cheri's mutterings...

Miss Hannah Cheer Fall and Spring 2008

2009-08-26T21:19:00.002-04:00

Summer 2009

2009-08-26T21:17:00.002-04:00

Emma and Tom Summer 2009

It's been a good day indeed!

2009-01-20T21:41:00.003-05:00

Change has come to WhiteHouse!!!!! I am hopeful, excited, scared, peaceful, and full of prayer for change!

2008-12-28T11:23:00.001-05:00

"To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never, in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony."

This is from Kim's mom....

2008-12-16T17:00:00.001-05:00

I just LOVE snow! It is so peaceful and untouched...now if it sould just stop so we can pick Emma up at the airport!

2008-12-13T09:36:00.000-05:00

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.

2008-12-13T09:30:00.000-05:00

God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
Mother Teresa

2008-12-11T22:14:00.001-05:00

"Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, He came forth from heaven to live on earth as mortal man and to establish the kingdom of God. During His earthly ministry, He taught men the higher law. His glorious gospel reshaped the thinking of the world. He blessed the sick. He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life. To us He has said, 'Come, follow me.'"As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always. We shall learn to forget ourselves. We shall turn our thoughts to the greater benefit of others"
~Thomas S. Monson

2008-11-20T22:26:00.002-05:00

Once a Pennsylvanian, ALWAYS a Pennsylvanian!

About Pennsylvanians:

You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything

but 'Philly' and New Jersey has always been ' Jersey '

You refer to Pennsylvania as 'PA' (pronounced Pee-ay). How many other states do that?

'You guys' is a perfectly acceptable reference to

a group of men and women

You know how to respond to the question 'Djeetyet?'

(Did you eat yet?)

You learned to pronounce Bryn Mawr, Wilkes-Barre ,

Schuylkill, the Pocono's, Tamaqua, Tunkannock, Bala

Cynwyd, Duquesne and Monongahela.

And we know Lancaster is pronounced Lank aster,

not Lan kaster.

You know what a 'Mummer' is, and are disappointed

if you can't catch at least highlights of the parade.

You know what 'Punxsutawney Phil' is, and what it means if he sees his shadow.

The first day of buck and the first day of doe season are school holidays.

At least five people on your block have electric 'candles' in all or most of their windows all year long.

You know what a 'State Store' is, and your out-of-state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.

Words like 'hoagie,' 'crick,' 'chipped ham,' 'dippy eggs',

'sticky buns,' 'shoo-fly pie,' 'lemon sponge pie', pierogies' and 'pocketbook' actually mean something to you.

That's PA slang for purse!

You can eat cold pizza (even for breakfast) and know

others who do the same. Those from NY find this 'barbaric.'

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors.

You know the difference between a cheese steak and

a pizza steak sandwich, and know that you can't get a really good one outside PA,

except Atlantic City on the boardwalk.

You live for summer, when street and county fairs

signal the beginning of funnel cake season.

You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise , Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville, Mars, and Slippery Rock are PA towns. (and the first three were consecutive stops on the Reading RR).

You know what a township, borough, and commonwealth is.

You can identify drivers from New York , New Jersey , Maryland or other neighboring states by their

unique and irritating driving habits.

A traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a horse-drawn carriage on the highway in Lancaster County.

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

You carry jumper cables in your car and your female passengers know how to use them.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

You know beer doesn't grow in a garden but you know where to find a beer garden.

You also know someone who lives 'down the lane'.

You actually understand all this and send it on to other Pennsylvanians or former Pennsylvanians!

YEAH! THAT'S 'PA' AND WE LOVE IT

2008-11-15T08:38:00.002-05:00

How exciting, it is almost Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday ever! I love the smells and the fun of doing nothing! Ok maybe cooking and watching football and just relaxing. It wont be the same this year without Emma. But she will be coing home for Christmas. I just glad she is doing to well at Weber. When she was at Ship I did nothing but worry about her and Katie, they were miserable there. I would not reccommend Ship to anyone unless you have no goals in life and all you want to do is party.

