Summer 2008 Tomasi and I playing music

This one here, Tomasi and I were at Vern Kai'eakamanu's fairwell concert in June 2009. This was before we knew that Tomasi had cancer. Vern plays the uke and banjo and Tomasi and Vern would get together often, not often enough I can say that. Betty (a haole like me) and I would just love it when they would play music together. Wonderful family. We miss them lots.
this was the harp I had in 2008 at that same little "fair" in 2008...fun fun.
A real fun guitarest joined us for a few tunes as well....love doing music. He was a missionary on the "flats" and has gone to his home already. We find soooooooooo many friends here in Nauvoo and more come every year. 2008
I must have been explaining a song. ha. funny face. I now put my dulcimer on a table as it's a wide dulcimer? not really, I just look better playing it on a little T.V. wooden tray I got from Walmart. ha. 2008

Okay, folks, here are some pictures that our good friends took while they were here in Nauvoo in 2008. There was a little "fair" in the courtyard and we were playing music and having fun. He sent me these via email. yeah, I was able to put in my blog. oh my sooooooooooooo much to learn. eh?

music and dance at the MAYO

yeah, I know, this looks pretty WILD, but this was a couple that have won national compititions in dancing and the others were dancing later. a beautiful japanese girl with a latino guy. this dance troop did a toe taping show. yes, this is the MAYO clinic at the lunch hour.

ahhhhhhhh, I loved these Japanese girls, they work here and also perform. Our family used to have one of these little tiny blow into it keyboard. Well they had a lovely way of playing this thing. classical music and the little blow keyboard would take the lead and it sounded fantastic.

On Wednesday night after I came home by taxi, this BLUEGRASS BAND was playing in the lobby/restruant where I stayed. talk about cheering me up!! yep.

This was my lucky day.....Yesterday, 7 lap dulcimer players and 3 guitarest's played in the Cafeteria.....and I stayed the whole hour. (while Tomasi slept).............. marvelous, but they are very sweet and soft. I sat close. they have these little stands for their music. yep, more soft when they have them on their laps then on the little table I play my dulicmer on. I loved their choice of music. all over 50 and all so serious when playing.

Today he beat me in Scrabble.

he beat me in Scrabble today and walked 4 times. wow, what a difference a day makes. He'll get more tubes taken out tomorrow. yeah.

when Tomasi first came out.

Well now, He was pretty groggy, but I asked him if he wanted me to take his picture. He said, "okay" and nodded his head. I have other pictures, but these will do for now. this was taken on Thursday 8 Oct. 2009.

sooooooooooooo many tubes.

lastest House photos.

Dave Hardle gave us a "recipe" for the mix for the chinking. yep, pioneers did also use cement chinking when it was available to them. this mix has a color to it. this is Clark's wife and daughter, Hanna and Vicki is doing the mixing. Look up closely at the logs behind them. yep, beautiful. When we're at the right time and ALL the chinking done, then I'll spray a clear varnish on all of it and the color will REALLY come out. beautiful old logs that I wish they could talk and tell me their ancient story of where they grew up and when they were made into a log house in Pennsavania in 1750.
and did I say that I love this family? I wonder why my camera has "orbes" in it? I see them as I look at my blog site. Maybe my lens needs cleaning? somebody tell me.
this youngest boy, Jans, is only 9 and what a joy to be around as well. He's in charge of picking up after his dad and brother....sometimes he does it....I see him through the windows playing pretend games as my boys used to do.
I am amazed on what our new worker CLARK (Kent) Peterson can do in one day. he put in the whole messanien floor and it's all done......now to get STAIRS up to this place. ha.
This is Clark's 14 year old lovely daughter, Hannah. what a jewel. This family came in to work at my house, the Dad his hired, she wanted to "work with the mud" and became a ACE chinker.
this is the 14 year old son, he's a great helper to the max. This family homeschools their children as the dad, Clark, was working all over the country building MALLS, that are not being in the building now a days. This family has just moved to Hamilton, Illinois, a town 15 min away from Nauvoo.
this is Clark Peterson. I've nicknamed him Clark Kent (this was Superman's hidden person) Clark here can do anything. He's hooked up the electric power to the house, done insulation, very fast in sheet work, sooooooooooo self motovated...and when working with his kids, he's so kind to them and teaches as he goes along. His wife came also and helped chink the inside of the house....I LOVE THIS FAMILY.
This is Clark and his son, Joseph, putting up the drywall around the windows. awesome. no easy task and I know it, but they made it seem easy.

Kapua, Angelita and Irene, the happy mom

This is after Angelita surprized me at the airport and we dropped off Sue with her friends and we went to the Kahokia Indian mounds. this was our first photo....I was still shocked....ha. I'll go to these mounds again.
Angelita playing my little harp. I have a harp in my shop that I"m almost done with, but this is what's in my living room.

