hi everyone. I went to the doctor today in Las Ve... weight loss
hi everyone. I went to the doctor today in Las Vegas and she tightened the band. I thought it would hurt but it didn't. And I can only have clear broth until tomorrow at noon. then its back to the 4 oz. food. I think that is how they get you to lose weight as everything they do to you, you have to drink broth and not eat. anybody can lose weight that way. I can hardly wait to see everyone next weekend. Today we were in three different states. NV. AZ and CA. I told that to my friend Jill today and she said she couldn't believe it. It is easy if you live close to them all. take care and I will write again soon.
Labels: weight loss
draft

I forgot the best part. The doctor took me off of my diabetic medicine today. One down 10 to go..

Happy Birthday Linda

Happy Birthday to you................ Hope you have a wonderful day! Are you going to "blend" your birthday cake. :)

I lost the last post and Jamey found it for me. I wasn't finished but I was scared I would lost it again and what a let down that was yesterday. ok on with the post. Today I got into a dress that I haven't been into for so long I forget. what a feeling. Every time I want a taco I think to how I feel getting into this dress and pretty soon I can eat one taco and not 4 taco's. I use to be full after eating 2 but they taste so good I ate four. Now I will quit after one. Did I say I lost 13 pounds so far. It is so cool. will post pictures soon and keep up with how much I ate and what I ate.

I really did it

I finally did something about my weight. I had the Lab Band Operation and I am so happy that I did. I had it on the tuesday before this last one. We went to Las Vegas in NV. and had to be there at six A.M. so we stayed on the strip at the Four Queen's Hotel. It turned out to be a suite as we were upgrated. After all that we had to do for this surgery it was a lot of fun being there and then we went out to eat dinner. (my last for a while) I wanted ribs. what fun it was to eat ribs. Sam said I had bbq sauce like a happy camper across my face. anyway back to the operation. 6:00 a.m. came real early. After signing in (a lot of paperwork) they took me into the operation room and I was out so fast. I woke up in my room and wasn't in any pain. Just a little but I just asked the nurse if I could have some pain medicine and she gave it to me. Sam stayed with me most of the day and finally I told him to go play some change and go have a nice dinner but he didn't want to. The first night I just had jello and applesauce. Wed morning I still was only hurting if I coughed and got up or down from the bed. If wasn't bad at all. I was told I could go home in the afternoon. They fed me more jello and some kind of fruit chopped up. That also didn't hurt going down. We drove home (two hours) and got here around 5:00P.M. Thursday morning I had a broth and took all of my pills and sipping on water. Lunch and dinner was applesauce and pudding. Dr. said to walk around a lot and I was sort of sore but I tried to do it as it makes sure you don't got blood clots in your legs. the rest of the time I tried to follow dr. orders but I started to get hungry. So I have been eating a yogart to help me fill full. I also cooked a roast in my crock pot and I had the potatoes put in the blender with a little water so they weren't so thick. Anyway that made me fill full and it didn't hurt my stomach at all. Today I had a doctor's appointment today and I couldn't belive what the doctor told me. My blood pressure was 120/70 and I was so happy. We have been checking my blood count every morning and it is down to 150degree's.

oops i forgot the photo again

Idaho Vacation

Recently returned from visiting Jimmy in Idaho. Other than being sooooooooo windy, weather was great. We took a side trip to Boise to visit the Cabala's store. It was a long long day as it took about 4 hours one way. The kids enjoyed looking at all the stuffed wild animals and viewing fish in the fish tanks. 4th of July was noisey as they live near an Indian Reservation and you can buy every kind of fireworks available and I think they were all used during the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th... Had to visit a super Wal-Mart while we were there - so much fun... Will be glad when we get one up here. We also saw much of the Snake River - It is so beautiful and "snakes" around a lot of Idaho - no water shortage there. Looking forward to next year's trip already....

this hurts

Here's a picture of Evan. He is on the rocks and wants back on the grass. Good thinking little guy. He is so cute. g-grandma

Grandma Helen and her kids

Grandma Helen and the three Thomas Kids.