2008-11-06T18:12:00.004-05:00

Well it is over and my vote hopefully made a difference, Yes, I voted for Obama. I voted for Bush the first time, mistake number one...the second time I didn't waste my vote on him. It would be nice to have "W" out of office today, but...He has done so many terrible things to our country. I fear for the future, he has made it such a mess. I pray Obama will not let us down. He cannot fix everything, baby steps...it would be nice to have everyone working again, like Quinn going back to full time instead of part time. It would be nice to "make" these rotten companies that have moved over seas get penalized for going to India where you cannot understand them and taking jobs from our countrymen. At the same token we as Americans need to pull together and stop looking in the mirror so much at ourselves and look around and see what we can do to help those around us.
We had a very nice lady in our office last week getting her new dentures, boy was she excited. She just smiled and smiled! While talking to her she told us where she lives...in a tent down by the Susquehanna River...she was happy,,,she has next to nothing and she was so happy. Why is it those who have so much want more and more and will stop at nothing to get what they want (CEO's, etc...) and stomp on the worker bee's? Let's see what we can do for others...not just at this holiday time of the year, but everyday. Let's come together and give President Elect Obama our full support...

ELECTION DAY!

2008-11-04T14:51:00.006-05:00

Today is a very historic day! I've done my part and placed my vote. I have put my trust in Barack Obama. We cannot continue with the same another 4 years. We need fresh ideas and most of all we need hope that things will get better. We have to stop these companies taking jobs away from the American people and sending them overseas. At the same time we as Americans have to stop being so greedy and be more grateful. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Greed have become so prevalent it is very scary when you read bout how regular people are stealing from their employer or their church, bank robberies are up...we have got to do something different and I honestly do not feel it is with McCain and Palin. What we fail to take into consideration is the fact that if McCain wins, and something should happen to him, Palin will be our president...heaven help us. You turn on the TV and all you hear is how Obama has no experience...and Palin does? The mere thought of her being the president is enough to make me leave this country. I keep hearing how Obama is a terrorist...due to Avery, well just because I have a Dr living on my street doesn't make me a Dr. There have been very hateful things sent us and we have friends who have been called and told their voting location has changed only to find out they are receiving bogus phone calls....regardless of who or what you are voting for....just vote, make your voice be heard, if you don't vote.................SHUT UP and don't complain :-)

iPod

2008-11-01T09:05:00.002-04:00

So, I finally got an iPod, everyone in the family with the exception of the dogs have one...so I now have a itty bitty shuffle very cute and very blue. DO you think I can put anything on it? NO and no one is very helpful in helping me put music on it. I am now iPod challenged!

We also had some bad news yesterday, our very dear friend Dr. Robert E Lee one of the professors in the Geography Dept from Fresno State with Frank passed away yesterday. He had been battling his illness for several years and will be missed. We send our prayers to Fresno to Pat.

2008-10-28T18:13:00.005-04:00

Poor Emma she has an ear infection in both ears and a sinus infection. I do not like being across the country from her! I'm so grateful her grandparents are there...
Hannah cheered for her last football game of the season last Friday night, it was our Homecoming game which we killed Warwick....and our wonderful neighbor Betsy won Queen! It is so nice to have someone "normal" win and not one of the massively popular girls who are over achievers! Betsy is a great gal with a good head on her shoulders.

It's now time to cheer for Wrestling! Go Knights!! Go Hannah!!

It is super cold here today, in the 30's with wind 30-50 mph, it will be interesting to see if we end up with Halloween items (not our's) on our front porch!

I did come home from work to a goodies filled pumpkin on my front doorknob, not sure who it's from...but it was a very nice thing to find!

Burrr...it's cold

2008-10-22T18:48:00.002-04:00

I don't know about anyone else but I'm ready for fall and the cool air, notice I said cool not COLD! It has gone from being summer/hot to downright cold. We will not turn on the heat, but instead put on a lot more clothes.

I could use a double double right about now!

2008-10-19T22:14:00.001-04:00

2008-10-19T19:10:00.002-04:00

Forever and a Day!

2008-10-19T18:39:00.002-04:00

Wow...it has been forever since I was here! How life has changed and moved on...Mom passed away in January 2007...it has been very hard and lonely without her...but I know she is in a much better place...I'm going to try and figure out this blog thing and hopefully make it pretty and fun!

the latest on mom...

