Arlene's birthday January 27, 2013

Today January 27 is my birthday.  I am two years younger than my husband Lanny.  According to the Chinese, he was born under the sign of the "horse" and I the "monkey."  That's a questionable image to contemplate!  I can't very well wish myself happy birthday, so will share with you my thoughts at the moment and relate an experience or two.

I never sang a solo or even a duet like your Grandpa Lanny but I did have some terrific experiences regarding music.  We Mutual girls in our ward were able to attend a conference in SLC, sit in the choir seats along with several other wards and sing to the congregation as a youth group.  And our church group of young girls and boys had the opportunity to

perform two dance numbers with hundreds of people at a Regional conference in SLC.

 One was a couple's dance routine and the other was a Latino number or something similar done by the girls only. The dresses we wore resembled the dresses for that type of dance.  Carol made mine; she made a lot of my dresses to which I am grateful.  Being able to participate in something on such a grand scale was awesome. 

 I enjoyed listening to our kids sing and harmonize when they were growing up.  They sang duets in church many times.  And now I enjoy hearing the grand kids play their guitar, piano, clarinet and trumpet.  Haven't heard Liddell play his trumpet yet but his school has a concert coming up in the near future.

When I was quite young I loved to dress up in pretty dresses.  Here is one that was especially fun to wear.  One of my hobbies growing up was horseback riding; the names of my two horses were Pet and Sage King but this one I'm on is my brother's and Maxine's.

  Deanna (a friend) and I would spend a lot of time riding horses to the mountains nearby looking for deer, other horses, and other things.  We did come across a herd of deer which was exciting.  We also got lost on the other side of Baldy which wasn't so exciting.  On the photograph behind  me and the horse are the mountains I'm referring to.  The rounded one in front is Baldy.  The one in back is Timpanogas
 Mountain.

I have always loved to draw or paint pictures.  I don't remember a time when I wasn't coloring or drawing something.  As a adolescent I enjoyed hanging around with my peers.  Since we weren't into electronic games yet we did other things.  We would walk around the neighborhood talking, playing games, flirting, teasing, laughing, or hanging at someone's house and listen to records and dance.  That was after chores were done at home.  During the summer I played girls' softball on a church team usually playing outfielder.  Maxine was one of the pitchers and Claudette played catcher.  

I would read a book once in a while, usually a novel.  I did write a mini novel and gave it to my friend Deanna.  It would probably be hilariously funny to read now.  I'm glad we have a serious writer in the family in Richelle.  "Go Richelle!"

My mother was special to me.  Even though I would argue with her and cause her grieve, I loved her.  She did a lot for me.  She nursed me when I was sick and spent time with me in reading and helping me do homework in my earlier years.  She always worked along side us on the farm.  

She loved Hank Williams and other country music singers.  I have some of her cassettes.  In her earlier years they didn't have cassettes, only records and radio but later they were recorded onto cassettes.   Hank Williams born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician and regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time.  Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one.  Some of the songs he sang were "Cheating Heart," "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain," "I'll fly Away," "I Saw The Light," "Hey Good Looking," and "Jambalaya."  He sang a lot of Gospel music which I especially like.

This picture below is of my nieces and nephews at our wedding. Beginning on the back row are Brian, Thomas Jr., Me, Lanny, Dennette, Cindy, Elaine, Paula; Front row sitting are Cheryl, Sandra, and Kevin.  I got to know most of these children quite well as they were growing up.  You will see a few of them on Facebook.

Today Richelle and Larry and boys brought over dinner for us.  We concluded with lit candles on brownies and me making a wish and blowing out the candles with one big huff and puff.  Gary called and the family sang Happy Birthday to Lanny and I.  Lanny convinced Hiromi afterwards to sing it in Japanese. To you all who have wished us Happy Birthday, a special thank you.

Rod Redford and his wife Jodean stopped by.  Rod and Larry gave me a blessing to help me with having catarat surgery the next day. It will be so great to be able to see more clearly again.

To finish up, I am posting a video by Liz and Olivia called "Grandfather's Clock" which is cool. Grandpa and I will be tick-tocking for a few more years. And I'm posting one Alex played for me, a song he likes to play and shows his ability to strum his guitar.   LOL