December 24, 2011

Just a quick note about today. We've been busy trying to get all of our last minute wrapping and making and what not completed in time for a quiet evening. Last night was our family Christams party and I think it was successful. It's always good to have everyone together where we focus on the family and the meaning of Christmas and less on what the world would have us focus on. The little ones are always a hit. They bring such joy with their cute little smiles and happy little faces. Both sets of parents were able to join us and that ws also a pretty big deal.

Dinner consisted of Prime Rib, Funeral potatoes, brocolli, rolls and a yummy dessert. It was a very good dinner followed by some festive themed minute to win it games and the granparents exchangeing gifts. .






This picture of the christmas tree has my favorite little rocker sitting in front of the Christmas tree. Dad says his  his grandma owned it. I knew that because she gave it to me when I was pregnant with Tyler. Wayne and I refinished it and we've had it ever since.

A Few Special Christmas Memories

The Touch of the Master's Hand
A gift from a very dear friend Margo Miles

"They Called His Name Jesus" by Dan Freed
Dan's father "Brother Freed" lives in my ward. He is such a kind man. One
day while I was visiting him and he was telling me about his family ,
he showed me some of his son's art. He ask me if I would like a print. I was
so excited that I promptly had it matted and framed. I took it back to Bro. Freed to show
him how beautiful it looked. I later gave Dan Freed's work to each of my three children at
Christmas. I think they enjoy theirs as much as we do.
Christmas Socks were bought on our trip to Finland

This wooden sleigh was made by dad about 10 years ago - before
this nasty Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) Disease has taken
away his ability to do the many talents he loved so much.

My Nativity. The creche' was made by Wayne for me. I've had other
nativity sets before but I really love this one. I could leave
this out all year long. It brings me peace as I enter the room.

My Christmas cactus. This is more of a fun story and will leave a fun
memory for me this year. The plant is from my friends in my office at Logan Regional.
I had surgery 3 weeks ago and this along with an inside joke
makes a lasting Christmas memory. Thanks everyone!

There are actually 6 things in this picture. 1st there is a poinsettia. Wayne and I celebrated out 30th wedding anniversary on December 11th. For as long as I can remember we have skipped roses or other flowers to decorate the house with beautiful poinsettia's for our anniversary.  Front and center is Santa. My dad and I cut these out and I painted these one year. I painted one for him and my mom and one for me. He promptly made a nice stand for his so he could display it and it wouldn't tip over. That was probably 15 or more years ago. Wayne made me a stand for mine this year so it no longer needs to lean against the fireplace or in a corner. Santa is standing next to my grandma Larsen's rocking chair from when she was a little girl. Grandma gave me the rocker when I was pregnant with Tyler and we refinished it and it's special to see my grandkids sit and rock in it. The curio cabinet is number 4 and it was made by my dad about 20 years ago. I always display beautiful Christmas keepsakes in it.#5 is the wooden Santa on the left shelf. It was hand carved in Russia and we bought it while visiting there in 2008.

Christmas is a Feeling

Spooktacular Halloween

We had a totally awesome Halloween with great weather and excited grandkids. Wayne always enjoys Halloween much more than I do so he had his scary ghost set up at the front door. He also made certain that we gave out the full size candy bars before we moved to the little candy bars. I actually dressed up (sort of) for the first time in probably 30 or more years. I decided that I would take on the "witch" or mean reputation that I may have within my role at work, and play that up. So I dressed up as a witch and then denied that I was dressed up. It was kind of fun for all of us and it made for a great day. Sydnee and Savannah were so excited about the amount of candy that they were able to gather. It brought back great memories of when I was a kid and used to go out trick or treating. I would eat the "good stuff" like the candy bars and pixi sticks and I really didn't eat a lot of the candy. Too bad they didn't hand out cinnamon bears and twizzler bites when I was a kid ;-)
I'm pretty glad now that as an adult I can buy candies that I don't really crave so when there are leftovers I'm not that tempted to eat them all. Wayne thinks I'm funny cuz I like to keep them in the candy jar.
We had soup and bread tonight before we took the kids out for their final houses of trick or treating. Jocelyn made a yummy baked potato soup and we made the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup. It was all so yummy.

