I can’t believe it’s May. Where did April go? Spring is here in all it’s glory. Nothing too newsworthy happened last week. In fact, I can’t even remember it went so fast. I enjoyed Megan’s review. She was in about every number. Most of them were over before I recognized her. She’s really growing up. The wigs she wore disguised her. She is really getting to be a good dancer.

Yesterday was a good day. I went to church intending to resign from my church job. I have led the singing for so long I am getting tired of myself. The ward sang so bad last week I decided they needed a change. However, as I was leading the opening song (Welcome Welcome Sabbath Morning) I glanced over to the Deacon’s. Davey is President of the Teacher’s quorum and was helping pass the sacrament. I saw him and the other boys singing. I got so excited I decided to stay with the job a little longer.

Writing a note each week is a good time to let you all know how much I love the Gospel and all the different callings I have had. My parents weren’t active (at least my Dad). Mom sang with the singing mothers but I don’t think she ever had a church calling. Her calling was just being an incredible Mom and raising ten children. Nevertheless, all my life I knew the church was true. My parents always made sure I went to church. Even when I was a teenager. If I went out on Saturday night, I had to go to church the next morning. They never preached but taught us in the way they lived. They were always kind and honest. I knew what was expected of me. My Dad sat on his chair next to the stove and read from his Bible daily. I am so grateful that I was raised in a good home and was taught gospel principles. I know that the church is true, I have never doubted that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that everything he said is true. It was fun that Martin Harris was our uncle. In fact, we always called him Uncle Martin. (My funny Dad said all our bad features (like big feet) were inherited from Martin Harris. Pop quoted scriptures and made up a song about the Bible characters that he read about.

You are all such good kids and I feel my parents deserve some of the credit. Email me if you read this (pollystir@msn.com) Love, Grandma

Sunday Morning

It’s another day in the life of Grandma Polly. The days are adding up.
I feel good this morning. I’m looking forward to the day. We will go to Metcalf’s for Nicole’s birthday dinner. I wish everyone could be here.
I remember the day Nicole was born. I think the whole family was there.
Every time a grandchild was born was a wonderful day for me. I remember each day and how happy Grandpa and I were. I’m always nostalgic on days like today. It seems such a short time since Grandpa and I were young and married. Time goes so fast.

Let’s see. What has happened to me since I wrote this blog. Wednesday I was teaching Cleora her clog (rhymes with blog) lesson. I looked out and the hillside was on fire. Good grief, not again. The men working on the West field started it by accident. They were crushing rocks and ignited a spark. It took about fifteen minutes to engulf the entire hillside. Cleora wanted to stop the lesson, but I just closed the door and danced through the whole thing. The developers had lots of equipment that they used (their water tank turned over on the hillside) The town fire department came. I think they burned my landfill. I’ll never know what went up in flames. This morning it’s sprinkling. Everything looks fresh and clean. Fires are a great way to get rid of the weeds.


I was awakened the other morning by what sounded like an earthquake.
Bruce (working on my yard) had a load of rocks dumped on the road
coming up the hill. Actually, it was more than a load, It looks like an entire mountainside. I‘ve changed my attitude. I‘ve decided to let Brucie take over. If I don‘t like what he‘s doing, it will be time for me to move on

I just came home from the Birthday dinner.It was the usual gourmet food. Cindy is a good hostess. The tables were set so pretty. Nicole got some great presents. Buster seemed a little depressed, otherwise everyone was in good spirits. Church was good today. I had asked David to sing before he was asked to speak. He spoke on the Atonement and sang “O Lord My Redeemer.” The entire day was special and I feel so blessed tonight. I love you all.

Pictures

Here is the family at Kari's Wedding and Becky's Farewell. We created some wonderful memories again. Of course my favorite part about the wedding was the beautiful bride. I loved watching Kari smile. Being all toagther at the temple is just a little bit of the joy that we'll feel when we are all together for eternity.
Flying home with Ron as my pilot was an exciting way to end the trip.

The happiest day is when your grand children make righteous choices. Becky has made meso proud by choosing to go on a mission. I know there is somebody in Chile waiting just for Becky.

Monday, April 16th, 2007

Here’s my second blog news already. It will be much like the first. Time is going too fast. It’s very unnerving for me. I guess for the rest of you the time passing fast is good, but for me there’s just not enough time left to do all the things that should have been done by now. I’ve got 50 years of
geneology to catch up on, and I need to make a quilt a week to get all my scrap material used.
It was a fun weekend. Jenny came Saturday to bring Taylee to a dance competition. She is a cute little girl and danced well. She was so excited to have her Grandpa, Tommy, Cindy and Gr. Grandma there. Tony and
Jordon also came. Jordon talks a lot and is a cute little boy. They came for pancakes Sunday morning. Unfortunately, my pancakes aren’t like they used to be. I put too much liquid in them. The last rolls I made, I put too
much flour and they were hard as rocks. Cindy, Michelle, Bea and Bev and my Granddaughters have all surpassed me in cooking skills. It’s probably time for me to sit in my rocker and watch from the corner
Saturday night the town had a fund raiser variety show. I danced with my old ladies. I have decided that as long as Tony Bennet can still sing, I can keep on dancing, I just don’t want to bring shame to my family, and I
also don’t want to become known as the dancing great grandma . The news spread all over town that Sister Stirland had a stroke. I hope by dancing I squelched that rumor. Davey, Bea, and Sarah danced. If it had been a contest they would have won easily.
If you could see what’s happening all around me you just would be shocked. The developers don’t want me to enjoy my solitude. They have attacked the land to the West of me with bulldozers, dynamite, rock crushers, and more. It’s kind of fun to watch but also sad that the wonderful desert land behind me is gone. It was bound to happen. Nothing stays the same forever. Maybe my health problems were given to me for a purpose, so that I wouldn’t care about the little things like where I live. I’m not ready to join Grandpa yet. If he could e-mail me he would probably say, “Take your time, but hurry”.

Easter at Grandma's House

April 9, 2007

This is my first letter to all of you on my computer. It’s just amazing that I’m still alive to communicate this way. Now if my brain is still functioning, I’ll send all of you my love and Easter greetings.
As I write, my memories are taking me on a joyous trip back in time. I am remembering my own Easter picnics in Idaho. It was a tradition to carry our picnic basket with our lunch. We always had boiled eggs (my favorite) wieners to roast, buns, and
Marshmallows. I liked it when I had a Hostess cupcake in my basket. Every year I would go with my sisters, brothers, and
some of our neighbors. We usually walked down the railroad track to the school playground. Sometimes we would go the other direction until we found a grassy spot with trees. If it rained we would eat our lunch upstairs on the beds. As I got older, I would
go with school friends. I usually had a new Easter dress made by my Mom. We celebrated every holiday with our immediate family. No one had money to travel very far. We never celebrated with cousins. aunts and uncles like you kids do. One year we did go with our Harris cousins and neighbors. Everyone of the children had the whopping cough. That’s an Easter I’ve never forgotten.
I have such happy memories of my childhood. I hope that each of you will have wonderful memories of Easter egg hunts at Grandma Stirland’s house. As you grow older, times will change. You will make your own traditions. You will write a letter like this to your own grandchildren, or maybe by then there will be an even faster way to communicate. Try this fast method now. Close your eyes and think about your Grandma because she is saying how much she loves each of you.
Love, Grandma Polly