Memorial Day

"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say; For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"

- The Kohima Epitaph (sent to me by Lynda Davis).

I am grateful for those who have fought for our freedom; who have given their lives to protect our liberties.

Equally, I am grateful for those who still live, but have suffered and lost so much fighting for us.

I am so grateful to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Holiday Weekend

The Six Year Twitch

Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who has an eye twitch?

That is what happened tonight with Jessica and Gordon. She was trying to hold a straight face at the dinner table and finally mentioned the eye twitch, which has been going on and off for most of the past year. We jokingly teased him about it and he abruptly walked away from the table.

We felt really bad.

Then he returned - with sunglasses on! "Now can you hold a straight face when you talk to me?"

Oh sure - no problem.

I tell him all the time that it's the six year twitch - the six or so years he'll most likely serve as Bishop.

Hey, the stress has gotta come out somewhere. Good thing it's just a twitch. It could be a flailing arm, a funny sound, an involuntary snort, or worse; something that sunglasses don't cover up.

He looks pretty cool in them, don't you think?

Oh Heck!

For Mother's Day weekend, Ben & Laura came home from Provo and we all got together on Sunday for dinner (with the exception of Scott, of course). These are precious times that seem to come farther and fewer between, so when they happen - we celebrate!

How? By playing a rousing game of "OH HECK" on Friday night ("heck" is a substitution that you may be able to figure out if you try real hard...)

I believe that Laura won, with several of us tying for 2nd place. One thing I learned is that my 2nd favorite cards, the M&M ones, have suddenly gotten really small print and are hard to read. How does that happen? Mid game we had to switch cards. I guess we should have used my favorite cards in the first place, the ones that feature the faces of my two little shavers.

It was a great weekend, the kind that rejuvinates you for the next, oh....one month, two weeks and five days:)

Breath of Fresh Air

Jessica had prom this last Saturday night. She is our princess plain and true.

It is a little hard for her dad to watch her grow up, but he is coming along.

We are so proud of her.

The way she presented herself was a breath of fresh air in a sea of immodesty.

Almost 30 years in the making!

Gordon and I have been married 30 years this coming December. When we had our one month anniversary, he did a very thoughtful thing;

He brought home a dozen roses for me. Isn't that a thoughtful one month commemoration?

I did a very stupid thing; something so stupid as to guarantee a life of never getting flowers again.

I said, "Did you buy those with OUR money? We can't afford roses!"

In one sentence I squashed the wonderful gesture of my new husband. From that time forward, he assumed I didn't like to get flowers. (Either that, or he was afraid of my reaction if he did).

Over the years, I have grown roses that I am very proud of; yet during the long winters I have yearned at times for the very thing I took for granted as a newlywed - a bouquet of beautiful, aromatic roses. But I knew I had sealed my own fate.

Until....

Tonight. Gordon came in the house and announced, "Happy Mother's Day" and proudly handed me the most beautiful bouquet of roses I have ever seen.

Fortunately, this time I responded appropriately.

I'm so glad for second chances. And so grateful for my patient, thoughtful husband.

Sweet Liberty Spring Show

Tonight was the annual Spring Show for the Sweet Liberty Dance Team where they celebrate a great year and say some goodbyes. Below are some of her friends that she will miss on the team next year. Congrats on a great year Jess!

The Graduate

Warning: This is a bragfest.

Last weekend Ben graduated Cum Laude from BYU with a Masters of Accountancy. He got to wear what he described as the "Harry Potter" robe, the black one with extra wings on the side. I'm sure the robe is going to take it's natural place in the dress up chest in the Bird home for their little brood to dress up with someday.

Anyway, back to the bragfest, Ben had multiple things draped about his shoulders signifying just what a smart feller he is.

Which leads to the question: How did he get so dang smart? I mean, he are the most educated in the entire family! I think he has a photographic memory.

But, in all fairness, I can't leave out the hard work. He has completed his Masters in the designated timeframe for a Bachelors degree. He has kept is nose to the grindstone and his eye on the prize.

Now it's on to the working world; he has a job waiting for him here in Boise with Deloitte Touche accounting firm and Richard's company's (KPMG) competitor. We can't wait!

Sorry Ben. I know you don't like it when I brag about you. But hey, YOU DESERVE IT!

