The MacLoose's Saturday Morning

Got Haggis?That was just one of the clever t-shirts we saw last Saturday at the Utah Scottish Festival & Highland Games. This event occurs but once a year at Thanksgiving Point and for some reason my daughters are in love with the Scottish culture so they have always attended with some of their Scot-crazed friends. This year Brittany gave us some passes so the Master and I decided to go see what all of the fuss was about. We soon found out, there is plenty of fun to be had!
To begin with, the clans all gather.

 

There is the sound of bagpipes everywhere,

 women in kilts, kids in kilts, babies in kilts, and men in kilts!

 These two men obviously did not take P.E. from Miss Jean Spray at Kino Jr. High School in Mesa, AZ. She taught us ladies how to bend over in a skirt!

 (I have it on good authority that one can get her eyes burned looking a men in wind blown kilts!)

The first item of business was attending the Wicked Tinkers concert

under the big tent. Rachel was positively giddy! She has seen them every year since high school and in like, a Wicked Tinkers manic fan!

That one in the middle? That's C.J., one of the drummers. After watching him for just a few minutes I could tell why all of the girls love this group so, so much. Ahem...sleeveless t-shirt showing off hunky arms. Cute faux-hawk, tight-waisted kilt.

Here they are beating out a rollicking tune on ancient drums and bagpipes. See that tall thing on the left that looks like a branch? That's a didgeridoo. The bass, tribal rumbling that came out of the thing was amazing! Poor C.J. got a bit dizzy afterward. Our altitude gets him every time, he said.

It was so much fun! There was lots of clapping in time and folks in the crowd spontaneously dancing a Highland Fling or two!

This one's for Aubrey, Sarah S., & Rachel!

Heard later in Vendor Alley:

"Mom, this is a real Master Sword. Mom, this is the sword Legolas uses in the Fellowship of the Ring. Ooo! I want one of these! William Wallace had one like this."  Where did this girl of mine come from? Funny thing is, The Master knew them all too!

It is a well known fact that the Master has a humongous head. There wasn't a Tam that fit him! He was able to wear his Scotland shirt that Sarah brought back to him after her visit there.

I am not sure how P.E.T.A. and the Scots would mix...just sayin'. Mr. fox had a happy life in the Highlands until one day....

There was also a booth where the little guys could put on their armor and try to slay the giant! It was so fun to watch these kids take it so seriously!

 

I think a big part of being Scottish is trying to be scary!

Hey! Who copied my husbands tosro here?!

They are also pretty funny! We saw a lot of "Certified Kilt Inspector" shirts too!

There was a booth where you could look up any surname and find the official Coat of Arms.

This is one of several I have seen in my life for my maiden name of Ellsworth.

While I am not sure that I have any Scottish blood in me (purely Norman and English), the Loose's have some Perkins in their blood AND they are related to Long Shanks who I think was the bad guy in the movie Braveheart. Yikes! 

That makes it official. We can attend the festival next year in kilts!

Fiesta!!

Did you know that I like old stuff? While I do not have a fantastic collection of antiques due to budgetary constraints, I do enjoy looking. Last Saturday while the Master was out of town and all of the kids were busy I took myself out on a date...an antiquing date!

Here is one of my favorite little places to go...

It's called The Nook & Cranny. It's in Lehi, Utah just down the road a bit from our neighborhood. Nook & Cranny is a fitting name because it is literally stuffed to the rafters with good old stuff to look at. It spills outside onto the sidewalks and into the side yard.

 







 I found this cool old weather vane in the back lot. love it!!

 This is inside one of the buildings in the back. Lots of furniture, old appliances, toys,
etc. I am a bit miffed to see my childhood showing up in these collections as in a rotary dial phone here and there, as well as the collection of soda bottles below.

























































 This is inside of the main building. Here is a collection of hobnail milk glass. it reminds me of my mother because she really loves this stuff.