Do you know what year this pic was taken?

Looks like they were having a good time.

Happy 4th of July

Finnally some real time off. I am heading back to Utah for almost a full week. I can hardly stand myself. All the kids, except Nathan-his request for leave was denied, will be coming to stay the weekend at the Huntsville home. Mom & Sam will arrive on Friday. Two of Jan's brothers and her sister, with their families, will also come. It should be a great time for all. Huntsville town swells from 2000 people to around 12,000 people. They have races, a carnival, a rodeo, a parade-with horses, bicycles and lawnmowers included, a dance later in the day, an action, a patriotic play, a talent show culminating the day with fireworks. These aren't like most fireworks. They have a drop zone marked out. Outside of this area, everyone lays out blankets and lays flat, looking straight up. The fireworks seem to flash directly over head. We don't consider it a good time unless we have to put someone out from smoldering amblers. It's all tones of fun. Anyway, if anyone is in the area, they have a place to come and enjoy the 4th. I hope everyone has a great holiday and I want to publicly thank our service men and women for protecting our freedoms. Be safe and have fun.

corn on the cob 101

Basic recipe for corn on the cob. Really nice flavor.

Clean corn, put corn in a pot, with cold water 1 inch above corn. Put 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tea spoon lemon juice per quart of water.

Put lid on pot. Bring to boil, continue to boil, cook 7-8 minutes. Check with fork, when its easy to put fork in corn its ready. Enjoy

James' Mountain Man Breakfast

This has become a family favorite. We've made this meal with a dutch oven, over coals or briquettes, and even in a frying pan over the stove. We have enjoyed it for dinners as well as for breakfast.
Ingredients:
Potatoes 12+/- med.size
Bacon strips 4-5 (or more) slices
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bellpepper
1 small can of mushrooms
1 pound of cheese
6-8 Eggs
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil.

For dutch oven cooking:
First, cut the bacon into 1/2" pieces. Then cook the bacon on the upside-down dutch oven lid, over coals. I usually mix the chopped onions and bellpepper the last few minutes. When the onions become translucent, put the grease, bacon, onions and bellpeppers in the dutch oven. Slice potatoes and place on top. At this point, I like to season the potatoes with seasonal, I estimate +/- 1/2 tablespoon. Go ahead and add the small can of mushrooms. Mix all ingredients in the pan. Add the 1/4 (or more) cup of vegetable or olive oil to the mix. Now, crack the eggs over the top of this mixture- no mixing necessary. Finally, spread grated cheese on top of the mixture. I usually will cook this for 45 minutes to an hour. You can eat this by itself (this is good enough for me), with salsa or use it as the filling for burritos. Another ingredient I like to add, unless someone objects, is a chili pepper to give it a little kick. You can mix the diced pepper in with the onion and bellpeppers.

If you cook this over the stove in a pan, I cook the potatoes with the seasonal until they are about half cooked. The bacon, onions and bellpeppers are cooked in a separate pan, same as above. Again, when the potatoes are just getting soft, I add the bacon mixture and small can of mushrooms. Please note, you will need to add a little more oil to this mixture to cook the potatoes. I usually, don't use the bacon grease in this type of cooking, because they are both cooking at the same time. If you're like me, I like to cook my potatoes a little on the crispy side. So, just before I think the potatoes and mix are done, I crack the eggs on top. I then add the grated cheese all over. Remember, no mixing or turning is necessary. I cook everything a little more and then its ready for serving.
Bone Appitie.

Visitor!!!!

Ronnie Hansen just stopped by early this morning to visit as he and his family were here in Paradise to attend a friend's graduation party. It was so wonderful seeing him . Jim and I enjoyed visiting with him and catching up on all his news.
Ronnie came back later and brought Luchia so I was able to see her also. Jim was napping at the time and missed that visit. His visit brought back so my wonderful memories of when all the kids were younger and our family was all nearby in southern california.