Healthsouth Halloween Party

The staff at the surgical center had a family halloween party for the doc's and their kids so after work Wayne drove home from Salt Lake long enough to pick me up along with the grandkids and we drove back to Salt Lake. Sydnee and Savannah wore their costumes from last year because their costumes aren't ready for this year. Since I didn't know we were going ahead of time, I didn't have time to get Emma's costume. The staff went to a lot of work to have a spook alley and lots of cute games for the kids. They all dressed up and interacted with the kids. Afterwards there was hotdogs and sloppy joes along with yummy cookies and and homemade rootbeer. IT was really nice of them to go to all of that hard work. Bryant and his two boys were there. Henry made friends with Savannah and the 4 of them went back several times to play more games and to gather extra candy. By the time we left both girls had full bags of candy. It was another great night with the grandkids!

Conference Weekend

 Emma is sitting in the rocking chair that used to belong to my Grandma Larsen. She gave it to me to refinish when I was pregnant with Tyler almost 30 years ago. My grandma was born in 1907 so you know the chair is just a few years old. It is so special to me to have it in my home and to see my grandkids enjoy it.

 We took the two littlest ones for a walk during the second session on Sunday so that their parents could enjoy some quiet during the session. Wayne and I were able to record it so we watched it after the kids left. Walking around the streets in Mantua during conference was like walking around a ghost town, it was so quiet! It was an awesome time to spend together chatting and watching these two little ones.

 After conference we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the last of the autumn time flowers and snapped a few pictures of my girls. I can hardly believe how grown up my little Sydney kidney has gotten! She has lost that little girl look and is looking more and more like a young lady every day. She is so beautiful both inside and out. You can see the sparkle in her daddy's eye when he interacts with her. I think he realizes what we've been warning him about - how quickly the time goes by!

My little Savannah banana! She too is growing like a weed. We had a great weeked with Savannah her Aunt Joce made conference a little more enjoyable even for her with some fun coloring activities. This little one is loaded with personality and she can be a little pistol sometimes. Other times she's the most loving little girl you'll ever chance to meet. Today she met my parents with a big hug and a kiss and specifically ask my mom how she was feeling and if her hip was all better. "Are you able to go for walks again grandma because I know how much you like to go for walks?"

My conference weekend consisted of having all 3 of my kids come up to the house and enjoy conference with us. Zachary got to order the lunch menu so we had Chicken Parmesan and it was good I guess or so I am told. My parents came up to join us and that was nice. They don't get out too often and it's always nice to have them come and be with the family. They enjoy being around the great-grandkids so much and it really makes my mom smile. What was especially funny on this particular day was Nash. He kept reaching out for my dad as they were leaving and wanting my dad to hold him. Once he was in the car, Nash wanted in the car with them so I let him in for a minute. He gave my dad a big kiss and when I went to take him away from my dad so they could leave, he started to cry. I think that put a little grin on my parents face - not to see Nash cry but to know that they are still wanted and needed, especially by the little ones. It made for a nice ending to a nice weekend. I couldn't really ask for anything more.

Girls Night!

I've mentioned before how lucky I am to work with such great people and these couple of ladies are 2 of those said great people. Mattie is Susan's daughter and has become our second daughter. We are grateful she will have us and even more grateful that she thinks we're cool enough to hang out wth on a Friday night. Whatever the reason we were all blessed to have a great Friday night togther making various different pasta dishes and eating them. Dr. Keyser shared some of his great Italian recipes with us so we put them to use by making about 5 of them tonight. I just wanted to make a few comments about these two great ladies. It is such a blessing to work with such awesome ladies. Both of these ladies live their lives in accordance with gospel principles. They have such a kind heart and it is impossible to have bad day with these two around. Mary is going to retire in Janurary and that will leave Susan and I in the office. It's hard to imagine what it will be like when it's no longer "the three of us". Somethings can change but our friendship will not. Thanks ladies! Our dinner was awesome and your company even better.

Autumn Time!

There is a distinct change in the weather and the mornings are brisk and the nights have cooled down just the way I like them. When I sleep with the window open and the breeze blows in across our bed, it makes pulling up the comforter so  comfortable! Living here in Mantua sometimes I can listen to the neighbors pond running and I imagine I am camping (not a hard thing to imagine at all) and it makes drifting off to sleep a little easier. I just love this time of year. Of course I wish it lasted a little longer but as with everthing, in order to appreciate it, there must be opposition and winter will follow close behind. So as not to dwell on what is coming next, I wanted to capture a little of what I am enjoying now. Tonight we took Tyler's little ones for a walk and it was so beautiful outside. If time allows, maybe a walk around the lake on Sunday. Tomorrow is out of the question - Wayne is installing our new patio door ~ yeah!

