Merry Christmas to all,

and to all a good night!

I wanted to share a small piece of our family Christmas party with you...two of my grandaughters, Allison & Kaitlyn performed for the family. Allison, 8 years old (black hat) choreographed this entire piece and then taught it to Kaitlyn so they could dance for our party. They were so cute...and Allison is sooooo serious! Love em!

Anyway, I hope you all had as great a Christmas as we did!

End of Fall Season....

Winter is almost upon us, we have had a taste of snow, and it makes me a little bit sad. I love Fall...it is my favorite season of all. The air is so crisp and clean, the smell of fireplaces burning, football, and like my dad always said, "it's chili sauce weather", because his mom always made chili sauce in the fall. This past weekend we were doing the finish clean up of the fall leaves, and fall leave raking just isn't complete without some children wanting to jump into the piles. I don't know what it is about a pile of leaves that just hollers to be jumped in! My three youngest grandkids were visiting this weekend and they took complete advantage of the piles of leaves!

and the biggest kid of all....

Happy Holidays Y'all!

Happy Anniversary!

I find it so hard to believe that 30 years have flown by. Michael, when we were first married you made a comment to me that someday I was going to make such a "cute grandma"! I laughed! Grandma indeed....I was still a kid myself! Now we have 6 of the most beautiful grandchildren from ages 1 to 20! I'm so thankful for the day that you walked into my life, you have been my best friend through all our trials and tears, our laughter, our life. Michael, I love you.

30 years ago when we were wed
Sweet and loving vows we said
I promised that my whole life through
To you my love, I would be true.
Years have gone by
And I still feel
That the love we share
Is just as real.
We have shared the good times
As well as the bad
We have celebrated in happy times
And clung together in the sad.
I have no problem with wondering
Just where I stop and you begin
For 30 years ago I married my soul mate
My sweetheart and my best friend.

Our New Family!


Honeymoon in Vegas

Landmark Hotel doesn't exist any longer

Canada New England Cruise

Well, Michael and I just got back from our cruise to Canada and the New England area!

We had such a great time....fabulous weather, fabulous sights,

fabulous food.....hmmm, did I tell you it was fabulous?

We started in New York City then visited Newport Rhode Island, Boston,

Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John New Brunswick and Halifax Nova Scotia.

We even got some "fabulous" down time....second night out we slept for 12 hours!

We cruised on Caribbean Princess and the beds had pillow mattresses

with down pillows and down comforters! (It was fabulous!)

I took almost 500 pictures but am only going to share a few with you (aren't you relieved?)

Oh, and did I mention that it was fabulous?

Successful Launch!

OK...some of you have been following my long, long soap opera tale of trying to get our boat in the water. It has been in the driveway now for 7 years and we have had numerous repairs and delays. Yesterday we made one more attempt and finally got to the lake and put said boat in the water! We had a great afternoon...never got the fishing poles out, water was too cold for skiing, didn't bring the tubes but we did enjoy some sun and fresh air and BOATING!!!!! So what that it is a week after Labor Day and summer is quickly coming to an end...WE DID IT! We actually got the boat out this summer. OK, it wasn't without some problems but we now have all winter to fix them....there is a leak somewhere in the motor and the bilge pump didn't work! So, we will fix that and then beginning next summer we can actually plan some boating trips with the whole family! Yesterday we made Brian & Jen be our guinea pigs to see if we could make it without sinking the boat...they were very happy that didn't happen!

OK...We are down the ramp and still floating! Things are looking good!

Michael & Brian, the navigators!Ellie loved the boating...hated the life jacket!Captain, my Captain!A little beach time!OK...found the cuddy cabin, time to snooze now!

A Day at the Races...

Yesterday Michael and I went to Wendover to watch our 14 year old grandson, Jake, race his motorcycle. He had a 17 mile course of dust, rocks and river bottoms that were a real challenge. He was upset that he came in 5th but he did a great job and had several problems to deal with during the race. I was proud of him! and we had a great time...the weather was perfect!
Here he is coming in for a fuel stop...his pit crew; Dad & Julie, with Mom shooting photos!

Our beautiful Wyatt...he wanted to have a chair for himself...he picked it up and found his words...Mom, I want to sit! These times that you take for granted with most kids are absolutely HUGE accomplishments with an autistic child.
Jake coming in to the finish line!
Race is over!

This was his first desert race and he isn't so sure he liked eating dirt for mile after mile.

My Sweet Mother...

My Mom! I love her! Sunday we were at a family reunion picnic at Riverton Park and having a great time. My mom started cleaning up and somehow missed a step, with her arms full she fell face first onto the cement! Can't believe she didn't break any bones at the age of 88, but she didn't. She does have one heck of a black eye, her nose is black & blue and she got 16 stitches in her forhead. But her sense of humor still came shining through...she told the doctor that she had to do something to get more attention! I'm glad she doesn't have a computer, she would kick my butt for putting her picture in here. She told me yesterday though that because she is almost blind at least she can't see how bad her face looks! What a sweetheart.

Graduation Day!

This weekend Michael and I had the pleasure of going to Phoenix to attend the graduation of our daughter, Jennifer. She graduated with her Masters (with honors) Degree in Education. I was so incredibly proud of her, she has worked so hard over the years to get to this moment. I have seen her struggle trying to keep up with school, work, home and this past year new baby. She has gone without sleep and shed many tears...but she kept at it and made it. Jennifer...you are my HERO!

Proud Hubby & Daughter!

"Best Cousins"

In my post back on July 5th I showed a pic of Ellie and the new funny face she is pulling. I told her cousin, Allison, that she used to pull the same face. Well, Jennifer found a pic of Allie and I just had to show my two cute little monkey grandaughters!

Not Meant to Happen!

