Hettinger Happenings

We took advantage of a perfect Saturday late April and headed up to Sugarhouse to have a picnic and visit with Jordan. We got KFC and sat by the stream. The kids loved playing in the water! We all decided to head to City Creek in Salt Lake City to show everyone around the new amazing mall. Zoey Knows How To Eat Fried Chicken! Yum!

The little town Milton had a parade. Charly's school was in it. It went right passed Jessica's house. The school is very small and the principal has a dream job. She knows each kid by name with plenty of hugs She has my dream job. There is a picture of the principal on the float.

Well my journaling group writing on various topics. The first is places where we've lived. I loved my home growing up in Silver Lake. I grew up at 204 Lakeview Avenue, East White Plains , NY . Some call it East White Plains , some say West Harrison , but to those who lived there it was Silver Lake . Silver Lake was a predominately Italian hamlet or oasis. Most of the families lived there for generations. Our roots went back to the Mauro and Galasso families. Great-grandfather Galasso owned a lot of property and he has his wife, Victoria , had 10 children. Five boys and five girls. The girls inherited money and each son received a home on Lakeview Avenue . My grandfather, Nicholas, the oldest son, received #204. 204 was a duplex home on the level part of the hill that was Lakeview. My mother grew up there on the left-hand side with my grandparents and her brother and sister. My grandparents still lived there when we moved into the right hand side in the 1960’s....

Hey Gang, Well, I personally love our old blog....but a lot has changed in our family....so do we keep a record of what's passed and continue posting on the old blog....or start fresh???

Yesterday was a perfect earth day!! We celebrated in a good way. Jess bought a little sapling tree and she and Charly planted it in a pot for now. Charly helped me clean up some flowers beds and she collected worms! Then Dad and I watched the Live or Life documentary on cable at night. I woke up thinking that God created the universe perfectly and "it passes all my understanding how it all works out just right, the distance that we live from the sun and the stars that shine at night."

I was so touched by this show -- well most of it and the need for compassion and charity around the world. We are so fortunate and so blessed and have a real obligation to give back. Never pass up the opportunity to show love and be generous, especially to children. Anyway -- the highlight of the night was a family fav of ours "Stairway to Heaven" performed by Mary J. Blige (loved her hair by the way) and Randy Jackson and the amazing guitarist who played for Michael Jackson. I can't pronounce or spell her name but she is also performing at the K104 Fest (which I could go)... But Anyway - I hope you enjoy it!!

Karen Wall had surgery on her knee. So, last night I brought over a pot of vegetable soup, some pillsbury rolls I had in the fridge and a cherry cool whip pie. Nothing fancy at all!! But boy, we had a best time. Couldn't have had more laughs and good conversation if we had gone to a fancy restaurant. I realized that we don't have to go crazy doing nice things for a our friends. Sometimes it is better to KISS, Keep It Simple, Suzanne!! Here's my recipe -- YUMMY!! Vegetable Tortellini Soup Olive oil in the bottom of the pot Minced garlic (spoonfuls) 1 box chicken broth 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes carrots, zuchinni, green pepper (you can decide what veggies you want) 1/2 bag of spinach bring it all to a boil 1 bag of your favorite tortellini It's that simple and cheap too!!

Well, once a week we go out to eat. Our little date. Usually it's lunch, but tonight we went out for St. Patty's Day dinner. He always tells me little things I didn't know. Tonight he was telling me when we had a Mets player living in our house. Actually, it was my grandma's 1/2 of the house. His name was Ralph Terry and his wife and two boys. I guess my father saw an announcement on TV looking for housing for Mets players and he called. The baseball agents came to look at the house, and then Ralph Terry himself came. Finally they moved in for baseball season 1967. We were the most popular family in town, you can imagine. Boys would follow me home from school. They would stand outside our house waiting to get a glimpse of Ralph Terry or an autograph. Skipper and I had fun playing with the Terry boys. Boy they were crazy. They did things we weren't allowed to do, like jump on grandma's couch from the steps!! Did I mention he was a pitcher for ...

Enjoy this video. It's written by a mom and it's describing the "art" of a wise mom letting go. It's something I've not yet mastered entirely. I long for those Sundays when we would gather in the living room and we would just be silly. Or you would be silly and I would try to give a serious lessons. Or you would dance or sing or play the piano. Or we'd play Scrabble. Can't you guys just come back on Sundays??? I love you guys. Miss you all too much.

So, I would like us to be all together, especially since Bry and Kristie are going to be leaving soon for Utah. This might be our last chance for a little while. (I am trying not to cry!) Since we can't meet 1/2 way at Stacey and Jake's because they have house guests, I thought we could try for an amusement park. I thought we could meet on Friday, Hersey has that you enter the park for two hours the night before for free. Maybe we can even let the kids play at the indoor pool. Saturday we can spend at the park and Sunday we could have an Easter devotional and breakfast. Maybe we could even fit in an Easter egg hunt around the hotel for the kids. It is conference weekend. It would be nice to be able to catch it on our laptops. This is what I have come up with so far. Williamsburgh -- Busch Gardens -- I loved it, but it's a bit far for us to travel back on Sunday. And you all thought the roller coasters were just okay. HersheyPark -- is lovely. Good roller coaste...

