Have a nice Labor Day Weekend!

Santa-Cali-Gon begins Friday

By Emily Braton
Special to The Examiner
Posted Aug 25, 2008 @ 10:56 AM
Independence, MO —
The Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival is quickly approaching. For lifelong Independence residents mentioning the festival brings back fond memories. The first Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival was held in 1940. The festival was originally designed to celebrate the rich frontier history that Independence possessed. Local men grew beards for the occasion, while women dressed in 1800s clothing. The “Queen City of the Trails” commemorated the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails, all of which passed through Independence during the 1800s. A second celebration was held after World War II in 1947. The event would not be held again until 1973. The 1973 festival, called Three Trails Days, was held on the Historic Independence Square, a site chosen to exhibit results of the Square’s Urban Renewal project. The 1973 festival hosted about 50,000 attendees. In 1974 the festival was renamed Santa-Cali-Gon Days, a name originally penned by Velma Katschkowsky in a 1940 contest to name the festival. The 1974 festival was bigger and better than the Three Trails Days, with almost three times as many booth holders and more festivities devoted to the city’s pioneer past.The festival featured a beard and mustache contest, the Miss Independence pageant and a pioneer costume contest. In 35 years the Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival has evolved into one of the nation’s premier festivals, drawing more than 225,000 people each year.

When the girls were young I would load up the car and take off on Labor Day weekend for Santa Cali Gon Days!!! One time when in a huge crowd, Kelly was about

4 years old we lost her for about 2 minutes and it scarred us silly!!

I haven't been able to go up there for a while, but I have very good memories of our visits!

A Spelling Test meme!

Your Common Spelling Mistake Score: DlDo75% Correct

Your spelling is excellent. You don't fall for common spelling pitfalls, and you spell almost everything correctly.

Do You Make Common Spelling Mistakes?

I was very surprised by my score! I got 75% correct. I have a terrible time with spelling! I use the spell check deal at the top of my computer all the time. Glo and I laughed so hard about our spelling problems at the party! We don't know which one of us has a harder time with spelling! Now on this test they have the correct spelling and another word spelled wrong. So you can almost tell which one is wrong. Now if I would have been given the word without help I would have been in serious trouble! I am not kidding!

In fact when I first started blogging I would call up Karen, Kelly, or Sarah at work and not even say "Hello" just say How DO you Spell ????? They would say, Well hello, Mom or Grams and spell the word for me!!! Oh my, they teased me about this a lot!! Kelly put the spell check at the top of the google deal so I can check as I go along! It is better then the spell check on blogger!

When I was young I went to a one room Country school outside of Chillicothe Mo . My best friend, Joyce and I would give out spelling word to each other! Now she was a real speller! She went to the County Spelling Bee and I think she won! I remember giving her out list and list of words to spell!

She called me on my Birthday and we had so much fun reminiscing about when we went to Country School! This would have been 58 years ago! We made a beautiful box together for a pie and box supper. I think we had a program first, then we sang and put on a play! I think I always sang at the top of my lungs!! lol

Joyce's folks had a TV and we didn't! At lunch time we would sit outdoor in the fall and eat our lunches I always had tuna fish sandwiches and Joyce had cheese with pimento on hers. Joyce would fill me in on I Love Lucy and all the show she got to watch before bedtime! My Daddy didn't see any need for a TV until 1955! Of course when we got one he loved it! I think Gunsmoke was on by then which he really liked!

On a more serious note Denise over at Shortybears Place has been feeling really rough so if you have a minute run over there and say Hi! Denise we love you and are praying for you!

More pictures of the Party!!

I know, I know I bet you think I am going over board on this Birthday deal!! I just had to upload some more photos of the Happy Day!! It was so great and I enjoyed my self like I was 7 instead of 70!!!

One more picture of my beautiful Cake!

My friend Jackie me Valerie and Torri

Glo, from over at Young at Heart! We got to meet one another! She and Mike were as nice as could be!! Mike is her husband and it looks like this is our one and only picture of him! I sure hope Glo took one of him!! Sitting behind them are Torri, Nancy, and Cinda. My grandson Jey is walking toward us.

Sarah Kelly and Nancy

Baby Marcello

Baby Kevin

Grams My son Bill, Jake, my dil Becky and Sarah
Nancy and Grams

Pictures of the Party!

