, and while we are taking a tour down memory lane, how many times did I come home from school to house a that smelled like freshly baked bread, and a mother there to make sure that I did get home--a regular June Clever--apron and all.

My other hero, the Lone Ranger had Tonto to keep him on the right track. I had my big brother, Lowell. Lowell didn't ride a big white horse, but he was my hero non-the-less.

So Miss MaLynda, in answer to your question, I had the best of both worlds--color and black and
white. Do I miss it--you better believe it!

Scrapbooking fills my days - not to mention my living room, bedroom and closets!

In my last blog, I told you that I wanted to do a blog on a love that I got from my Dad, and that is scrapbooking. I spend hours working on my books. Some one has said, "I scrapbook therefore I am - broke." My love for this hobby has led into other forms of paper crafting The ideas I use in scrapping can also be used for card making, and other paper crafts. I love to send a card, I have made, and get deep satisfaction when someone calls me, and tells me they were feeling "down" and out of the blue they receive a card from me. I love that feeling of making someone happy. Because it lifts me up. Am I selfish or not? My love for paper crafting has also found me sharing my talents (or lack there of) in teaching classes. The photo of me below, was a demonstration I gave at Super Saturday last fall. These were gifts with cute sayings decorated with my scrapbooking supplies. I currently have a display of my work in the New Harmony Library--no brag, just fact.

I didn't realize Dad was into scrapbooking until I moved back home and was going through all his scrapbooks. Oh, they weren't decorated, by any means, but he identified most of the people in the albums. Of course, his stuff was not "acid free" (something that drives us scrapbookers up the wall), but they were identified making it so much easier on me, when I transferred them into my books. One of the reasons I took up this hobby was to get my pictures out of boxes, plastic bags, off the floor, you name it. Well, once I started scrapping problems multiplied. A scrapper takes pictures of everything--just ask my MaLynda. Some people are gun shy, she has had so many pictures of her taken, she is camera shy. Go to the bathroom, take a picture, pick your nose, take a picture. Wreck the car, take a picture...well you get the idea. I am further behind now with pictures that need to be scrapped than I ever was before I started.

I have daughters and daughter-in-laws that also scrap. This picture was a taken at MaLynda's birthday party last month. She is enjoying the beautiful book her sisters, Brenda Carling and Kristina Hughes made for her.
How satisfying it is, to this mother, to see her children following in her footsteps--now I can box up all my 100s of photos and pass them on to the girls. That will give me more time to take more pictures of my grand babies--teeheehee.

Thank you Daddy for giving me a love of scrapbooking and finding a creative outlet to share these memories with my family. "A person is neither whole nor healthy without the memories of photo albums. They are the storybook of our lives. They provide a nostalgic escape from the tormented days of the present. " ~Patrick Garry

Want to see a fun site, go here, maybe we both can win....http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

I'd rather be stitchin' than in the kitchen!

The pillowcases, belonged to Mom. I don't know if she made them or if somebody gave them to her. I would like to think that they were some I made, but I am not sure.


When I was a little girl--is that an oxymoron--I was never little. I had a baby sitter, Lana Grant who always was doing "handwork" as they used to call it. I never knew her when she didn't have some kind of stitchery in her hands. She still does to this very day. I wanted to do that. Mama got me started. Many days during the summer, Mom and I would sit and embroidery together. Another fun memory as a child was spending one afternoon a month with the ladies of New Harmony as they stitched on their pillowcases or samplers and gossiped all in one setting. You talk about multi-tasking. Those women could do it all. I learned more in one afternoon at these activities then I could reading the newspaper for a year--giggle. You needed to go to those gatherings so they wouldn't talk about you--snicker, snicker. The love for this hobby has carried on to this day, in one form or another. Because of this, I have earned some extra spending money to support my habit. Three of my daughters have also carried on this tradition as they stitch for fun and profit. Little did Marva Prince know when she took the time to teach me to stitch that it would be with me for life. Below are some of the things of have done in recent years.

This picture of me was taken at a craft store in St. George. My daughters and I stitch for a lady who works under the name Live Well Stitchery out of Cedar. Her name is LuAnne Keets http://www.livewellstitches.com Her big money comes from the items sold during Swiss Days, Utah's biggest craft show held in Midway UT. People climb all over each other to get her work, and just think we are a part of that.

The little baby picture is a sample of one of the many I do for gifts.

I am writing this stuff for my blog because I want to pass the memory of it on to my family. This talent and love for stitchery came from Mom, but the next one--my love for scrapbooking came from my Dad.

Ohhhh, and one last thing. Did you know that when you prick yourself and get blood on your sampler, that your own spit (saliva for you sophisticated readers) will remove it--and, yes, it was your blood, it has to be your spit. I have no idea why, but I know it works.

*******I just found out that the pillowcases were made by my Aunt Camilla Prince. Her children, Claudine and Brent both remember her making them. Thanks you guys for the info.

To Our Beautiful Daughter, MaLynda

Twenty one years ago today,

Our beautiful MaLynda came to stay

In Japan she was born

6:00 at night and not in the morn.

Her Dad was at work when the water “broke”

He hurried home, because he knew this was no joke.

MaLynda would be number six

So by now, Mama and Papa Groke knew all the tricks.

“There will be no pains for awhile”,

Mama G said with a smile.