September 2011

We had such a great time in Angels Camp California and visiting Yosemite National Park with our friends Brian and Jill Hobbs. We haven't done anything together with them for what we figured was about 15 years! Our last big trip together was Mexico and we had a great time there as well. It was fun to catch up on the past several years, find out what our kids are up to and yes even what our grandkids are doing!! They have a cute little grandson, Mason who is 2 and adorable. He looks a lot like their son Nathan as I remember Nathan as a child. And of course we have our adorable 4. We talked about work and play and family and basically had a great time. At the conclusion of our week I think we all agreed not to let another 15 years sneak bye. We are going to have to do better about putting the fun back on our calendars! Thanks Jill and Brian for such a great time and Brian especially ~ thanks for going easy on me ;-)

Back to School!

The girls are headed back to school and it's hard to believe just how grown up they are both getting. It was so much fun to take them school clothes shopping this year. We had a blast and played games and laughed until we cried. We went to Olive Garden for dinner. We had a fashion show at the nursing home. And we did a photo shoot at the "red door". Unfortunately the girls had gone swimming all day earlier and Savannah's eye's were red from the chlorine. They both looked adorable in their new clothes and they are excited for the first day of school. I can hardly wait to hear what they choose to wear for the first week of outfits. I was trying to remember back to my elementry days and getting ready for school. Laying out your first weeks clothes. Wearing "fall" clothes even though it was still summer just because they were new. My most vidvid memory is of a red tartan plaid skirt with with knee high socks and a white sweater. The skirt had a gold pin (like a really big safety pin) in the front holding the front panels from coming undone. I loved that outfit.

First Time to Disneyland

Like so many things in life, we only get one "FIRST" and this was a first time to Disneyland for the 4 little grandkids and also for our daughter-in-law Karie. We had talked about it, told them all the good the bad and the ugly and yet you still can quite be prepared for that first few minutes of your Disneyland experience. These pciture were all taken actually on our 2nd day or our last day so this isn't exactly their first moment in the park but this is as close as I'm going to get you to their first experience. Unlike many Disneyland lovers, I'm a lukewarm Disneyland person. I'm good to go every few years with a new group of kids or grandkids. I don't think I could ever sustain the excitement more than once a year - year after year. Lake Powell will always hold my heart and all of my favorite family vacation memories. Yet, when I looked into the eyes of those little girls and Sydnee told me that one of these days was the best day of her life, it was a pretty dang good day for me as well. I must say however that anyday with grandkids is a good day, even when Savannah loses her gum in your car, grandpa calls her a retard or Emma has 2 blow-outs in one park day and basically gets down to a diaper and a t-shirt sort of day. Funny little story from Sydnee as we were walking through the park: Syd told me I was "stoned". I laughed and told her no and that I didn't she even knew what stoned was! With a very serious face, Syd looked at her mom and I and said, "yes I do. Isn't that when Medusa looks at you and you turn to stone?" We all just burst into laughter! How can you not have a great day when you have stories and jokes like these straight from the innocent hearts of a child!
Hope you all have a great day. More pictures from Disney and Sea World and San Diego are coming.

Last day of our California Vacation

Today was the last day of our family vacation here in California. We started our trip in Anaheim and ended the week here in San Diego. Jocelyn, Brandon and Emma started home this morning because Jocelyn has to work in the morning. We spent the majority of today in Old Town San Diego but on our way home to the condo, we stopped by the Temple for a walk around the temple and a family photo. It's an amazingly beautiful building but even more so it just instantly brought a sense of peace as we walked around the grounds. Every day was a good day on this vacation. Thery were all different and we did something different everyday. I can't name a favorite but certainly today ranks right up there .

Emma in my office

It took a few minutes for Emma to get the hang of the licorice thing. First she just played with it and hit herself and others with it but then she discovered she could suck on it and it tasted yummy. Before long (really like 2-5 minutes) we went from a red vine to a soupy red slime. We had it everywhere, but dang it was fun. Thanks to my friend and office pal Susan because clean up was undoubtedly a two person operation!

I shouldn't be laughing but this was so dang funny. There really wasn't much of a clean spot left on the poor little thing. She was really happy until the clean up started.

Seriously, look at that smile!