2006-08-06T10:46:00.000-04:00

In order to control her pain they kept trying different pain medications... well she apparently had a reaction or sensitivity to one and became unconscious and unresponsive. So we took her off everything to see if she got any better. We took her on Monday for an epidural which went very smoothly. she was not in any pain for the first time in literally months. Her body totally relaxed and her vital signs dropped and we thought she was joining Heavenly Father. She remained unresponsive for a couple of days. On Wednesday she started waking up and her vital signs got a little better. today she is awake and responding but very groggy and in pain. We don't know why she is in so much pain because all we did and are giving her should be working. She tells me that she is just too tired and this may be a battle she can't win. She is very weak and just wants to go "home" to heavenly father. So we are making her as comfortable as possible. she is currently out of "danger" but they tell me that she will have "ups" and "downs" that she is currently in a "up" stage. We don't know what will happen next nor do we know "when" it will happen. she wants me to tell you all the she loves you and is grateful for everyone in a part of her life. I want to thank you all for the cards, letters and phone calls it really made mom happy! Well I will try and let you all know any further...for now it is just hanging in there.

update on my mom

2006-08-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately mom is not getting better, they have called in Hospice and it is now a matter of time, my sister is with her as is my nephew Josh and his wife Daisy and several family friends so she will be among those she loves. Mom had fought the fight and is ready to move on. I had the great opportunity as did the kids to talk with her on Sunday evening...we have said our goodbyes for now, she expressed her love for each of us as well as encourage us to not take things for granted. She wasn't a perfect mom, but then neither am I, but she is still and always will be "my" mom.

She has told Denise she feels my brother Mark and sister Debbie very close, and woke up early this morning and asked if they were having a party! Apparantly she saw a lot of people in her room...but only Denise, Josh and Daisy were there...

We had some great times shopping when she came out in November, she nicknamed me Golda years ago because I could find such great deals!

Unless there is a miracle...she hasn't eaten much in over 2 weeks, her kidneys are shutting down and she is in heart failure, we are now observing her wish to not have drastic measures taken and to let her go with dignity. We will be driving out from Pennsylvania as soon as we hear, going first to Ogden for a day or so then on to Fresno for her funeral we cannot find reasonable airfare so we are going to rent a car. So please remember us in your prayers.....

2006-07-25T18:18:00.000-04:00

Well, my mom isn't doing very well, she hasn't been eating, and they have told her that if she doesn't start, then a feeding tube will be put in. She will not eat, and thinks she is eating and they are bringing her 2nd helping. They are giving her an pain epidural into her back on Thursday hoping it will help with the pain, we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will help and therefore get her eating and doing physical therapy. She is not being the nice cooperative person she needs to be hopefully she will not give up and that she will keep trying!

Here's to her fairy godmother....hopefully she can be of assistance! :-)

a note from my sister.......

2006-07-16T22:20:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone...sorry it has been a couple of days... it has been so hot here... I think it is giving California a run for its money... I have been trying to get all mom's affairs in order and as you know with any burocracy... paper work...paper work... and then more paper work... Mom has been doing well... she has been onery as all get out! Giving the nurses a real hard time as only mom can... she keeps them in stitches and they all ask if she always was such a hoot and I just smile and say..."Oh yeaa!" Lately it has been all about her "Sainted Ol'e grandmother from Ireland..." in her best Irish accent... it really is rather funny..... they really like her around there... they say she really makes them laugh... there is a lady named Helen here who fell and broke her hip and you should hear the two of them... threatening to "turn the joint upside down" if they don't get a better menu... (I thought the food was fine... but you know mom and her love to cook...no one can make food as good as she did.....) It seems like it is always me and Helen's son George and I against the two of them... "come on... one more bite... " and the two of them ganging up on the two poor old children... only trying to help them eat better...... us innocent... kids... never doing anything wrong... and about that time mom will tell them that I personally put each and every gray hair on her head... nothing about my bratty sister...just poor old me! hahaha! Some how I don't look too innocent...but hey! I try! haha! Today Mom went to Sacrament Meeting at the hospital and she was happy as a clam. They also had Cornbeef and Cabbage... and she ate every bite... although she would never admit it! hahaha! They have her on pain management so she can get more out of her therapy. I can see an improvement everyday I come in so she is getting stronger...now if we can just get her back better... then everything else will come also. They tell her she will probably be there for 6 months. They will reeveluate her then to see what to do next. Keep all the really funny cards coming! She loves them! She loves calls too but the nurses don't always put her phones next to her but I try to be there by noon and leave about 6:30-7pm. So if you don't get ahold of her leave a message (on her cell phone) or with the nurses station and I will try and have her call you back. so that's all for now... later!