Back to bed to sleep

Until Kristina, a secret she cannot keep,

Ran up the stairs shouting to Kevin, Anngela, Brenda and Steven

That our little baby was coming from heaven.

Off to the sitters four of them did go

Kevin stayed home, by now he was old enough, you know.

Into the hospital I did go

Waddling and dripping to and fro.

No pains yet, not a surprise.

Why it was just barely sunrise.

But come noon I just knew

I would be looking into the face of our Little Bugga-Boo.

Having babies came easy for me,

I was expecting no less from this baby.

However, noon came and went with hardly a pain

And no little baby to rule the Groke domain.

The clock struck 4:00

Things were picking up

Some of the pains we couldn’t interrupt

It would soon be shift change, the bets were on

Would baby Groke be here before the morning shift had gone?

6:00 p.m. and our little one is making this no fun.

With one final push on my stomach, I groaned

And then to my relief another little girl I owned.

MaLynda with her big blue eyes

Had the nurses fighting to hear her cries.

To our relief she let out a scream

She was every mother’s dream

Into our lives came our little 9Lb girl

I tell you, our hearts were awhirl.

You could search the Far East the whole island around

I promise you, not a happier family could be found.

So many brothers and sisters to love her

For her attention they would clamor.

She couldn’t get to sleep, they held her so much

But they just couldn’t get over her sweet little touch.

MaLynda, for 21 years, you have been a dream come true

And now, we want to wish a Happy Birthday to you.

May your day be all that you want and then some

From opening the presents to eating a cake crumb

Our wish to you from us would be

That you will always be happy.

Good night, our dear, we love you so

As you lay your head on the pillow

May all your dreams come true,

And may your Father in Heaven continue watching over you.

We love you sweetheart. Mom and Dad

I'm just a small town girl---and proud of it!

Kellie Pickler has a song called "Small Town Girl" which got me thinking again (this blogging business is serious stuff--) about my childhood. Boring as it is to some people (No names mentioned Kristina) I wouldn't trade my childhood in New Harmony for anything.

I grew up where I could see the stars
Drinking Mama's home-made root beer from a Mason jar
Apple trees, golden corn, and waking up to a beautiful New Harmony morn.
Playing Red Rover Red Rover, Kick the Can, or No Bears Out Tonight
Were tons of fun, but nothing beat a good old fashion water fight.

Branding cows to go on Pine Valley
Being waved at by Anthon and Sally
Baling hay with my Dad
Or driving the hay truck and listening to my brothers get mad
A small town girl is fine with me
Nothing beats my life in New Harmony

I'd rather be fishin' down to the creek
Or Hunting for side hill Ding Wompus' with a stick
Then going shopping in the city
for something new and pretty.
A town so small you don't need a map to know where you are at,
And the latest attire included a cowboy hat.

I'd rather ride in the back of Grandpa's truck
Or the dune buggy looking for that prize buck.
A cheeseburger cooked on Lowell's grill
Is fine for me, and gives me a thrill.
Chicken in the Dutch oven with family all around
Makes up for not having a movie theater in town

Root beer and the Big Pine
Dirt roads and an old clothes line
Familiar faces and dandelion bracelets
Friday night pot lucks with an apple pie
Or looking at all the stars in the New Harmony sky.

4^th of July races against the Princes and Paces

Eating candy from Aunt Sylva’s store

Never needing a dime or more.

Find a pop bottle, turn it in.

Leave the store with a great big grin.

The smell of the new cut hay

Or dreaming the summer day away

Watching Kolob change its colors every hour

Sometimes, looking like it is on fire.

A small town girl is fine with me
Nothing beats my life in New Harmony

Never a stranger to be found

We we’re the happiest families around.

Everybody was your uncle or aunt

And if they were not, we soon changed that.

Our biggest fear was the frost we may get.

Or the barn getting a lightening hit.

A good rain storm was the talk of the town

In hopes that a flood would come roaring down.

Here in New Harmony we had it made

Our big thrill was the town parade

We didn’t worry about being “politically correct”

We all got along even when our politicians we would elect.

Polly wog hunting, playing marbles, and a Kool aid stands

Are the dreams of every young woman or man

Well, I am happy to say, I had it all,

Even the winter, spring, summer, and the fall.

Yes, a small town girl is fine with me

Nothing beats my life in New Harmony.

Chin chinnery, Chin, chinnery,Chin,chin, cher--ee

Grandma Deanna & Lexie

Great Grandma Prince Vivian F. Prince

I have been worrying abut how to start this blog for a long time. I guess the only way to do it, is just jump in. I have an identity crises. One minute I look like my Dad, and the next, I look in the mirror, and think my Mother has been resurrected. However, there is one thing I am sure of. I know where I got my chin from... I know, those of you that read this think I have lost it for sure. Probably so, but work with me on this. If you see a picture of my Great Grandma Prince, Sarah Redd Prince Davis (not only my Grandma, but also my Aunt--which is another story in itself--what I can I say, I am from New Harmony. We meet ourselves coming and going) you will see which side of the family Daddy he got his chin. Then you look at me and you know that Vivian was my father, you look at my granddaughter, Alexis, and well....the story just continues.

Deanna Prince

Next time you look in the mirror, think about your different features. Who did you get them from? Would they be excited to have you carrying on their name? "Be true to who you are and the family name you bear--Pres. Hinckley