Sunday in Halton House

After we got home from Church today, we had a delicious Sunday dinner. Mary Ann is a gourmet cook, and she baked a pork shoulder roast to perfection (browned first on top of the stove, then added a little water, covered the pan tightly and baked at 250 degrees for about 4 hours.) She also served wonderful mashed potatoes...new potatoes cooked in a covered pottery dish with a little water in the microwave at 50 percent power, then Doug forced them through the potato ricer...one doesn't even need to peel them...really flavorful. In this photo the girls are playing with Barbies up in their bedroom after lunch.
On the way to church...a light rain is falling. They drive about 20-25 minutes to get to the chapel.
Matt looks good in his Sunday suit. Mary Ann gave him a great haircut for the play...the first that he had let her cut it in two months. (The other kids teased him for having "short" hair...the style here is long and messy.)
The Aylesbury Ward chapel.

Mary Ann is the Primary President. In this photo she is helping these g i r l s practice a song. Jackie and Evy had outgrown the hems of these cute dresses, and Mary Ann added the strip of black fabric to lengthen them.

day four a restful saturday

Jackie and David in Tesco's...in Aylesbury. See below.

Today we have just taken it easy. Matt has another performance tonight, so it seemed wise to relax around the house a little. We left around lunchtime and drove to Aylesbury where we had a nice lunch at McDonalds..with McFlurries for desserts. Then we made a trip to the local walmart-like store..Tesco's...for some veggies for Sunday dinner and for the kids to spend some of their British pounds on candy. Doug is taking Dave to the train station to catch the train for the Gatwick Airport. It sure has been nice to have him here while I am visiting.
Matt uses a Fling It to play fetch with Maya...keeps one from needing to handle a slimy ball.
Tori buckles herself into the little makeshift center seat. Wonderful device which makes it possible for the van to carry eight passengers. She accidentally cut her finger while trying to cut a baguette this morning.
Doug, Evy and Jackie at McDonald's.

Evy and Jackie in Tesco's.

matt as capt. von trapp

Those darling English Crabtree s.
Mary Ann and David on the train from London to Wendover.

Solicitor David in the village of Wendover.
Matt as Capt. Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music." He was terrific. He did the singing parts with smoothness and was on key...his volume was great, and he always stayed in character. I totally loved it. Can you tell this is his grandma speaking?
Evy and Jackie get ready to watch the play.
And Victoria too.

day three in Halton House

I am having difficulty editing my blog. This photo is out of order, but it shows the thatching materials which have been readied for the roof of this home in the village of Wendover.

I didn't do so well at sleeping last night..(the first night was great, thanks to some help from Ambien) So today was interrupted with a much appreciated nap around 11 a.m. Prior to that Mary Ann and I watched Victoria's class do a presentation on the Victorian age. David, Jackie, and Mary Ann getting ready to eat breakfast.
My video of Tori singing with her class wouldn't upload, unfortunately. This photo was taken after the program when parents were invited into the classroom to view the student's work. Tori is showing her Victorian reports to me.

This afternoon we took Maya Moonshadow into the village of Wendover (no casinos, though). These workmen are re-thatching a roof.
Mary Ann and David are discussing global warming theories and fallacies as they sit outside a chocolatier's shop in Wendover.

surprised in england

Today, to my surprise, Mary Ann, David, and I did do some sightseeing. I had figured that Mary Ann would be too busy to take me anywhere, and I didn't know that David would finish his business in London by yesterday, Wednesday. So today, after Mary Ann drove the kids to school, the three of us took the train into London where we visited the British National Gallery. I particularly enjoyed viewing the original Van Gogh's Sunflowers. For lunch at a London restaurant I had "sausage and mash"....Guenther would have enjoyed the brats served with mashed potatoes and a red onion gravy.

The Big Seven-0 Birthday

Tami had Guenther and me over for pizza and a party. Here we are as I get ready to blow out the candles. David was in London, Kath was on a date, Mike was helping to score a basketball game at the stake center, Jordan's at the Y, and Jen was getting ready to go out, so our numbers are down a little here, but it was really nice, and I love and appreciate everyone so much.
For my birthday, Lindsay gave me this beautiful framed photo which she took of all my little "Greats."