Just click on these pictures to make them larger!

I had a wonderful party!!!!!

Sarah and Kelly

Jackie and Grams

Grams and Glo

I got to meet Glo and her husband Mike! They are really nice people!! I so enjoyed meeting them!!! We plan a get together again! Mike is going to do a cookout!!

The Cake and the mints




Karen has lost 91 pounds





Mary and Torri





The beautiful mints that Joan made for my party!!
They tasted good too!!!

Grams and Glo!! Is she a sweetheart!!! What a treat to meet Mike and Glo!!

Nancy and Cinda

My cousin Betty holding Valerie and Betty's daughter Mary

Becky Sarah Lilly Bill and Jake

Grams, Jey, Sofia ,and and the great-grand kids

Karen and Jackie

Glo Grams Karen and Valerie

Grams and the beautiful cake mints and roses!!!

Grams and Glo

Pictures of Grams when she was young!

The table was beautiful

Thanks Karen and Kelly for a wonderful party!! Thanks to every one who came and helped me enjoy a wonderful 70th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, Grams!!

Happy Birthday Mommy Bob, Grams and Grandma Carolyn

Thanks to every one who has sent cards and E-cards for my Birthday!! Thanks for the sweet comments, too!! Yes, we are going to take pictures!!

Carrie just called me and said she wanted Kelly, Nancy, and me to go out for lunch on her, to our Mexican restaurant in town!! So off we go for a good lunch!!

I have peeked at my cake for the party tomorrow and it is beautiful!!! Thanks, Karen!!

Almost Party Time!!!

Girly Comments & Graphics

I am so excited!! Tomorrow I will be 70!! Karen and Kelly are having a party for me at our Pizza Hut in town on Saturday afternoon! You would think I was going to be 7 not 70!!! That is how excited I am!

Guess What!! My friend Glo and her husband Mike are going to be able to come to my party! Wooo-Hoooo!! How cool is this!! I haven't met Glo yet so this is going to be a treat for both of us. We both will have cameras with us so we can put my Birthday party on our blogs. I wish all of you could be here to help me celebrate! We would have one grand time together!!

Karen has ordered me a two tier white cake with strawberry filling. It will have 70 on the top with a pink bow. There will be pink roses around the bottom layer. Trimmed with pink icing. Kelly said that one of her friends she works with at the library told her she would like to make me a plate of pink mints!! She is a school teacher and works part time at the library, too. She also reads my blog all the time!! She loves reading it with my grammar just the way I write it!!! Thank you Joan, for being so kind!!!. I am so blessed to have family and friends who love me! Of course we are having pizza!! Chickens wings or maybe you call them Buffalo wings.

Karen has a free food day on Saturday so she can enjoy my cake too! She has lost 91 pounds since the first of the year. The last I heard my son Bill had lost 40 pounds so this will be so neat to see him! I haven't seen his family for a while so I am looking forward to seeing them!!! I heard that both Sarah and Jake are going to be able to come!!! Yea!

Sunday!

You Are Gymnastics

You are agile, expressive, and precise. You have the drive to practice until you get something perfectly right. And you have the confidence to perform difficult moves when under pressure.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

Tee Hee! When I saw this one I just had to take the Quiz! Maybe 55 years ago I could have been in gymnastics! Oh, who am I kidding! I was a clumsy back then it hasn't changed!! Not a drop!

It was so awesome seeing Michael Phelps win his eighth gold metal last night! He was in a relay and he couldn't have won without the help of Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, and Jason Lezak. Yea!

I think what impressed us so much was that when Michael Phelps was in kindergarten the teacher said he wouldn't go far..... or some thing like that. He had ADD and it was very hard for him the first few years. That just goes to show to keep encouraging your kids to keep on doing their best, what ever their best might be. I know I told my kids that! Back when Karen was a little girl she drew all the time and when it was little stick people I told her they were so good! On and on about them! She majored in Art at college but has ended up in a great job with computers, but someday would like to still design stuff.

Just before the Olympics came on my grandson Jey called us and said the Apple needed picking over at the studio. Jey, Sofia, and the kids moved into the studio in June. Everyone worked SO hard getting it ready to move into! I don't think I can tell you how nice it looks inside after all that work, but it looks great.

