Bunko, Pajama Night and American Idol Finale

Wednesday was Bunko. Our Bunko group has been going for almost 15 years now. Jenny and I are the only originals left. There has been cheaters, grippers, awful food, cat fights, none payers, etc. Turi and Laney have come and gone a few times. One night one of the girls did not show up with the prizes. When we called to see where she was, her husband said she was at a "Get Organized" class. This group is is awesome. We all get along so well and have great times and tons of laughs. I just love you all. We wore our pajama's last night and had breakfast food for our dinner. Teri had it at her beautiful home. We had to watch the finale of "American Idol". Could not believe that David Archaletta did not win. Oh well, Utah won--we have him in our state.

CSI Season Finale

Normally I do not get worked up about season finale's--but this one was hard to take! The way it ended was just wrong! It was so unbelievable, that I had to watch it again. WOW. Can't get it out of my head......

can't get away fast enough

Mother's Day

I had a great and wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday. Never did make it to church though. Just had to much to do for our family dinner that evening. Nothing is better than spending the day with my loved ones. I love you all!!!! Here are some gifts of love that I received that day:

Heck of a Job, Georgie!

I just heard on the news that George Bush's approval rating is at a whooping 31%. That is the lowest that it has ever been. Apparently is does not care, because he does do anything to improve it. He blames the gas prices on congress and their lack of doing something. Lives lost in Iraq keep going up, up , up.

When President Clinton left office, gas prices were $1.50. Remember that one if you are thinking of voting for a republican president in the fall.........

A Wedding and a Funeral.....

I have a dear friend Kathy, who just recently had a wedding for her son Adam. I had the privilege of helping her with the wedding luncheon at Camp Williams. It was a wonderful day for all, and the bride and groom had a great turn out and a yummy luncheon. Kathy is my neighbor and "always there" friend. I just love her to pieces. She is always there with comfort food, like rice pudding! At one point in time we even shared the same number on the scales! How is that one?

This past Saturday evening, May 3rd, her son Ben was found dead in her yard. They had just celebrated Ben's son Skylar's 2nd birthday that evening. Ben had gone out for a minute, and never came back. Kathy went looking for him and found him laying in the yard. Her family and friends have gathered around her and she will be fine, given time. Kathy, hang in there. I love you tonz.
Here are some of the pictures of the wedding:

Here are some pictures that I took the day of the funeral for Ben:

Melissa's shoes--from Target

As we were leaving the restuarant, we could not help but notice what darling shoes Melissa was wearing:

Murphy girl's Night OUT

On Thursday, April 24 we had our first Murphy Girl's Night Out at Los Hermanos in Lindon. Everyone was there except two of my girls, Ashleigh and Jenny, who were too busy and had too much going on. Austin just got home from his National Guard Training, and he is a green beret now. Him and Bill came down just to say HI and visit. Austin looks so good! What a lady's man. No wonder they called him "Stud-muffin" in high school. We were totally out of control and irreverent, and I am sure the restaurant was glad to see us leave. We are planning on having this activity once a month, so we can get together more often. Those attending were:

Natalie, Miriam, Gayle, Breann, Stephanie, Dawn, Melissa, Sharon and Haylee

My trip to Colorado City

Last October (2007) Joel and I went to St. George, Utah for his annual "Tournament of the Goons", or TOG as it is called. That is where his buddies from high school (BY High) get together for a weekend of food, fun, and golf. They have a golf tournament where prizes are awarded, etc. The best part for me is the food--always good. The host was Ray Beckham. His wife Elaine, rescues women and girls from polygamy. She runs a non profit organization and basically helps women escape, and puts them up in a safe house, etc. On Saturday, she had a rented van and some women in her neighborhood had donated some very nice furniture for this safe house that has been established in Colorado City. This safe house belongs to the trust that oversees the property in Colorado City. Joel and I went with her, and some other volunteers, to deliver the furniture to the safe house. It was quite the experience to be able to go there with someone that knew what was going on there. This home had 27,000 square feet, with 17 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, along with a huge industrial sized kitchen. A former polygamist and her husband run this place. There were all kinds of people living there at the time. We spent the afternoon, moving boxes, furniture and visiting. As soon as we arrived there, the people who live there started driving by, checking out what was going on. I stood by the curb with my camera, and they didn't want their picture taken, so they didn't stay.

Joel and the "keeper of the inn"

Joel and his women--the former polygamists who helped with the moving.

On the far right is Sara Hammond. Her mother is still in polygamy, and her father is dead. He didn't even know who she was when she lived in

the compound. She had 11 mothers. Her mother is in a wheel chair and lives in Centennial Park, and is taken care of there. Sara wants to get her out of there, but where would she go at her age???????

The view from the back of the house

Sara again. She is so bitter towards men, she said she will NEVER get married, EVER.

Local children walking by

These two girls are sisters, and asked Joel if he was a reporter. They live nearby and work at the restaurant "The Merry Wives". These girls would love to leave, but don't dare. They are the sisters of the home's caretaker, who's name I can't remember!