 I especially fell in love with these vintage birdseed cans! How cute are they?! If I had more room in The Little House on the Corner I would have snatched them up!

Once in awhile I turn a corner in a place like this and I hear heavenly choirs singing...like, I mean

Hallelujah!!!

There is was, the object of every search, every wandering through this place...

 Fiestaware!

Not just any Fiestaware either. This was a discontinued, as in only made between 1936 & 1946, original yellow, big, fat ice lip pitcher! My heart both thrilled and sank at the same time. I knew I could never afford such an item. But then I looked at the price tag and heard the choir singing again...

$4.95

Hallelujah!

You know, I am not a hardcore collector. I simply love the vibrant colors and the art deco shapes of Fiestaware. it also takes me back in time to my mother and grandmothers' kitchens. I didn't care that it had a chip or two, or that there was a hairline crack near the handle. (These things surely kept it from being worth $100 or more.) I didn't care!!

It spoke to me and said, "Take me home and love me. Put daisies in me and rejoice!"

So I did!

Vintage ice lip pitcher, meet your vintage little brother and sister, salt and pepper.

 In this picture you can see the lip that keeps ice from poring out into your glass.

 Made by Homer Laughlin Co. in the U.S.A.

I can hardly wait for my daisies to come into bloom!

It was a good day at Nook and Cranny!

How was YOUR weekend?

I am linking you to two of my favorite blogs today. Check them out! They have TONS of fun ideas!

Moving On

This is a strange season for me. My youngest child, my only son is finishing his public school days. This journey began for me in August of 1985 when our oldest, Sarah skipped off to her first day of kindergarten. If I did my math correctly that is 23 years of having children in public school. That's a long time folks! It's a lot of lunch boxes, brown bags, spiral notebooks, new pencils, backpacks, etc...! I feel the passage time in my body. I no longer spring out of bed, ready to do an assembly line of ponytails and ribbons, getting myself and three little girls ready for a day at school. Richard wakes up at least an hour before me. He makes his own lunches and patiently waits for his old mother to hobble down the stairs, bleary-eyed and groggy.
I love him! He is so much like his father in the way he treats me. He is kind and patient. He compliments me and always asks how I am feeling.

I looked all through my external hard drive for these photos and couldn't find them. I got out the old scrap books and took pictures of pictures, which is why they are blurry!

 

Here is Richard with his Mom (me!) the day he first met his teacher for Kindergarten
He was so proud of his Star Wars backpack and loved the huge Darth Maul band Aide on his scraped-up knee!

This is Richard after he came homeon his first day of Kindergarten in August of 2000.

If I could go back 13 years and whisper in my own ear I would tell myself to be the same kind of mother I had always been but to be brave. The ride was going to be rough and painful. While Richard has brought great joy to our lives, he has faced challenges that have given all of us sorrow too. I don't really want to focus on that but just recognize that it is a reality. He has struggled mightily, more than anyone but his Dad and I will ever know. We work with him daily, trying not to cross the line of taking over and doing it all for him. We pray for him daily, that the discouragements of the past will be replaced by a desire to achieve and continue on in his learning. He has two classes to finish through Electronic High School before he will receive his diploma. He is still working to complete some assignments at Lone Peak in order to receive credit. There will be no cap and gown, but there will be a great sigh of relief and a sense of accomplishment on all of our parts.

A few weeks ago, in meeting with one of Richard's counselors Dee was told, "just do it for him. He is so intelligent, he knows his stuff and he will be fine".  Dee offered to help Richard complete some pointless, tedious assignments that he had been putting off. Richard would have no part of that. "That would be lying Dad. I need to do it myself." Did I mention that I LOVE him?

So, while hundreds of young people are marching into the Marriot Center on Thursday in full ceremony, my son and I are going out for ice cream. We will come home and get back to work on the EHS classes. He will finish. He will go on and be a wonderful, good man.