On The Road Again

Well, here I go again, driving back to Utah to see Jan and the girls. This commuting is getting old fast. I was wondering if anyone else out there has experience with this kind of a commute? I am particularly interested in how to prevent or sooth a sore tail bone. It increases in intensity the longer I drive. I am willing to try almost anything for relief. Besides a stiff drink or two, to take the edge off, what other ideas do you have? No, I don't really drink (not yet). Besides isn't drinking and driving bad anyway? Your ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sauerkraut left out

I can't believe I left out the most important ingre. you put a jar or can of sauerkraut after rinsing it in the pot with other ingre.

Missing ingredient!!!!

Linda: Did you pull a Debbie and not list all ingredients??? Like "saukerkraut"....

Sauerkraut & Ribs

1 lb. pork ribs (more if you like) I have also used country ribs.
1 small onion chopped fine
1 med potato chopped small
pour chicken broth (sometimes I just use water) over all ingre in big pot.
1 tab. natures seasoning (more if you want)
I sprinkle caraway seeds over top a couple of times (approx. 2 tab. maybe less and more to taste.
1/2 teas. garlic granulates
After simmering for 1 1/2 hours on stove (I put in crockpot for all day on low or 5 hours on high)
I check to see if the ribs are tender. turn off heat.
I boil 6 potatoes and make mash potatoes out of them and then put rib mixture on them and broth. I also boil some yellow Lentals (Not a lot) and mash them with the potatoes and butter. then I put the rib and broth over them. hope you can understand this as I did it in my head.

Need recipe!!!

Linda: You use to make spare ribs with sauerkraut (sp?) Do you still have the recipe??? Dena

Posting 101

OK everyone who wants to post. Here are the basics for posting. After acessing the blog, look at the top right side of the blog. See where it says POST, just to the right of you email address? Go ahead and click it. If you had to log in, after clicking POST, you will be at the post window ready to go. Otherwise you will have to log in first. Items to look for: Title-make one up. The body of the post is the main part of the post. Simply start typing. Below the Title box are the tool selection icons. Look for the one with blue sky. Press it. This is the icon for uploading a photo. Just do what it asks and you will upload to your post. TIP- I always place the file I want to upload on my desktop. In this way, I always know exactly where the upload ready file is located. When you have ID'ed the file, press UPLOAD. It may take a few moments to upload. After uploading, you can view it or you can keep typing into the body of the post. After completing your message, look below the "body" box for a much smaller box called "Labels." Go ahead and give your post a label or two. I use my name. In this way you can search for all the labeled post with your name or something else. Now go ahead, press the orange button, "PUBLISH POST." Your post, with the picture can now be viewed on the web. You are now a posting machine. Happy posing. jvh

contest

Hello All: How bout we have a pet contest for the cutest pet. Here is my daughter Zoey:) She lets me live with her teehee

I know we all have bragging photo's.

Chow Chow relish

5 cabbage heads
5 lbs. onions
5 lbs green tomatoes
1 -1 1/2 lb. green & red bell pepper
1/2 lb. Jalapeno pepper
(different kinds if peppers if you want)
Shred all above
Add 1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vinegar (white vinegar is what I used)
Simmer all of above about 40 min.
On top of each pint put 1/2 tea. salt.
Approx 20 pints.
I put these in a water bath and boil for 15 min.
It is really good on any meat.

yee-ha cowboy

yee-ha cowboy

This darling picture is of our ggrandson and grandson. Isn't he cute.

RJ is Gayle Moran"s (Freeman) grandson. He had a major roll in the Fountian Valley High School play, 12 Angry Men. He was the foreman of the jury.