OK...I'm sure that you have had those times when something prevented you from doing something else? ... and so we say "it wasn't meant to happen".... this weekends boating trip truly "wasn't meant to happen!

We have had our boat sitting in the driveway now for 7 years! This year we decided it was time to get it back out and start enjoying it instead of just paying for it! So we have been checking it out, cleaning it up, and generally getting it ready to go. We had weekend reservations at Deer Creek and we were excited to finally get back out on the lake.

So for starters this week we had a flat tire on the trailer. We checked it out and it couldn't be fixed so we went to buy one...they didn't have one but could get us one by Saturday morning. We had planned on leaving Saturday but figured it wouldn't hold us up much if we could pick it up by about 8AM. So Friday night since we couldn't fix the tire we decided we would run the motor one more time and make sure all the water pumping was still working (water pumping was an issue a few weeks ago, first thing we fixed). We turned the engine on and heard a huge pop...we had blown the battery up! The battery was inside a battery box but we didn't have the box lid on so we did get some battery acid in the boat. We hurried and got the hose inside the boat and began running water to dilute the battery acid that had escaped. When we finally got the battery out (after the fumes died down) the entire side of the battery had blown off!!! So, off to the parts store to buy a battery...we decided to purchase batteries for the pick-up truck too as they were about the same age and close to replacement time. (truck takes two batteries) So, $300 later we get home, get the battery in and feel pretty good....go to bed, dream of lake! Morning arrives...pick up new tire, put on trailer, check motor one more time...everything working! YAY!

Now, we get the trailer hooked up to the truck and pull out...whoa...no trailer brakes! We take an hour or two working with that and adding fluid and finally we have brakes. We are ready to leave town now! It is only about 2:00 by now, plenty of daylight left for boating and we are spending the night so we can get on the lake early tomorrow!

We get all the way to Orem and are ready to head up the canyon and we lose our clutch! We make our way to the side of the road and I hear this horrible grinding noise. I jump out and look and pieces of belting are flying out from under the hood...we had lost the serpentine belt that turns most everything in the engine. So Michael figures that is what overheated the clutch and it would work again as soon as we got the belt fixed. (clutch has had a history of overheating occasionally and not working) So we get Brian & Jen on their cell (they are already at the lake waiting for us) and they come down and take Michael to a parts store...get a new belt. For the next 4 hours we sit on the side of the road (with Ellie who is enjoying the whole thing) and Michael lays on the hot pavement replacing the belt. Then as he is replacing the belt he discovers another broken part, something to do with the idling. Back to the parts store....didn't have one...find another parts store! Success! Back to the truck, fix the part and try it out...still no clutch! At this point it was completely voted for going home....Jennifer said even if we got to the lake now she wasn't going out on the boat...we all decided someone was telling us this wasn't the weekend to go boating.

We finally nursed the truck back home and arrived about 9PM and went out to dinner. Boating trip "wasn't meant to happen" agree?

Life Changes!

Well this week I went through a HUGE life change! After 18 years with Morris Murdock Travel I quit to go work for Voyager Travel. It was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through, and the hardest decision I have ever had to make. Probably the part of the decision that was really the deciding factor was knowing if I didn't make this change I would be unemployed! My boss had been asked to go to this other agency and be president. His decision was based on being able to work more along the lines that he loved...church travel and humanitarian service. The new agency (new to us, not really new) is a very casual, very comfortable group of people. Here is a photo of my new desk!

OK, some of you may recognize it as the one in my home...that is where I am based! I'm truly hoping that this works out because I love my home office! I have a ton to learn very quickly though! The hardest part is the friends that I no longer work with. You spend so much time together that they actually become like your family and to say goodbye was so painful. You always say we will stay friends and we will keep in touch...I hope that really is the case.

One of those Days!

On Wednesday of this week I had "One of those Days"...you know the kind I mean...Nothing goes the way you planned, you don't get the things done you thought you should, you feel completely exhausted at the end of the day and you wonder why because nothing is done...but then I looked at the reason nothing was accomplished, I spent the afternoon with my three youngest grandchildren, Allison, Wyatt and Ellie! Who cares about all the other junk when your life can be blessed with grandkids!

Ellie has learned a new funny face to pull...when Allison saw this I told her that she used to pull the same face when she was a baby, so the rest of the day everything Ellie did Allie needed to know if she used to do the same thing.

Wyatt, I so love you. I hope and pray that somewhere inside your world you know how much I care for you, and long for the day we can open more doors to bring you back to us.




Peek-a-Boo!

Allison told Ellie "We can be best cousins when you grow up!"
Yup, it was "One of those Days", and if I'm lucky I will have many more of them in my life.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Anja
The rules of the game: Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.
Ten years ago
Pretty much doing the same things as I am now...was just a bit younger then!
Five things on today's "to do list"
Go to work (yuk)
Clean my scrapbook room
Fix dinner
Do dishes
Do some laundry
Things I would do if I was a millionaire
Get out of debt!
Help my kids finances
Places I have lived
Several places around Utah
Portland, Oregon
Eureka, California
Now I will tag TC, Steve, Wendy, Catherine & Sue

Girl's Outing!

On Monday we had a 4 generation girl's day out. We went to Red Butte Gardens, had a picnic, strolled through the gardens and totally enjoyed a day together. It was so special to share a day with my mom, daughter and grandaughter.

In the gardens we came upon these purple ball flowers and it brought back a memory to me. When my boys were young, about 2 & 5, we lived up behind the capital building next door to a lady that grew prize winning flowers. She had a bunch of these purple ball things and they were beautiful! One day my boys came in the house with their arms full of these flowers for their mom! They had picked every single one that she was growing. She came over later yelling and cussing about my awful children but all I could keep thinking was they picked them for their mommy...they loved me! Sorry lady but their hearts were in the right place!