I don't know if Vicki would appreciate this photo, but this IS A SMALL SEAT...and we're laughing at us both squeeeeezing in it. ha.
and the dulcimer player...

On Sunday, I took the girls to this bench on Mulholland street downtown....I love the looks of this trumpet vine....yep, I know it's a dangerous one, but it was too pretty to pass up.

seat too small for three.
this last summer, Kapua and her daughter Tehani went to Fiji and had a marvelous time...and she brought back a bunch of songs that she sang to Dad and I with one uku we had here.
Kapua and Angelita really did help me one day while they were here and I didn't get a picture of them cleaning up the whole job site and burning old stuffs and yeah, so I asked them to come and make a "photo shoot".....Mike Bolen was here and he (along with many others) were fasinated with geodes. so this became the "work" that was done this day. ha. but they had a lot of fun and that's also good. Mostly Kapua is looking for a house to buy while Tehani goes to Nurses's school in Keokuk, Iowa. OF COURSE they came to visit with their daddy.
I love this stone bride and these lovely girls. this bridge was built during Joseph Smith's time to help drain the swamp land that the early Saints used to live on.

flash pictures and natural light. Kapua knows more about my camera then I do.
the poser.

this was such a beautiful day.....down by the arched stone bridge.
fun sisters.
such beautiful daughters....
errrrrrrrrr, and slim. I need to learn how to cut off my chunky body..ha. next lesson on Picasa.
Kapua is on her tippy toes, she's the same height at I am.

Kapua and Angelita came to visit me and as I wrote in my emails, it was TOTALLY a surprise for Angelita to come too. Here we are at the last day that Angelita was here and we took some photos. here is Kapua and I. above.

Angelita and I.

ha, we were trying to take all of us....I think this is funny.

hummmmmmmming along here. My girlies love me, yeah?

FIRE TRUCKS TO THE RESCUE

Folks, today I felt bad to go to Walmart to buy ANYTHING...as I just DO NOT shop on Sundays. PERIOD...but this time the "ox was in the mire". I remembered that I had to get this "stuff for Tomasi to drink before another colonoscopy tomorrow"....and I drove to Walmart last night to get it, but the pharmacy had closed. bummers. sooooooooooo today, TOMASI'S 69th birthday.....he got a breakfast in bed of clear white grape juice and a bowl of chicken broth.........nope, candles don't work with such a liquid diet. sooooooooooo I'm off to get that stuff at Walmart and MY HANNA WOULD NOT SHIFT....OH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD GRIEF...I'm at least at a stop light in the middle of town. after 3 light changes, and me crying and not knowing what to do.....trying to shift and shift and it would NOT DO IT....these two guys come around and say, "don't worry lady, we'll push you across the street"....and do it. I left my phone with Tomasi because it's the birthday daddy the folks would be calling.....THEN THIS FIRE TRUCK comes. oh wow...and this lady is almost 6 feet tall. I was smart to take this picture. They ask me a lot of questions, I give them my card and they are AMAZED of the 14 kid department....yada yada yada...then this gal said that they could take me to Walmart to get the prescription.

the firefolks called the tow guy and he was here in fast time. This street is usually a VERY BUSY street, like SMACK in the middle of Rochester, MN. But being Sunday, yeah, (I guess) it was not all that busy.

The lady firefighter here, got in the fire truck and then this EXCITED GRANNY and I see this jacket layed out like this. O WOW..."I live on Mulholland street in Nauvoo". She and the other fireman are going on their motorcyles and passing through Nauvoo tomorrow on a trip. ha, what a trip, they will go on Mulholland street tomorrow.

Then I remembered that I left the autoharp, dulcimer and my lap top in the Hanna that was already towed away. They said, "oh it's on our way to Walmart and we'll stop off and get those things for you". DID IT. (talk about going the extra mile!!!) I went to the pharmacy and they said it would be 20 min. before they could fill my order....I told the firefolks and they said, "that was fine and more exciting then getting a cat out of some heat vent" So we walk over to SUBWAY in Walmart and as we're making an order....THE FIRE ALARM goes off. now it was a false one, nevertheless, these guys were there. Then they DID GET A CALL and I'd gotten the prescription already and off we go in the firetruck. How fun for me really....I was just as excited as some little 5 year old kid. There was some lady at the Marriotte that had a stroke and we were zooming and making the sirons going and going and he WAS HONKING....and I could see all the wild drivers doing stupid turns to get out of the firetruck's way.....OH WILD. We get to the Marriotte Hotel and someone else was there already...soooooooooo they took me to this Blondell Motel and helped me down from that high truck and with my stuffs and I had a wild story to tell you all.