My poor cat

Snuggles, our 18 year old cat is in BAD SHAPE. He wondered into our yard years ago as a beautiful kitten, and never left. I am not one to be a lover of cats, especially when we have dogs. Over the years he has been shot with bb guns, been in numerous fights, had his ears almost torn off, etc. He has been the cat with nine lives and still going. Last winter we did not think he would survive another year. He is in our garage sitting next to a portable heater. Last winter he quit taking care of himself, as in fur balls and matted fur. He always had been such a well groomed cat. He can barely walk now, but he still eats his food. No one in this family has the "guts" to do something humane to him. My son -in-law Eric offered to take him to the west desert and shot him......... Natalie thought that was horrible. When the Wimmer's were getting ready to go camping a few weeks ago, Chloee asked if Snuggles was coming along to be killed. Judge for yourself:

POLYGAMY

Polygamy is alive and well in America. With this attention being paid to those "folks" in Texas, I can't help but post thoughts of my own. My own great, great grandfather GEORGE REYNOLDS was the LDS church scapegoat for polygamy. He was the "test case" for polygamy in "Reynolds v. United States", the first freedom of religion case to go to court. He was a general authority for the LDS Church , and a longtime secretary to the First Presidency. He married his first wife, my g-g grandmother Mary Ann Tuddenham. Later he took on his second wife, Amelia Jane Schofield. The court rejected Reynold's argument that the Latter-day Saint practice of polygamy was protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. His conviction was upheld and he was imprisoned in Utah and then to the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. He was released after serving his full sentence of five years. Apparently he did not learn his lesson from being in prison, and upon his release, he took on yet his third wife, Mary Gould. My great grandmother Amelia Reynolds was his oldest child. She took care of everyone. Two of the wives were sickly, and it was her job to take care the home. My grandpa suffered a nervous breakdown in 1907 as a result of stress ( too wives and too many children?) and overwork. He died in SLC at the age of 68 and had a total of three wives and thirty two children.***

***information from family records and Wikipedia.com

Today polygamy is against the law. The LDS church does not condone it, and does not practice it anymore. Ever. To my non-LDS friends--the Mormons have nothing to do with these polygamists. Mormon women do not wear goofy long clothes, and poofy hair with a braid down the back. I personally do not believe that polygamy will fly in the hereafter. NO woman in her right mind would put up with it. Agree?

Pneumonia, crashed computer,etc

I feel like most of this year has been a bust, waste, or whatever. On January 11, I had my hand surgery, and had an arm cast for a month, most of which was spent in bed due to muscle spasms and pain. The spasms were from the removal of the tendon that reconstructed my thumb and joint. Then there was the trauma of physical (pain) therapy. That lasted for another two months. Before that was over, I contracted pneumonia, and spent ten days in bed coughing, coughing, coughing. It was weird, because the sickness came on really fast--like within an half hour. I was surprised how fast it attacked. I still have a cough and feel not so good, but I am up and going. Then this week my computer froze, and Ashleigh is trying to clean it by erasing everything. The hard drive is probably corrupted, so I am still waiting to get it back. In the meantime I am working from my slow laptop---and it is slow. I'm glad that April is here and maybe spring is around the corner.......

My hand and thumb looks deformed now, and I get to get the other hand done when I get the courage--maybe next January. That is a good time because it is winter and nothing is going on.

The Gumpster Syndrome

Just what is the "Gumpster Syndrome" you ask? It is when an old fart loses his spouse to death, and then goes kinda nutty. You have to be at least 65 years old, and have nothing to offer someone. You have to be really good at lying. As soon as their wife is laid to rest, the vulture women come calling. Never mind the older, more mature woman, it is the younger single mother kind, who has at least three or more teenagers. Of course they don't receive any kind of child support, and they own nothing, ya know, the kind that rents. But if you are lucky, they might own a beat up van with worn out tires. They are more than happy to take over where the mother left off. They say that they don't want anything that belongs to the first wife, but won't let the man give anything of value to the kids. That territory is theirs , because they have their hook in now, and marriage is just days away. Never mind that the man collects pensions and social security, that is better than nothing. The best thing is that these men can marry in the temple more than once, so temple wedding it is! When the wedding day comes, the couple cannot figure out why everyone is crying, and really doesn't' want to be there. I didn't bother to show up. Could it be that the loved one hasn't been in the ground long enough? Or could it be that the loved one was really loved, and now missed a lot? Don't bother giving gifts, they have it all. The new wife is younger than your own daughter and is anxious to be "grandma " to the grand kids. The new groom gets to look forward to giving away his new step children at their weddings, and maybe even get to send a few on a mission. Life is great. The family is now fractured beyond belief, and no one comes to the family gatherings anymore. Every one does their own thing and hopes someday someone will come to their senses. But the new wife is happy. She gets to serve dinner on the dead wife's china, gets the sewing machine, and makes sure nothing material leaves the house. The "old family" is no longer welcome in the new home. the love nest. It never gets better..........

This has happened twice in our family. Two people that I really love are suffering right now. Judy doesn't even have a headstone on her grave.........