Corona Del Mar - 1st Beach Trip for Finley

Mark's last blog for his school assignment:

Summer must include at least one trip to the ocean. If you live in Southern California, multiple trips are desirable. One of the most enjoyable, but also stressful, experiences is going to the beach with children that are experiencing it for the first time! Connie (where are the pictures of her? I think she was behind the camera most of the time!!) has already blogged about this visit to the beach, but I decided to add a couple more photos and some comments for my last blog assignment for school.

Here is Aidan (one of my nine grandchildren) and I. Corona Del Mar is one of the best places to take children. There is a side of the beach near the Newport harbor where there are no waves. Parking is really close to haul all of your stuff (with children there is more to carry). There are tide pools at low tide to explore with your children.

Aidan really was interested in the seaweed that had washed up on the beach. He carried it around, even though it was as big as he was!

Of course, at the beach you just have to have fun - and there was plenty of time for that. Aidan and I were covered in sand and got drenched in the small waves and had the best time!!

my grandaughter Finley was at the beach for the first time and wasn't shy about having the full experience. She 'ate' plenty of sand. She was not afraid of anything. I think she looked beautiful in her bathing suit and preppy hat!!

For more information about Corona del Mar click on it. One note on parking: the main beach is considered part of the state parks systems, but is operated by the city of Newport Beach. Discounts that one may possess for state parks are not honored.

George & Dora Hatch reunion!

I went to Arizona for Pioneer Celebration/Heritage and George P & Dora Palmer Hatch family reunion. It was a wonderful reunion planned by my cousin Jodi. She put in so much time and thought into everything and it showed, even though my pictures don't show all the fun that I had.

The reunion started on July 16th at 1:00 pm, Patti was only able to come for Thurs. so off we went with our parents for our own personal tour of Taylor and the surrounding areas in the morning. My mother was born in Taylor and spent many a year there. But she was funny and she said frequently "I don't remember that being there", well you moved over 60 years ago. I hope things have changed.This museum in the former general goods store of my great, great grandparents, Alma & Alzada Palmer. His original store was in Snowflake and later he purchased this building in Taylor for his store. Alma Z. Palmer was one of the very first settlers in this Northern Arizona area, and many of his descendants still live there.
His wife also has a very interesting history and story, here is a short read about Alzadas' history.
George P. and Dora Palmer Hatch are my Grandparents. They owned this store until my mother was 6 years old. They lost their business because of the generosity of my grandfather and giving many, many people (and family) in the town; credit. The people couldn't pay so the store was lost, (George burned the very large stack of credit receipts so no one would know who owed him and be embarrassed).
All of these Palmer/Hatch descendants had a store in this building for a while.

This is headstone of my Great Grandparents John & Jane Hatch (Mary Jane Standifird), George Phineous Hatchs' parents.
Here is the resting place of Katy Hatch (my Grandfather's sister), scroll down a little farther for more information about her and her short life. She is buried next to her parents in Taylor, Arizona cemetery.
Now I'm in Woodruff, Arizona in the small cemetery there. As you can tell it is a very desolate place. I think it was 110 degrees while I was there. Her husband and his other wives are buried in Utah, and she is here alone. The life of Alice Hanson Hatch link.
This is a picture of the damn in Woodruff as it stands today. Lorenzo Hill Hatch was called to Northern Arizona to colonize, and one of the first things that they did was to build a damn so that they could farm. The stones were huge, and the first three damns would wash out during the rainy season because of the great rainfall. This fourth one was built a little farther up the river and has stayed today. Amazing.
Here are my parents at the Woodruff damn, we spent the week together. I slipped back into the daughter roll and let them take me where they wanted (I played the part well, sitting in the back of the car with my ipod).
Jodi and her husband Keith arranged for us to go horseback riding while we were there, mine was a very short ride (I wasn't feeling well), but enough for a picture.
The next day we drove to Pine Top, AZ to go to the Katy memorial but first we stopped and had lunch together and told the story of her life (we were kicked off the land by an Indian Marshall even though we had a permit), but he guided us straight to the memorial that was on Indian land but we were allowed to be there.
The Katy story is a part of my history, I remember my mother telling me this story when I was young and I remember it being sad but oh, so intriguing, and then as an adult making me weep as I viewed this story as a mother. Grab a kleenex and read her story, told by Katy's sister who was 11 years old at the time. Here is a shorter version from the news paper if you would like a short read.
Everyone in this picture is one of the originals (my mom and her sisters), and then first cousins and their spouses. There was another pic took of everyone that came to the monument grandkids, great-grandkids, and so on, but too many people.
Here I am after shooing the little kids off the monument (there are three kids behind, they didn't want to leave). So many places I went, so many people I saw that I hadn't seen in a while. It was a great blessing to be able to go and share my genealogy with so many wonderful family that I love. Thanks for a great reunion at the land of my (part of)heritage.

