Kiss Me, I'm Irish

Everyone claims to be Irish for St. Patrick's Day, but I really am Irish all year long!!
My great great grandpa James Cooper came to Amerika in 1834 from Belfast, Ireland. He first went to Pennsylvania and then came to Bethel, Minnesota. He settled Coopers Corner because the hunting was good. History stories say he chose the name of Bethel from the bible because it means "House of God". I have a copy of his diary for the years 1869-1871. He ended most entries with "thank God for all blessings". This was his ending even on days that weren't so good; days when people were sick, hurt or dieing. I think he had a strong belief in his Heavenly Father. Family stories say his Irish accent was so thick, it was difficult to understand him. He re-married after each of his first two wives died. His third wife was my great great grandmother - Rebecca Milligan. She was 25 years younger than James, and 38 years old when they married. James was 65 years old when my great grandmother Laura was born; she was the last born of his 14 children. James lived to see her grow to adulthood. He died in 1893 at the age of 87. He was laid to rest next to our house in the Old Bethel Cemetery. I'm thankful for his life and the legacy he has left.
So in his remembrance, please join me in wearing green on March 17th!

Wall Hangings Part 2

Since we had the hammer and nails out, we decided to finish putting things up in the living room today. I just had to share this picture because Tawnya is totally against this arrangement. This is located in the corner between my piano and pump organ. But I'm kind of sentimental - the trumpet was played by John and the clarinet was mine from high school (just a few short years ago)! Why should these instruments sit around collecting dust in a case, unseen, when they can collect dust displayed as my wall art?! Although you can't see it, each of the notes has a saying etched on them. Like, "Sing like no one is listening", or "Dance like no one is watching". I just think this is a fun light-hearted wall arrangement! It inspires me to go watch Mama Mia again, and maybe dance a little!!

Wall Hangings

The painting of our living room walls was completed in November. I absolutely love it because, besides enjoying the new color, they look so fresh and clean. I enjoyed that look through Christmas and Valentines Day. However, our walls were very bare. I couldn't bring myself to put any nail holes in the walls... it was too much work to calk and sand the old holes away! When Tawnya was home we decided on some cute layouts. Soooo, with hammer in hand, we banged out a few nails and hung up some items. I like the look very much, so perhaps it will give me courage to continue with some other wall hangings.

Make it Do, or Do Without!

I took full advantage of having Tawnya home for 3 weeks and did a lot of painting. Well, three rooms is a lot of painting in my book! I'm somewhat of a meticulous painter (no Leonardo however). It seems I can't paint without a rag in my hand to wipe up any oops that happen along the way. So, it happened one day, that I was looking for a rag. At the same time, sweat was running down my face, getting in my eyes, and generally causing a problem. To my surprise, the rag I found was an old pair of Travis' briefs. That's when ingenuity hit me - not only had I found a rag, but the waistband worked very nicely for a headband! Although not as fashionable as the Adida namebrand, it could be the start of something new - "Fran's Forehead Fashions". Please let me know how many you would like to order after seeing the picture below. I felt like Michael Jordan was with me every paint stroke of the way!!

Lacey Ice

Isn't it beautiful today? I love waking up to see each branch, twig and leaf covered with lacey ice. It's hard to capture on camera, but each year I try... so why should 2009 be any different?! My turkeys(NO, I'm not talking about family members here) are looking hard for food. They scratch in the snow under the bird feeder. A few brave ones have even taken to the air and found a perch in my mountain ash tree. They peck at the orange berries and nearly fall. These are such big birds to be performing such dangerous antics. I guess I would do the same in search of chocolate!

Caring, Sharing, Repairing

As much as I love having the family home for Christmas (and other times), it's great to have them come, but hard to see them go. I did a good job of holding back the flood of tears this time, but a few of them slipped out! Jessica decided to go back to SLC, so it wasn't very joyful to see the loaded pickup head out the driveway. As always, it's difficult to say goodbye to Tawnya... she has such a tender heart and loves to be home. Her students would miss her though if she didn't return!! Lauri is forever positive and I miss her smiling dimpled face! I need to catch up on my rest, but as soon as possible I'm heading west to see those girls. They are a terrific three-some and I miss their energy.

With the new year upon me, I've decided to focus on me... my health and well-being. I know that sounds self-centered, but I figure it will be for the best in the long run. Caring and sharing while repairing.... doesn't that have a "ring" to it?!
I wish for you all to have a wonderful 2009 in all that you choose to do.

Goodies All Gone

Those beautiful cookies have all been consumed, so I guess it's time to make a new post! The final week of 2008 was wonderful... the house was full on several occasions. Tawnya & Lauri arrived home Christmas eve day (about noon) and surprised us all. They kept me in suspense when I called them to see how they were doing. Last I heard, they were in a ditch in Iowa (Tawnya's favorite state!). Then the next thing I knew, they were ringing the doorbell. Such a lovely surprise, and relief to me. We had a lovely candlelight dinner on Christmas eve with just John, Tawnya, Jess and me. Christmas day the house was filled to overflowing as everyone was home for the day. We had great fun and wonderful food. Travis gave us a scare (read Nicole's report on her blog), but other than that, it was a fun day and the boys were able to snowmobile a little.
New Year's Eve was party time and we sure did. It included The Bator Family Talent Show, which would be more accurately called the UN-talent show. But we all had a lot of laughs!! The Rose parade was as beautiful as ever, and I love watching it on HGTV without commercials. Someday I'm going to take a trip and see it in person!