This is the House I Grew Up In

So I was going through some old pictures of the house I was raised in and a flood of emotion came over me. It's not about the house, the house was fine and I enjoyed my time there, but these emotions were prompted by the pictures of all the memories of the times that my kids spent there with my parents. A lot of their childhood memories involve happy times with their grandparents. They spent countless hours playing with their grandma and going for walks to the park. There was little that those kids could do that could get them into trouble with their grandparents. They dried grapes into raisens they made countless walks with grandpa to camels cave only to reward themselves with icecream upon their return. They loved to go fishing and camping with their grandparents and it didn't matter if they were going next door or across the country they knew they would have a great time if grandma and grandpa were involved. Jocelyn loved to play "Old Maid" but poor thing always lost but that's ok she didn't mind. All 3 kids traveled from Sioux Falls to Utah while we were packing up to move home but grandma and grandpa didn't bring them straight home - no! They took the scenic route through the bad lands and then to Yellowstone. We invited them on nearly every fun family adventure we went on because the kids always had more fun if the grandparents were with us. We went up the Oregon Coast when Wayne took his boards and we went crabbing. The kids remember the crab that bit on to grandpa and wouldn't let go! Or how about our trip to Disneyland. The kids wanted to ride with the grandparents from CA to Vegas. No sweat till Wayne took a wrong turn and my parents ended up with the kids in Vegas at circus circus for hours waiting for us. This was before cell-phones so they just had to hope we would catch up with them. In this picture of the house you'll see Tyler up on the shed roof helping grandpa re-roof the shed. This was just about the time we had to ask my dad to please stay off the roof when no one is around to keep an eye on him. Seriously! You can see the beautiful cabinet work he did in his old home on Custer. He refaced all of his kitchen cabinets. It's funny what a little run in with bad health can do to one's hobbies. He and mom moved into that beautiful new home with a beautfiul wood shop and he's not made a single thing since moving there. He says the move came about 10 years to late. He has taught me over and over again that it doesn't matter how much money you make or how important you are, time waits for no one! I remember once many years ago my mom told me when she was going to Hawaii for the first time - Oh Shell, don't wait til you can afford it, or til your thin enough or whatever because by the time you think you have everything you need in order to go, you're old and wrinkley and it just doesn't matter. Make traveling with your family a priority while you are young. Wayne and I have taken their advice and we have tried to squeeze in family vacations wherever we can. They may not be elaborate but they require us to spend quality time together and I think that's what my parents were talking about. So kids, all those trips to Powell, that's what it's all been about so I'm glad you've enjoyed them as much as we have. And this trip coming up to Disneyland, though I hope not to lose any of you like my parents lost us, I still look to build lots of good memories that you can one day write about and laugh!

Spray painting frenzie

Jocelyn came over tonight and we broke out the spray paint and craft paints. I bought this little egg holder at Target Wednesday but I knew that the white color would have to go. Tonight I sprayed it with a hammered bronze and it looks so much better. Jocelyn and I also made these cute little chalkboards to display with seasons greetings!

Under the Bed 72 Second Disaster Kit

I got this advice and list from our Relief Society. I don't know if all of it would apply to everyone but it at least gets you thinking about just how ready and mobile you would be in an emergency. Here are the suggestions for a 72 SECOND disaster kit: Keep itmes in a bag or backpack (this will prevent glass and other debris from getting in your shoes) Sturdy Shoes Pair of Socks Emergency contact list Whistle (to attract the attention of emergency personnel) Dust mask (useful in fires and earthquakes) Work gloves ( To protect your hands when moving glass or debris) Several bottles of water Flashlight (don't use if you smell gas) Light stick on a lanyard Pry bar Portable radio with spare batteries On Bedside Night Stand Keep: Extra car keys Cell phone and charger Glasses Wallet I think I'll work on mine this weekend. It's something I can do and let's pray we never need to use it! It's one thing that I wouldn't mind if it just collected dust~

What a difference a day makes!

What a difference a day makes! I bought this new flower for my front door and I took the picture for a friend at work. 24 hours later and I have snow to shovel and it looks like winter all over again! I guess this is one way of keeping from using my time off to work in the yard and instead I have a home office that is in desperate need of some de-cluttering! No excuses I suppose. Is it spring or is it winter? It's both, it's UTAH!!

Giddy Up!

Happy birthday to our little miss Emma. Her first birthday - oh what a joy. We did a little shopping and some "strolling around". She was the hit of the Texas Roadhouse with her loud voice. She does love to yell, but she's smiling all the while so it's just an incredibly busy outside voice no matter where she is. Because it was her birthday - we couldn't pass up the birthday saddle and happy birthday ice cream! She had a blast, but she was a tired little cowgirl on the way home and fell quickly to sleep ;-)