Jey helped the girls pick the Apples that were ready and Kelly worked them up and made something like Apple sauce . She froze this and will add it to a bunch of recipe she has and make all kinds of things for fall. She makes a Walnut Apple cake that is SO good. We don't know what kind of Apples these are,but Kelly said, laughing," I think they are Missouri Apples"!! She was running from the kitchen to the living room watching the swimming!

I just have to tell you something cute and adorable that my great grand daughter said after the Birthday party on Friday. When Karen kissed her Good-Bye she said to Karen; Is my Happy Birthday over now! Karen said ,"No Honey, now you get to play with all your toys that you got for your birthday". She said, Very happily I might add. Ohhh! Okay!

On Friday when we were at the Birthday Party we discovered the camera was out at Karen's house! Jey took picture of everything and he is suppose to send them on the computer over to our computer. One of Valerie gifts from Jey and Sofia 's friend was a huge doll house! I told you on Friday that Jey had built one for her! Now with both of them side by side it looks like a apt complex!

All the little 3 years old just loved it!! They played with all the little dollies and furniture etc and were so cute!

By the way the little dolly I got for Valerie was Kevin's favorite toy that Valerie received. He would sob and cry if he didn't get to hold it close to him! He is 14 months old. With a baby brother who is almost 2 months old!

Happy Birthday to My Great- Grand daughter Valerie!!

Girly Comments & Graphics

Happy Birthday to my Dear Great-Grand daughter Valerie who is 3 years old today!!

We will be going to her party this evening when Kelly gets home from work.The theme of the party is A Fairy Tale Friends Party! Valerie loves to dress up in little princess outfits. She has one on in her picture that we took on Christmas Eve. She loves Barbie dolls,too. I got her a little baby doll and a princess sticker book. Nancy didn't know the theme of the party and the last time she was out at the Dollar Store she got her a box of little tiny princess from the fairy tales! Just perfect for the party theme!! We have bragged on Nancy telling her Good Job, Nance!!

Kelly got another Barbie doll which is a fairy princess who changes colors in the bath tub! More color books from both Kelly and Nancy. Karen is going shopping this afternoon and I hope she doesn't buy out the store!! lol She won't, but she just adores little Valerie!

Valerie's Daddy Jey has built her a Barbie doll house which I haven't seen but heard good things about. Grandma Carrie, while she was here in July got a little bicycle with training wheels. Valerie thinks she is a princess and in my heart she is!!!

Did you all see Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson take Gold and Silver last night in Gymnastics! It was wonderful to watch but I was holding my breath to the very end!!

We have already been over to the lab for Nancy this morning and shopping! I am so happy that she is feeling better!

Awards and more about the olympics

I have been given some neat awards by my sweet friend Denise over at Shortybears Place! Thank you so much for thinking of me!! These are very special awards and I love them all!! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful blogging friends! I hate having to choose just a few of my blogging friends!! Too hard!! So if you are on my blog roll this is for YOU!! Thanks again dear Denise!!!

This last one is the Friendship award! How adorable!!

I have been watching a lot of the Olympics the past few days. Did you all see the swimming match relay on Sunday night! It was something to see! I think Michael Phelps led off and then two other swimmers, the last swimmer was Jason Lezak and he brought it home!!! They won the gold and this was one swim match they were worried about! The French had done a little trash talking saying the Americans could not win this relay. But they did!!! We were all going Go! Go! Go! Karen called to see what we thought when they won!!

Last night the men's gymnastics were thrilling! After the Hamm brothers were both injured and couldn't go to Beijing, two alternate were selected. Not to many thought they could metal at all and it came down to Alexander Artemew who scored high enough on the dreaded pommel horse to put our team in third place and they brought home a bronzed metal. They were just beyond happy!!!

I have watched men and women's beach volley ball, indoor volley ball ,soccer baseball,etc

Our local weather man on the NBC station is Gary Lezak and they have had a good time teasing him about the swimmer by that name wondering if they are kin folks. Lezak is not a name you hear every day!! Tonight the girls in gymnastics go for the Gold! Even if they don't get gold it will be neat to watch! As you can see I am really into this!!

Olympics! Grams loves them!