Heat

I forgot to tell everyone how hot it is right now. It is 110 degrees out side. I hope it doesn't hurt my 12 x 12 ft. piece of grass. Our neighbors asked us why we only put such a small piece of grass on our 1 1/4 piece of yard. and the rest is gravel. Because that is all he promised me. I said I want a piece of grass and I didn't care if it was only 10x10ft so I got a deal. hahaha

bread & butter pickles

use small unwaxed cucs & tiny white onions.
6 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
1 pound small onions
1 green bell pepper shredded
1/4 cup salt
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 tea. turmeric
1/4 tea. cloves
1 TAB. mustard seed
1 tea. celery seed
2 cups cider vinegar
mix the cucs, onion (sliced if large) green pepper, and salt. Cover and let stand for 3 hours. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large pot, bring slowly to a boiling point, and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the vegetables in a colander and rinse them well with cold water. Add them to the hot syrup and heat to just below boiling point. Spoon into hot sterilized jars, fill with the cooking syrup, leaving 1/8in. headspace and seal. Or if you want to you can process in a boiling water bath for 10 min. Jack if you want I also have a dill pickle recipe. Also a chow chow recipe but I have to hunt for that

Family, I am looking for a pickle recipe, do you have one, if so please share it here.

FAMILY REUNION

Aunt Joyce called me today and asked if I was going to this years reunion. This years Thomas Family reunion is Saturday, August 21st at the Long Beach Park (the same park down from Grandma Thomas' home). People should start arriving between 11 AM and 12 PM. As for me and the girls, I am not sure this far out. If I can, I will be there. Hope to see you all.

Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday. We spent Sunday with Jan's mother, two brothers and sister and their respective families. Zachary & Kayla, Zac's new bride, and Anthony were able to come as well. It was great. We went to the cemetery after dinner, were we placed flowers on over a dozen different plots in two different cemeteries. I was amazed at how well she new everyone and their history. Besides the normal father, mother, and grand parents, she was going back well into the 1800's. It was awesome. We all learned a lot. I also learned that you can nail live plants and their pots to the ground with large nails. This prevents them from falling over due to wind. Interesting! Anyway, we all enjoyed the stories and each others company. I hope someone was able to put a flower or two for grandma and grandpa Thomas and Uncle Thommy.

hope everyone is having fun on this holiday. We took out are sandrail yesterday and went to the river and had a picnic lunch and kept our feet in the water. Lots of boats out. It was overcast part of the day so we didn't get sun burned. it was windy earlier this morning but that is gone so maybe we will take out the sandrail again. Its a lot of fun. Linda

On the road again

I hate to be the next post. Aunt Susy, your flowers were beautiful. I particularly like the color they brought to the blog. Anyway, here I go again, on the road back to Utah. I may have to look for one of those blowup pillows you suggested. Currently, I am thinking it is a good idea to get my big rig drivers license. I can take a load back to Utah ever other week. Might as well make money on the trip if I am driving anyway.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Lets each take this weekend to post something we remember about a loved one that has past on. Mom, you have a special assignment. Your post needs to have a picture. I need to keep you practicing loading pics-I do not want to have to find a body of water to drown myself. LOL Actually, you have been doing great. Even Aunt Dina was impressed with all your uploaded pictures. When you get something. you really get it.

I had better stop posting while driving, especially when it is raining. Love you all, Jamey

Hello from Paradise

Wow..linda I am impressed..you even put photo's. Here are 2 from Paradise. 1 is local pets and 1 is from 1 of my listings.

Thanks Jack for the flower photo and Jamie I feel for you havng to make that long drive. i have a cushion that you add water to and it seems to help.

Let's keep this going.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Memorial Day.

Love, Ssan

today is suppose to be another day under 100 :) It will be 100 next tuesday. believe it or not I am liking it better. It is beautiful in the desert with the flowers all blooming. Plus we now have a sandrail. We took it out last Sunday and went to the river. We got our legs sun burned. We set in the river for awhile watching the boats and seadoo's going by. boy was that water cold but felt so good.

