Betsy's Blog - Friends

• Saturday, December 19, 2009
Hoover Dam

Yesterday we got to go to the Hoover Dam!!! It was soooo fun. The panorama above is facing the water opposite of the dam. I didn't even think of getting a panorama on that side... To post all the pics I took I turned them all into collages... It's easier that way. :-) The first one is all the pictures (well not all... I got rid of some) that I took when we dropped my dad off at a bike trail. Sorry these backgrounds are white. I was having such a hard time not freezing up the computer any time I tried something that I finally gave up. :-p

Then after that we went to the library. It was so nice. Every few inches there was another old book. I love old books and our librarian has admitted to us that our library keeps up with the newer books. :-p So I got a ton of them. This collage is random pics from the library. Somewhere in the mess of pics is a picture of a book quilt that was hanging in there. It was so neat looking!

After the library, we went to a small museum. The lighting wasn't the best for pictures so I didn't get very many good ones... I liked it because it was a hands on museum and you were allowed to touch everything. :-)

Then we stopped back at the bike trail, ate lunch and picked up my dad and we all headed to the dam. It's hard to see how big it is until you see the worker's cars down at the bottom. They were tiny! The bottom right hand picture here is a bunch of men in a cage hanging over the bridge being built. That bride is almost more interesting than the dam! To me at least. :-)

The trip ended with this last picture on the way home. Notice the for sale sign behind the bush on the right. Want to come live out here? It comes furnished! (see the chair?) We'd love to have you.

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• Dec. 18, 2009
Possible birth place of Harry Reid

Today the family was on a field trip. Among a number of stops, we saw the Hoover Dam and the new bridge being built over the canyon. On the way home we stopped in Searchlight. The website of Senator Harry Reid of Nevada mentions that Harry Reid was born "in the small rural mining town of Searchlight, Harry Reid grew up in a small cabin without indoor plumbing, and attended a two-room elementary school."

Now we are not sure about this, but just possibly we came across the birthplace of Harry Reid.

Notice these pictures we took of a house in Searchlight just off the main highway. (Now if you have never been to Searchlight, you just don't know what you are missing. Actually you could be quite thankful you have never been to Searchlight. But that is for another time.)

I have passed by this house on a number of occasions heading out of town on the bicycle into the desert.

If we zoom in, you will see the for sale sign.

I guess no realtor would list it.

Now lets zoom in on that wonderful back patio, with that metal chair to sit on and enjoy the gorgeous western sunsets.

One just never knows. Maybe it is the actual birthplace. There isn't a house in town that I have come across that is acknowledged to be his home. And this one looks to be a two bedroom, so maybe....

So you just might want to rush out to Searchlight and take advantage of this great opportunity to purchase a piece of history.

If nothing else, it is what more of America will look like once Reid and Pelosi get their way with the health care bill in congress.

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• Dec. 18, 2009
Fun Day

Mommy and I met friends at Carl's for lunch. I had fun.

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• Dec. 18, 2009
Happy Birthday Daddy!!

I love you!

Happy Birthday Glitter Graphics

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• Thursday, December 17, 2009
To My Love...Dec 18th, 2009

Today is my hubby's birthday!! I love you very very much.

Happy Birthday Glitter Graphics.

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• Thursday, December 17, 2009
Best Cookies in the Whole World

I was going to make you some of these, but my family does not allow me to share them! The day before yesterday I made four dozen of our all-time, absolute favorite cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Cremes. Yesterday we ate the last one! Four dozen cookies divided by six people equals... eight cookies each, devoured in twenty-four hours. It's such a shame. But my husband and my kids argue that the point of baking cookies is not to hoard them and make them last forever -- it is to enjoy them. Which we surely did. Reprinting again:

Chocolate Peppermint Cremes

Combine these and set aside:
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Beat together in separate bowl:
1 1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 C softened butter
2 T water
2 eggs

Stir in
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted.

Stir in the dry ingredients until mixed well. If the dough is stiff enough, roll into 1" balls and flatten each ball slightly. If not, refrigerate the dough until it is. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, on greased cookie sheets. Do not overbake these. The centers should be soft. Cool completely.

To make the filling, beat until smooth:
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C butter
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3 T + 1 tsp milk
dash of salt
1 drop of red food coloring, if you like pink.

Spread liberally on the bottom side of a cookie, and sandwich together with a second cookie. Makes about 48, but they don't last. Better make a double batch!

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• Thursday, December 17, 2009
10 Years Ago Today

Well, 10 years ago today my dad passed away. It's an easy day for me to remember because it was the day before I turned 40. Yes, that also means that tomorrow I turn 50. Enough about that, this is for my dad.

Back in September of 1999, my Mom called all us kids to tell us that dad's health was getting bad. That if we wanted to come and see him one last time while he still knew who we were that now was the time. I wanted to see my dad. Darrell and I arranged everything for me to make the trip and stay a week

I was the only kid that came in to see him. I now have my wonderful memories of that visit. Yes, my dad knew who I was. My mom asked him if he knew who was sitting next to him. He said, "Yes, It's my Jeanie girl with the light blond hair.

My dad then passed away in December. I did not go to Tennessee for the funeral. My brothers and sisters all complained to mom that I wasn't there. My mom set them all straight. She said she came and saw your dad when he was still here with us, so you kids back off her. I couldn't afford to do the trip again. I was happier to see him alive.

Well, I'm going to sign off now and go wipe away my tears. I Love You and Miss You Dad.

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• Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Clouds and Projects

The other morning (I think it was Sunday) I went outside and got a few pictures of the huge clouds and the rainbow that showed up. It was a full rainbow but I couldn't get the whole thing in a single picture... The pictures weren't the best but who cares... This first is the sunrise. Where we live, it is very hard to get a nice sunrise picture this time of year. There are too many power lines, houses, and other things... :-

Then there is a picture in the other direction.

And that rainbow. There is another annoying power line in the picture...

Enough of the weather. Next is the "creature from the Black Lagoon" (it was supposed to be a dog... *sigh*), and the basket I made today. I got both ideas from Salley Mavor's book.

This is the "dog".

Time for a picnic!

It's perfect for some fruit!

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• Tuesday, December 15, 2009
PLEASE TELL ME THERE IS HOPE FOR THIS CHILD

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• Monday, December 14, 2009
Why waste time with titles?

I took this picture last week when Elisabeth was standing on her desk. (probably not a good habit...) She was pretending to be a model. I think she just needs to improve the look. She looks to happy. :-p Oh, and she isn't standing on her toes...

My new way of eating noodles is with butter, garlic powder, parmesan cheese and a handful or two of mozzarella cheese. It's soooo good! Another good way is to just put on butter and salt. I didn't think that way would taste very good so I didn't try it for a while but once I did, I enjoyed it. I suppose that noodles aren't a very healthy/filling meal but they're good anyway.

There isn't much news around here except that I've made quite a few more dolls in the past few days (except for heads and hats... I ran out) and that we finished our last Jonathan Park episode. Yesterday we listened to four or five and did the last one today... It's a good thing we can re-listen to them! :-) Oh, and we got to watch the Felicity DVD by American Girl. We borrowed it from a friend and couldn't wait till Mom let us watch it! I loved the behind the scenes!

Later this week we're going to get to somewhere that I've wanted to go for a loooong time! But you'll have to wait till later to find out where it is. :-)

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