Argentine Licuado

The latest post from Mark: When I was a young man on a mission in Argentina, I would often go to a street vendor and purchase something that was called a "licuado". They would have blenders and bins full of cut up fruit and whip us up a frozen beverage that was very refreshing! When I returned to the states and later was married I missed the licuado and created my own recipe from the memory of what I saw them put into the blender. It was very simple:

first I start with ripe fruit. Bananas are my favorite. I also really like apricots, peaches, and strawberries. Use whatever is on hand (and about to be thrown out for being over-ripe!) Two bananas are just right. Use the equivalent amount of other fruits

In the blender: pour just enough milk to cover the blades. Then add your fruit. Add some sugar - I just pour some in - about a quarter of a cup. Begin to blend. Hint: if it doesn't want to blend at first, try the "pulse" or "chop" setting.

Get some ice ready in a bowl (16 to 20 cubes as pictured). Add the ice to the running blender one at a time.

The licuado will begin to 'thicken'. When it is the consistency of a milkshake then you know that you have added enough ice!

Now comes the good part. Pour the licuado into two tall glasses . . .

and . . .

Enjoy!!!!

If you don't have a blender - here is a website to help you pick one out. If you think you need the 12,000 dollar one, I recommend that you take a trip to Argentina instead!!

American Lion

Here is the latest post from Mark:

I was given the book "American Lion - Andrew Jackson in the White House" (Jon Meacham, Random House paperback 2009) as a gift for Father's Day from my son. I had hinted that I would like it. It has been a wonderful read. I am about a fourth of the way through it. Here is a couple of 'fun' facts that you may not be aware of: he was the 7th president of the United States. He was in his early 60's when he took office. His wife passed away suddenly just a few weeks before the inauguration ceremonies. His niece (in her mid 20's) took over the duties of the first lady (hostess and such).He carried around a bullet in his shoulder that he received in a dual where he had killed the other man - it often caused internal bleeding. His opponents thought that he would not be healthy enough to take office, much less make to fill a second term. He made many changes that truly made our government more one of the people (instead of the 'aristocrats'). The thing that I like especially about this book, and others that I have read that are like it (Lincoln, Truman, John Adams, 1776), is that it gives a sense of everyone else that was important at the time and what was going on in the country - not just about the man. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical books.

Andrew Jackson

here is a link to another review of the book

Biking with Ken #2

Here is the second post by Mark (one of these days it will say "Posted by Mark H at the bottom!) -

Sometimes I think the world views Southern California as one big stretch of cities broken up by freeways. This morning I went riding with Ken #2 (there is only one Ken #1) through a place called Thompson Creek Trail and then into San Dimas Canyon. I thought this would be a good addition to my current school assignment. Ken #2 was patient while I stopped periodically to take pictures:

These flowers were growing near the 210 freeway - I had to put my camera lense through a chain link fence to capture them!

This is looking north along San Dimas Canyon Road.

There is a little stream along the Road. Unfortunately, there is trash - I avoided including this in my picture.

Here I am with Ken #2. This is taken along the Thompson Creek Trail.

It is great to get outside and see nature, exercise the body and spirit!

Here is a link to the location of Thompson Creek Trail. I recommend that you start at the parking lot at the top of Mills Avenue. The trail begins across the street to the west. To get to San Dimas Canyon Road: when the trail crosses Baseline, turn right, and then right again on San Dimas Canyon Road. There are other ways to get there, but this is the easiest to remember!

Pansies!!!

Hi Everyone! This is Mark and although Connie and I set up this blog (thanks Nicole!!) to be for the both of us I have never contributed to it. I am in a class this summer at Cal Poly that is teaching me to use technology to help me as a teacher. For one of my assignments I am required to set up a blog (or add to this one!). This is my first posting. I decided to add a few photos that I took recently in our garden and comment on them. Many of you may recall the watercolor paintings that I have done of Pansies - it is my favorite flower. I love the variety of color, contrast, and texture. They are such a 'happy' flower. Enjoy these photos, the poor things have not done well recently with the heat! I realize as I read this that it is rather lame, but hey! everyone has to start somewhere. Who knows - I might get better at it! Each posting (for my class) must have an information/educational element, picture(s), and a link. So if you notice these elements - then I am doing ok (lol)

Pansies are easy to grow from seed. they can be purchased in small pots at the nursery.
As you can see - they come in a wide variety of colors!
Besides the actual flowers, I like the shape and color of the leaves and the buds.
Some of the flowers do not have the dark contrasting centers, I think it gives them a totally different look and makes them seem more delicate.

These seem very regal - dressed in their finest 'velvet'!

The following link tells why pansies (violas) make a good addition to the western garden.

Beach Days

Mark loves the beach! He has beginning skin cancers (and scoops as I call them where some have been removed) on his back to prove his reckless teen years. But his love for the beach is strong. The beach is always in our summer plans so we invited kids and grandkids to join us.

You know these cute faces, so I'll refrain.

We went to Corona Del Mar so that we could show Aidan the tide pools, but we didn't check the calendar and it was very high tide, Scott did manage to find some sea anenimees (I have no clue how to spell this and neither does spell check) to show him. Keep Laughing.
He found lots of sea weed to carry around and each time it kept getting bigger. He called the sea weed gorgeous!

Grandpa found lots of time to enjoy the ocean with Aidan.

What a pretty day. Couldn't have asked for better weather, warm with a slight breeze, and as you can tell, decent waves.