3 Bean Salad

From Betty Crocker Cook Book and the mind of Jack

Serve 8 as side dish

1 can kidney bean

1 can black bean

1 can garbanzo bean

½ can corn

4 green onion, chopped

¼ Cup fresh parsley chopped

½ Cup bell pepper, any color, chopped

1 teaspoon sugar

2 clove garlic, chopped

½ cup cooked brown or white rice

2 - 3 fresh tomatoes. Chopped into ¼ inch pieces ( just prior to adding to salad)

Sun dried tomatoes or Italian salad dressing

Drain and rinse beans and corn

Toss all (except tomatoes) in a serving bowl.

Add dressing to taste,

Add seasoning to taste, I use pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, or celery salt. (Use what you have)

Cover and put in refrigerator 3 or more hours.

Add tomatoes at time you serve.

Deviled Eggs

Question of the week? How to make deviled eggs. Here is my recipe that I use. after boiling your eggs cut them in half. mash the yellow part and add mayo & mustard, salt & pepper. (Sometimes I add a little dill and celery cut up very fine). Then put back in the white part and add a little paprika on top. Please send in yours..

Hi every one, this is jack freeman writing, auntie Margaret oldest son. Margaret was (your father, uncle or grandpa thomas sister.

Oh, good the blog is up and active.

Thanks Linda for the recipe, i will post one tomorrow.

I was waking on the bike trail in Newport last week and saw colorful flower, i want to share it with you.

Nathan Van Hubbard Lackland AFB

Just an update.

Well, its just the three of us. Thanks for your comments aunt Susie. As for me, I get to go home tomorrow. I will be driving from Seattle, WA to Huntsville, UT-about 800 miles. It wouldn't be so bad, but, I hate to stop and loose time. Needless to say, my rear end takes the brunt of the trip. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and lets each keep on posting. James

photo's i think

Finally here

after three hours with Jamey trying to tell me how to do it I finally got on. At one point he was going to jump over board as he is on a ferry right now.

Mexican Lasagne

1 lb more or less hamburger. Brown hamburger in pan with 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 onion chopped up. When Hamburger is brown add 1 small can of refried beans (I mix a little water with them) and 1 can Rotel tomato with green chili sauce, and 1 small can chopped ortega chilies. Also 1 small can of El Pato tomato sauce. Also add 1 small can of sliced olives. Mix it up good. Now put 3 med flour tortilla's on bottom of 9x13 pan. Then cover with meat mixture. Also put a handful of cheese and sliced green onions. Then add another 3 flour tortilla's and put more mixture etc. on them. Do this until you use up all of the mixture and cheese and green onions.
If you are making for a big crowd use a big can of Ortega refried beans. When hamburger is cooking add some Natures Seasoning, Mexican Oregano and a package of Sazon Goya.
Bake in the oven 350 degrees until chesse melts and it is warm. When I fix this I serve Mission tortilla chips and lettuce, tomatoes and onions on top of it.
Try this...it is sooooooo good.
Submitted by Linda Sumner

Linda-MOM

Mom, lets get your picture of you sitting on Sam's chopper and maybe one of you in your new dune buggy posted on the blog. Email me and I will get it on. Better still, lets get you educated on doing it yourself. This way you can blog away. Love you, jvh

Hello!

Well it has been way to long since I have posted on this blog. Lots has happened. I find myself living and working in the Seattle Washington area. My family is still back in Utah waiting for me to make more money. Kind of a tuff situation. If it wasn't for Skype internet video connections and going home every other week or so, this deal would be unbearable. Anyway, time keeps marching on. The boys Nathan, Logan, Anthony and Zachary are all out on their own. Jan still has Allyson, Jamilee and Hannah still at home. Last week we had a great time planting flowers, cleaning Jan's car and washing windows for mother's day. Jan really appreciated all the efforts. I hope everyone else is doing fine. James