This Perfect Birthday Gift came from all four of my children, their spouses, and families. I love electronic gadgets, and I love photos...voila! a digital picture frame. I told the kids that seventy has always sounded so old...and yet I feel so young. I believe that it's because Guenther is so good to me, and because he says such nice things.

Friday, the 7th, was a "Two In One Celebration Evening." McCall's birthday was on Monday, and she has invited some friends to watch a movie with her in David and Tami's theater room after our little family get-together.
Jennifer is a little sunburned after her fun trip to Costa Rica. She went with two friends, and she took some awesome pics... including white-faced monkeys eating out of the g i r ls hands; a colorful toucan sitting on her arm; kayaking, surfing, sliding in a harness on ropes through jungle canyons, and beautiful white sand beaches.

Funeral for Dora Mae Poulter Crabtree

Yesterday, Saturday the 1st of March, Guenther and I attended Dora Mae Crabtree's funeral which was held in Ogden. She passed away on the 18th of February in Seattle where she and Bill have lived for over 50 years. She would have been 92 years old this June. Dora Mae married Bill, the oldest of the Crabtree boys, around 1939, I believe. (I need to get the Crabtree geneology loaded on my paf file). They had five children, two of whom were boys with special challenges. Roland, born around 1940, was brain-damaged at birth, and Kay born around 1950, was born with Down's Syndrome. Roly has lived in special housing since he was a boy, and Kay and his mother were living in a Care Center at the time of her passing. He has Alzheimer's and needs 24 hour care, so he will be staying where he is.

The funeral service was lovely, and included great talks from Lorene and three of Dora Mae's grandchildren.


Family photos. The Crabtree boys look so much alike, don't they?
Guenther sits by Berdean Crabtree.

A photo taken in 1958 of the six boys and their wives..except that Dahl must have been taking the picture, because Granddad Crabtree is standing behind Berdean. (you need to click on this to enlarge it enough to see it)




Chris and Ron Romer. Chris still teaches the first grade.
Colin Crabtree is greeting Uncle Scott, and Neil is in the background.





Lorene (Dora Mae's youngest) and Uncle Dahl's family...Vee, Berdean, Colin, Miles and Wren



Arvilla, Lynn (Gordon to everyone around here) and Berdean.




Guenther visits with Vee Crabtree Gibson. She has been widowed for many years now, and she has just returned from a mission in the Las Vegas area where she served in the mission office.


Arvilla visits with Wren Crabtree Woodland.



Bruce (Aunt Dora Mae's second son), Arvilla, Lynn, and Tanya.



After the funeral services, we all ate at the Ogden Chuck-A-Rama (a favorite place of Dora Mae's) since they were not part of a local ward family. Here are a few photos that I took while we were waiting together for the whole group to arrive.


Miles and Lynn talk.



This is a photo of Bill and Dora Mae Crabtree which was displayed at the funeral.




Bill and Dora Mae donated land worth many millions of dollars to BYU, and the Crabtree Technology Building is named for them. Their portrait, as well as that of Gordon and Arvilla Crabtree, hangs in the foyer of the building. This photo of Dora Mae with Elders Packer and Holland was taken at the dedication.

Lorene was born one week before Lisa. She reminded me yesterday of the story about her dad's call to tell his parents. Because they had had two children born with special needs, they didn't want the Crabtree family to worry during Dora Mae's pregnancy. So they didn't tell them that they were expecting. Not a problem of course, because they lived in Seattle. Well, when Lorene was born on the 6th of June, Bill called and told Granddad Crabtree that they had a new little daughter. Granddad hung up the phone and told Vilate...who said, "Oh no...that wasn't Bill...that was Booth you were talking to. Booth is the one expecting a baby anyday now." (Lisa was born one week later.) Lorene says she always thinks of Lisa on the 13th of June.

The graveside service. Many years ago, Mom and Dad Crabtree and all six boys purchased cemetary plots in the Washington Terrace Cemetary, and that's why Dora Mae and Bill are buried here.



Some photos of Booth's headstone. We need to get over there and polish it up in the spring.