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. - Mignon McLaughlin

If you can get dad a guitar and a cowboy hat and teach him this song - I would be in heaven....it is EXACTLY what I have been saying.....I thought I loved dad when fell in love and married him, but it is NOTHING to the way I feel about him now -- in 30 years, you'll know what I mean Then by Brad Paisley I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you You had me mesmorized And three weeks later, in the front porch light taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight I hadn't told you yet but I thought I loved you then And now you're my whole life now you're my whole world I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl Like a river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been. We've come so far since that day And I thought I loved you then And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you, You were so surprised There were people around, but I didn't care Got down on one knee right there once again, I th...

Temple I Have Been To: When I joined the church in 1977, there were a handful of temples. My goal, then, was to visit each one of them. Now in 2010, there are well over a hundred temples!! I will probably never achieve my goal of going to all the temples, but I want to go to as many as I can. Here’s a list of which ones I have been to: • Washington DC • Boston • Manhattan • Logan • Mt. Timpanogo • Las Vegas • Mesa • Salt Lake City Boy, my list is short, but I do try to go as often as I can. At least once a month. I hope I can add some new temples this year!!

fWell I was watching the skiing on the Olympics yesterday and it brought back a memory of my father watching skiing on TV so intently. He really loved it. Especially in '68 when the Olympics were in France. He only wished he could have been there. It made me think of what an amazing skiier Poppy must have been. He was stationed near Innsbruck, Austria in WW II and was in the French Ski Troops. We still have his old wooden skiis. Dad reminded me how what it must be like to ski in the Austrian Alps. He had to have been an expert skiier. Nothing here in the US compares to that. It must have been really, really cold. Not only did Poppy have to ski down the moutains, but he had to climb back up with his skiis on his back. I never saw my father ski. He loved to watch it on TV, but had to desire to ever go on skiis again.

What was your best Christmas????? What was the best gift you received???? I think for me, my favorite Christmas, is the one when it snowed and snowed. Instead of opening gifts first thing in the morning, we drove down to White Plains and had Christmas "breakfast" with grandma and uncle. Then, we came home and opened our gifts. Later that day, we took dad's truck over to Aunt Julie and Uncle Bob's. Remember dad put you kids in the back under the trap......That had to be the best ever because nothing was planned and everything just happened and we had so much fun. My best gift is, probably, without doubt, the little doll outfits my mom made for me one year. She had the flu on Christmas and was in bed for a week. But apparently, while sick in bed, she hand-sewed each little outfit. Seams, snaps, trims and all. I treasured those for a long long time.

So I had dinner with Uncle last night. He said they didn't have enough work for him this week. When I started to question him about it and tell him I was going to call his job coach to see what was going on, he hung his head down low. "Oh, I told them I was on vacation....I needed a break." He called it a "white lie" and said he was sorry and he would never do it again. So when I questioned him about why Kate wasn't calling....he said "I told her I was on vacation too." So then I thought maybe he really does want to go on vacation!!!

Yesterday was Memorial Day and we were at the Walls for Family Home Evening. We had a discussion of Patriotism and love of country. Dad shared some really great thoughts. One was on his impression of the Vietnam Wall Memorial in Washington DC. He said it has a sacredness to it and was a very spiritual experience for him to be there. He talked about the 52,000 young men that gave their lives for this country. Then he spoke of D-Day in Normandy, France and that great great sacrifice of those young men. The boats landed on Normandy and the doors opened and the Germans were there waiting. The first 5 rows of men were shot instantly. The water turned blood red. He told about that sacrifice and the freedoms we take for granted. While he spoke, he cried. It reminded me of the stories I heard growing up of WWII. My father grew up in France listening to Hilter on the radio. He was 13 when Hilter invaded Paris. My grandfather was serving in the France Army (he also served in the ...

Jake and I are just dying to know if our little bugger is a boy or a girl!! We find out next Wed at 3pm. I've been looking up old wives tale predictions and this is what I've found Reasons I could be having a girl: ~It was my first initial thought when I found out I was Preg! ~ Face has been breaking out more than usual. Reason I could be having a boy: ~Jake says so! ~Did not have morning sickness...at least no throwing up ~Crave salty foods WAY more than sweet ~Chinese Predictor said BOY ~My hair has not been dry Anyone have any guesses?? Regardless I am excited and I just hope the baby is healthy and all is going smoothly in there!

These are some pictures from sunday night. I threw Bryant a surprise party, it was so much fun! I also surprised him with tickets to see the Mets play the Nationals in June, Go Mets!!! I hope you had a great day! We Love you!