Dance Festival

Tonight was the regional dance festival held at the Taco Bell arena. Jessica looked beautiful dancing and had a great time. Rich, Jo, Cam & Eli joined us.

This Music Will Make Your Day!

If you listen until the end, he gives the story behind the arrangement.

Boise State - #54 Michael Ames

Last night was Boise State's spring scrimmage and Michael got us tickets to go and watch. The blue team was loaded up and dubbed "the all-stars" and the white team were the underdogs. The white team won! It was a great time.

#54 is the one to watch on the O-line this year. He is being talked up in the Statesman and on Sports Radio AM. We expect great things from him and on top of it all, he is a returned missionary and an all around great guy. We love him.

Baca's Helpers

It stopped raining and the sun came out. Yippee! Best of all, I had these two great little helpers in the yard yesterday. They did a great job of rearranging all of the dirt left over after I re-dug out the edging. I was trying to get a picture of Eli's mouth, but it was not to be. He was working so hard and had his little tongue sticking between his lips the whole time. It was very reminicient of Grandpa Wray!

The Joy of Easter; The Reality of my Backyard

Times, they are a changin' at my house. I got the easter eggs all boiled and there was no one to color them with. Jess was busy with her Saturday activities and Gordon was busy painting over the "fry sauce" experiment in the basement (pictures to come). I came to the realization that even when I'm 80 and there are no kids in sight, I will be boiling and coloring eggs at Easter.

Jess put up a fuss at finding eggs alone on Sunday morning so we told her she could wait for Cam and Eli to come over. Here she is proudly showing off her find: "No child can beat the Grinch!"

It was a joyous Easter. Especially when family is around to share it with you.

As to the reality of my yard; it became painfully evident that even with my early spring trimming and cleaning up that there is so much to be done before we can enjoy the spring out there. I had to force myself to ignore the weeds springing up in the beds, the cocoon of "something" growing in one bed, and general debris that has accumulated. The yard is due for a fresh mow and mulch and the beds beg a raking with my cute new bright green mini rake.

I'm on it! As soon as it stops raining.

Ode to Grandma Nola

My mom's mom, Nola LaVon Simmons would have been 88 years old today. Because my mom died when I was 13, Grandma Nola became a very important person in my life.

She was never quite the same after the death of my mom. It is said that children should not go before their parents; that there no pain like that.

She lived with a lot of pain in her life.

She got married at age 15 to Myron Simmons who was 30. He owned a dry farm North of Ririe, Idaho and they began their life together there. They were very happy. First came a son, Kay and then two years later , a dark haired brown eyed daughter named Bonnie, my mom. When Bonnie was a year and a half, Myron got pneumonia and died, leaving Grandma Nola (not yet 19) a widow with two small children and the dry farm to run.

This is where I believe Grandma Nola developed her grit, her strength to get through anything.

Years later, she married one of the farm hands and had another son, Ronnie. Eventually, they divorced and she sold the farm and moved to town (the big metropolis of Idaho Falls). She spent many years alone until marrying her 3rd husband, whom she was with until he died of cancer five years before she passed away in 2000.

Grandma Nola was a fiesty red head who, I learned, wasn't a natural redhead at all. One day I gave her a permanent on her hair and told her not to put any thing else on it, like color, for at least two weeks. The next day I went back to see how the perm and she was doing.

"Grandma, did you put something on your hair?" I asked.

"No", she insisted as she turned around. There, on the back of her ear, was a big red glob of something. "Are you sure?" "Yes", she insisted again.

The bottle of "Fanciful Flaming Red" in the bathroom dashed the notion that red hair ran in my family.

Then there's the time she called me, mortified, after she had gone to Albertsons.

"Land", she said, "everywhere I went in that store, people gave me the most awful looks! I thought they were so rude. Then I walked past the freezer section and saw my reflection in the glass. I forgot that I had put on one of them cucumber facial masks on before I left. I looked like a dried up old ghost. I couldn't even get my groceries, I had to get out of there!"

As she got older, she fell and broke her hip and elbow and was in a long term care facility. I always wished I could take care of her, but with me living in Boise and she in Idaho Falls, it was not to be.

One day I went to visit her and took James, who was 13 at the time, with me. I sat on the bed, she was in a wheelchair and James sat straight across from her. She got very fidgety and was fussing about something. Finally she pulled up her shirt and exclaimed,

"They won't let me wear a bra in this **** place!"

