Monday, July 30, 2012

Strawberry Salad



I had a lot of request for the Strawberry Salad recipe that I served on Sunday. My good friend told me about it at my daughters piano lesson.

For a large group of people I doubled everything.

Two big bags of Romaine
One big bag of fresh Spinach
Rinse
As many Strawberries as you can afford!
Rinse and slice
One package of Slivered Almonds
(or you can sugar coat Pecans as well)

Dressing
2/3 cup of Canola Oil
2/3 cup of sugar
Lemon zest and juice from two lemons
                                                      Mix all together right before you serve.

                                                                           Enjoy!



Friday, July 27, 2012

Sundance Theatre

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers





It was an excellent show!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Idaho 2012



Whitney Ranch








My baby brother Ward Whitney.


Ward, his wife Shannon and their family.


Jewel's first driving lesson.


Can you see the original biffy?

Lava Hot Springs

                                                                        Jake
                                                                              GW
Jen

 Jewels

Bakers Ranch




We got a wagon all to ourselves.


Brigham City Temple








Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Home at Last



Joy!




Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Gardening in July



                                                This year I planted two new fruits.

                                                                    Cantaloupe


                                                                  Raspberries



                  I had to cover the berries with a bird net so there would be something left for us.
                                                        They sure do taste yummy!


                    This peach tree was planted last year.  There are twelve little green peaches on it.

                             All the peas have been picked and I'm ready to plant the fall seeds.

                                 My favorite place to sit on a hot day and in the cool evening.


                                             New flowers this summer, "Forget Me Not".


Always happy to welcome the same flowers year after year.










Tuesday, July 10, 2012

EIGHT MORE DAYS !!!


Jacob's last email to us.
I'm going to be brief this week. I'm only 15 days from being home and I'm getting TRUNKY! :P
The scout encampment was a total success. From the sounds of it, all 900+ boys had a very spiritual time. For the evening Devotionals they were able to arrang for several very renoun EFY speakers, as well as our area 70 Elder Christanson. Lots of the areas across Alaska are starting to see some results of the boys time there, ourselves included. Saturday evening Elder Williams and I recieved a call from a boy named Donovan Novak, whom we've been trying to contact and have sit down with for the last 3 months. Though posative towards his experiences with the church so far (He's best friends with the Guy boys, a family in our ward), he was pretty impartial about joining himself. But the camp changed that. He loved it, and wants to be baptized and get the priesthood as soon as possible. After sitting down with him Sunday night, that was decided to be July 21st. So that's exciting. I won't be around anymore, but it'll be good having the lessons with him in my last two weeks. We'll be meeting a couple times a week.
That's about all that's new on my end of the tube. I love all of you so much! Can't wait to see you soon. Expect to get a couple packages sometime in the next week or two, I'll be sending home some of my aquisitions that won't fit in my luggage on the way home.
Jacob





Monday, July 2, 2012

My Dad Bruce


When my dad was born on January 17, 1934 he was named Leslie Abernanthe.  His birth place was Grand Junction, Colorado.  Due to neglect and abuse the Colorado Social Family Services took my father at the age of five and his siblings to an orphanage.  Shortly there after my father was adopted, never to see his brothers and sisters again.

My grandparents, Beatrix and Kenneth Leon Whitney changed my dads name to Bruce Black Whitney.  It was probably quite an adjustment for a small boy to go from extreme poverty to a very comfortable life style.  My grandparents also adopted a young girl after my dad.  I can't remember if her name was changed, but she was known as Jan.
Bruce started piano and violin lessons at a very young age.  He became so successful playing the violin that by the time he was seventeen he was playing first chair with the Community Symphony in Denver, Colorado.


At the age of eighteen my dad joined the Marines.
I remember as a young girl my dad told me that he had gotten injured during the war.  He said a very large black man carried him for many miles in the frozen snow. The conditions in North Korea were terrible and the temperatures plunged as low as -35 F.  My dad never really talked about the war much.  Before we got our camper we always slept in a large army tent. I always thought it was old and ugly.  I tried not to complain because I loved going camping and being in the mountains.



After the war dad was stationed near Ogden, Utah and met my mom at a dance.  He was baptized around the time of their marraige into the mormon faith.  My parents moved to Greely, Colorado where dad went to college to become a Speech Therapist like my Grandfather.  After dad graduated, my parents and older brother moved to Iowa where dad started working.  I was born in Cherokee, Iowa but shortly after my birth we moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa where my parents bought their first home.



That's about the time I started remembering our family life.  There were fire bugs in the summer and we became very close to a few other families in our ward.  The missionaries lived in our house upstairs in a small apartment for a short period of time.  I have many fond memories of Iowa, it was very green.

We moved to Bountiful, Utah when I was around seven years of age. My mom wanted to be closer to her family so dad found a job with the Davis County School District. Dad also found a close friend in Bountiful.  His name was Willard Johansen and they went fishing together on many weekends.  My parents joined a square dancing group called, "The Whitney Whirlers".  We went on some really fun camping trips in the summer with the square dancers families.  One of my most memorable trips was just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the Teton Lodge camp grounds.  My parents would dance at the lodge and while us kids played near a big beautiful lake.



Grandma Trix's 83rd Birthday
Dad was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis while I was serving my mission in Rochester, New York. When I got home he could barely walk.  He suffered a very long illness and died 1996, three months before our third child was born.


These are some of dad's paintings.  He also planted a seed in my heart for gardening.  We always had classical music going on in our house. Dad had the speakers wired every where including outside. That way he could listen to violins while pulling weeds. The song I remember him playing on the piano was, Clair de Lune.  He didn't play it that much but it was so beautiful it will always have a special place in my heart.


I'm sure Bruce is watching my family here on earth.  I hope he is at peace and happy where ever he is.