Last Sunday Richard received his Seminary Recognition certificate for completing four years of LDS Seminary. I cried through the whole evening. Where has the time gone? I am so proud of my son and his love of the Gospel of Christ and his love of the Church. This certificate is very important to me. I wanted to take a picture of him as he shook the Stake President's hand. It was the nearest thing I'd get to a graduation photo but can you do that in the chapel? I resisted. This is what we got instead...

I love you Buddy!

Generations

So...I typed this post last Saturday but did not finish it until today. Running to catch up with life, as usual!

The Little House on the Corner has been bursting with people and love lately. Diana and Lucas have flown home to their sunny beaches and Nick. My mother is here. She came to visit me but also to meet Lucas for the first time, It was sweet! As I type this post I am expecting the arrival of two of my nieces, my oldest sister Sharon's daughters, & their children. One of these nieces, Jalyn, is just four years younger than me and is the mother of nine, yes, NINE sweet children who are mostly grown now. She is bringing her two youngest sons. Annie is Sharon's youngest child and she is coming with her five little ones and her fun husband Cory. They are coming to see Grandma Helen and in the case of the kids, Great-Grandma Helen! Later on today another niece Emily will arrive from Provo with her father Steve. Em is my youngest sister Georgena's daughter and she is a BYU student. Steve is currently living and working in Ogden, far from his Colorado home and his sweet wife. We get to see them frequently on weekends but they are coming today especially to see that Grandma-Great! Hots and burgers will be on the grill this evening and thankfully the weather is finally behaving. It is a glorious 75 right now and I am in heaven. The only thing missing are my usual Mother's Day flowers that the Master and I go pick out the Saturday before. He buys me my hanging basket for the summer and I choose some pretties to put in my pots. Sadly, he is on a recruiting trip for BYU today but will be home tomorrow. I won't do the flowers without him so they will just have to wait. It's tradition, you know!

There will be five generations in the Little House today. Wow. Pictures will be taken and I am excited! Here are a few generational pictures I  insisted on before I took Diana & Lucas to the airport.

 This one cracks me up. My mother didn't want her picture taken because she was still in her robe although she had showered and put on her make-up. Rachel thought she would be sneaky and get her in anyway, A sneak attack Four Generation shot!

Lucas and I getting in a few extra hugs.                                                         We crack each other up!

 

We finally got Grandma Helen in one. Not bad either!

Lucas, his mother Diana, her mother Marianne (me!), and my mother Helen.

Four generations.

Done!

Here are the pictures we took on Saturday night. We had an extra surprise because the girls called their brother Norman, who lives in Logan and he came too with his darling wife Svetlana. It was so good to have them all here. Grandma loved seeing them!

 Back: Norman Black, Jalyn Black Bertagnolli, & Thomas Bertagnolli, Middle: Sveta Black, Helen Ellsworth, Annie Black Hadley & Cory Hadley. Front: Mason, Trace, Kennadee, Jaxon, & Olivia Hadley.

Emily Faria, Sveta & Norman Black, Thomas Bertagnolli, Helen Ellsworth, Steven Faria, Jalyn Bertagnolli, & Marianne (me!).

 In the photo below just add Annie on the end!

Helen Ellsworth with Great-grandson Thomas Bertagnolli who will leave in early July to serve a mission for our church to Ohio. His mom is Jalyn and in the second photo she and Grandma are sharing memories about my sister Sharon who we lost to cancer in 2007.

I have been wanting this picture for awhile too. This is my mother with her oldest and youngest grandchildren, my son Richard who is nearly 18 and my niece Jalyn who is...ahem! (four years younger than me!)

 

Here is our BYU student Emily hugging Grandma goodbye before she heads back to Provo. She is my younger sister Gena's daughter.

 

We had a wonderful visit, good barbecue, and fabulous desserts including cheese cake and a yummy Russian cake that Sveta brought! I put on a few pounds but may have lost them again playing Farkle with everyone.

 I won!!