She then proceeded to "tuck herself" into the elastic waist of her polyester pants, all directly in front of James. It was priceless. And exactly the thing that a parent needs to have happen in the life of a hormonal adolescent.

About a year later, she had to have her right foot amputated due to poor circulation. Richard wrote an essay for English, titled "Ode to Grandma Nola's Foot". It chronicled her life and all of the places her foot had carried her in her life; all the good times and the bad. She was a hard, hard worker, and her foot served her well.

Grandma Nola provided all of us with a lot of humor, a good laugh and many good times. She was always there for me.

I miss her a lot.

But knowing that she and Bonnie are together is enough for me.

Happy, Happy, Happy

Jessica had such a great time at Nationals (Grand Champions!) and at Disneyland with her friends. They are a wacky group and they know how to have some serious fun.

Jess and Spencer, our other daughter.

Kylee, Jessica, Tori, Spencer and Marissa

They had a break from dance this past week but tomorrow the work begins again for the annual "Spring Show".

The things a grandmother will do.....

While Jessica and her friends were on a "wet" ride at Disneyland, I stumbled upon two of our favorites, Mater and Lightnin' McQueen! There was a long line of children waiting to get their picures taken with them. I waited for my turn and then another mother took this picture for me. It was somewhat humiliating; little children waiting and watching with their parents and here I am by myself, posing, with an audience. I suddenly felt really silly. But not enough to not do it. My boys were so impressed to see their Baca with these heros!

Jess totally rescued me on the Buzz Light Year front. We never found him, but she did get this great picture. We found Buzz Light Year guns for them; you know - the really annoying kind that make a loud, repetitive sound and flash red and blue lights? Totally cool.

Ode to Commando

It was nice while it lasted......
Commando, the $5.00 car that James and Suzanne got last August died an untimely death last night.

In James' words, "For those who haven't heard, Commando has seen his last day. Last night after coming home from Cam and Eli's birthday parties I ran inside to put on a white shirt and tie for a meeting I had. Suzanne came in with me and we left Commando in the parking lot....RUNNING. When we came out....THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND!! "

Commando spent his last days in the service of his fellow man, ferrying Suzanne back and forth to teach school, to teach ballet. He took both of them as far away as Nampa and Kuna in his last days. He was home to many a hornets nest in his younger days back in August. He brought many honks of horns while beautiful Suzanne was at the wheel. He was a great conversation piece and saved unnecessary miles on the Blue Honda.

RIP Commando

08/15/08 - 03/31/09

Cremation has already taken place; memorials may be sent to James & Suzanne at jamesbird@u.boisestate.edu or dansersuzy_87@hotmail.com

National Grand Champions

I'll post details of the trip soon and also the funny t-shirt that Jessica's group wants to have made. Talk about "funny math" (does anyone remember Pres. Bush saying that?).

Nursing Shoes to Runnin' Track, Man

In preparation for our trip to Disneyland for Dance Nationals, I bought a new pair of tennis shoes.

It should be noted that they were 55% off at Kohls Department Store and they are somewhat streamlined, which I like.

Lately, every time I try on tennis shoes, I feel like I am putting on special gear to walk on the moon or something. My last pair, although as sturdy as the day I bought them, are that way. They are "Sketchers" and when I put them on, I am 2 inches taller. Granted, I like that, but you are ALL shoes.

Anyway, back to the new pair. I put them on to wear around and break them in and noticed a bothersone thing. They looked like a pair of nursing shoes. Not to put down the beautiful white shoes that nurses wear; they look lovely. Just not for me.

I have stewed about it all day because they really are quite comfortable.

Tonight, I had a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.

You just gotta love a black sharpie.

State Dance Champs - Sweet Liberty!

I would love to post beautiful pictures of the exuberant girls and their parents last night at the State Dance Championship, but when I pulled out my camera, no battery power. I'm going to have to do something about that one.......And words will have to suffice:

We took first place in all categories and the overall state championship. The girls performed each dance better than they have all year. It is amazing to watch them get better and better. Gordon and James were there all day with us and that was a nice treat. James is getting to be quite the "dance aficionado", especially since Suzanne assistant coaches for Mtn. View High dance team. They were on our heels all day and took 2nd.

Not to brag or anything, but the old Centennial saying rings true, "You can't beat Sweet".

I guess that is bragging....sorry.