The five interlocking rings represent five continents or major geographical areas of the world. The five main regions: Africa, the Americas (North and South America are combined), Asia, Europe and Oceania.
As it says in the Olympic Charter, the five-ringed symbol "represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games."
The colors of the rings represent the flags of the countries that participate in the Olympics. Every flag of a country participating in the Olympics includes at least one of the following colors: blue, black, red, yellow, and green.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin conceived the design of both the rings and the flag. The Olympic Committee adopted the flag in 1914, and it was first flown at the 1920 Antwerp Games.

From the SMH.com au

An eight became a perfect 10 in Beijing tonight [August 8,2008].
The world may never witness a ceremony of the magnitude and ingenuity as that which opens the 2008 Olympics at the National Stadium in Beijing - affectionately dubbed the Bird's Nest.

I love, love the Olympics and have since the 1960's when I first started watching them! I think the 1984 olympics were the ones I remember the best with Mary Lou Rettin and her Gold mental performance.

I love winter and summer Olympics but I do love the ice skating in the winter Olympics a lot!!

Did you all see the opening ceremonies on Friday night! Wow! I think this was best opening I have even seen!!

I love learning about the different countries and their customs. I watched the basket ball game between the USA and CHINA and I had no idea that basket ball and the NBA was a passion in China! The announcers said that over 500,000,000 millions people were watching this game ! Even in rural villages there is usually a hoop and a basket ball. Of course Yao Ming is a hero in China. But what I didn't know was that the NBA players are too!! I follow college basketball (Go MU and KU) with what my family calls a passion but I have never cared much for the NBA. It was so interesting seeing these player through the eyes of the Chinese people. We did win this game 101-70.

Ok, I meant to add a picture of our team marching in but it is time for dinner and Kelly has made a big pot of Vegetable soup ! Her soup is good! So no picture of our team ! Did you all like our uniforms they marched in, this time! I thought they were kinda of cute. Better then sometimes!!

It has turned a little cooler and I sure am Thankful for this!!!

Hello on Wednesday!

Girly Comments & Graphics

Hello on Wednesday! I hope your week is going good ! I sure hope it isn't to hot where you all live! It has been very hot here but today we have some relief and it isn't suppose to be quite so warm.

We had to go to Lee's Summit yesterday with Nancy to see her lupus Doctor. Our AC in the car is non existent so we ended up rolling down the windows and letting our hair blow in the wind!! As long as we are moving its not so bad! But once you stop , Yikes! It doesn't take long for the sweat to start pouring off your face and you are miserable!

The Dr. said Nancy was doing better and we don't have to go back to his office until Oct. This is good news! She is still having lab work done with her blood Dr. and we have lab work in another week. So far her blood count is going up! Praise God!

Not much going on this week. I had better call my granddaughter and see if she got moved to her new apt. She will be teaching school down in South Central Missouri this year! I am so proud of her. My grandson will be a Junior in college at Warrensburg. He is studying to be a coach. I know it has to be really hot out on the football field!! I know Karen and Kelly will be going down there on Saturday afternoon's this fall to watch him on the side lines learning to be a coach!!!

I have been taged!!

I have been tagged!! Anni over at Hootin'Anni's has tagged me!
I think I can do this one!

The rules: All you have to do is Google your first name with the word needs behind it and post the first 10 results. Don't forget to tag people (if you are the tagging sort)!

Carolyn needs a spanking. I will probably get one on my 70th Birthday this Month!! Well, I hope not! Hey, I picked out my cake last night out at Karen's! It is Beautiful! Two tier with basket weave with pink roses around the base and a adorable pink bow on top! A white cake with white butter cream icing...... My favorite cake is white that is moist and yummy!

Carolyn needs to topix. (What?

Carolyn Needs Your Prayers. Always!!!!

Carolyn needs help. Isn't that the truth!

Carolyn's needs will continue to be met. Praise God!

Carolyn needs to reread her own book before she pounds the pavement looking for a new job.

Carolyn needs in a mate.---may have to click on that one and see what they had to say!!!

Carolyn needs to turn 16 more or gain 394 more Werewolf points to reach the next level. Boo! or maybe Howling!

Carolyn Needs a Scanner .

Carolyn Needs to say NO to people. --sometimes!


I won't tag anyone but if you want to play let me know and I will come and read what your said!!
I have been out at Karen's all afternoon! Our lights went out and so did the AC so we came on out here! So did our friend Cinda and Jey,Sofia,and the kids!! I have heard the lights are back on so I think we will go on home! It was 100 here today! Any way that is what one weather man said.