Denise & Mom

2006-07-15T18:20:00.000-04:00

Well I had a good talk with my sister, and it will be very unlikely mom will ever be able to go home and live on her own again. We are taking it one day, week....at a time. Where's my mom's rainbow....?

It's rainin again......

2006-07-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

I just love anything having to do with Noah's Ark, we have gotten so much rain than I have begun to wonder if I need to get busy and make an ark! We have rain again today...with lots of thunder.....

2006-07-14T15:51:00.000-04:00

TGIF!!!!! CAN'T WAIT TO JUMP IN THE POOL!!!!

2006-07-12T08:53:00.000-04:00

Mom is doing as well as can be expected. They are trying to manage her back pain. When she had the stroke she was asleep and tried to get out of bed the next morning not knowing what had happened, She kept falling and hurt her already bad back. The good thing is she can feel the pain, the bad thing is she can feel the pain! They are having a hard time with her in the physical therapy because of the pain and trying to manage it and yet help her. Denise indicated she was on a stationary bike for over an hour which is great. I'm sure mom wished the bike wasn't stationary and could ride right out of the rehab center! The goal is to get her home as soon as possible. The stroke affected her left side, her leg is coming back as well as her face, we aren't sure about her left arm. She curled her left hand around the parallel bars so we are hoping for a miracle. Her speech is much better, but she is so tired there are times you cannot understand her, it is like talking to someone who has been to the dentist and their tongue is numb but everytime I talk with her she sounds exhausted but better! Denise is great at keeping me informed, it has been very difficult to not be there to help. I appreciate all she is doing for mom, this is no easy task to be the child one day to your parents and suddenly with no warning.....become the parent...

2006-07-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

Corky Romano the Corkster! Always under my feet, and a bit camera shy!

2006-07-09T21:30:00.000-04:00

Miss Button Lulu
famous bikini model!

2006-07-09T21:18:00.000-04:00

Erik leaving for Boy Scout camp! He went to Camp Rodney in Maryland which is right on the Chesapeake Bay! He learned all kinds of fun things like archery, kiacking on the bay, shooting all kinds of guns! Too much fun for this guy!

2006-07-09T21:11:00.000-04:00

These were the best girls I have ever had on a field trip! We spent the day in DC museum hopping! It was beautiful! Not too hot and beautiful blue sky and before the tourist season! Miss Hannah is in the green with the shades! Me, I'm behind the camera as usual!

Here is Miss Hannah and her friends on a field trip to the Holocaust Museum, It was very depressing and eye opening! So sad...

2006-07-09T21:03:00.000-04:00

Erik giving the star a BIG hug!->->

Here is our star! Miss Emma

2006-07-09T20:56:00.000-04:00

It was the most amazing show...they had kids flying in the air and it was just amazing! Oh did I say how amazing it was! :-)

2006-07-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

This is the "big" performance for Emma at school, Dance theatre! Can you see her? lol

2006-07-09T20:37:00.000-04:00

2006-07-09T20:31:00.000-04:00

Here is Sunday again! I didn't make it to church today. I talked with my mom last night and my sister and my nerves and worrisome nature took over and I got really sick! Not good! I worry entirely too much. I know mom is in good hands and Denise is taking good care of her, but being all the way across the country makes it really hard! I cannot imagine how I will be next year when Miss Emma leaves for the "Y".

The girls are really excited to leave in 2 weeks for EFY at Lockhaven. This will be Emma's 4th year and Hannah's 1st! They have already decided on what they have to take to wear and to beef up the wardrobes! Funny little chickas!

I have to try to publish a picture so I will try with my favorite flowers...African Violets!

my mom!

2006-07-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, my mom had a stroke 2 weeks ago, and was paralyzed on the left side, she is now in a wonderful rehabilation center in Ogden Utah and is doing great. The feeling is coming back to her left leg and face. They have her in entense therapy every day and they do not let her sit around, they keep her very busy! Her speech has improved you can understand what she says now, every day is a milestone for her and her indenpendance! The main goal is to get her home and living on her own again which she desperatly wants!

Thank you for your kind words and prayers on her behalf!

Wow is this easy or what!

2006-07-08T09:46:00.000-04:00

I have finally given in to this blog thing! I am so busy I do not have time to write and stay in touch so this will be the way to do that and ramble on about "stuff"