JULY.....in a nutshell.....

In July, we once again got ready for STAKE BOY SCOUT CAMP!




(Yes, this is the cab of the truck!)


With Boy Scout Camp, comes our usual cook, cook, cook, shop, shop, shop, pack, pack, pack, plan, plan, plan, worry, worry, worry, etc., etc., etc.! Which means, fun, fun, fun, for those who attend!

And then after it's all over, it is a SUCCESS! :)


After Boy Scout Camp, the next week, we flew to Utah, then rented a car to go to Montana and visit Scott's brother, Sam's family.

We had a great time on a pontoon boat, fishing, sight seeing Helena, going to a symphony and seeing fireworks! Plus, just visiting with their family! We were lucky that Steven was able to go with us!


When we came back from Helena, we once again visited Michael and Kim's family for a couple of days. The grandkids found that Grandpa can be a lot of fun as a slide!
Plus, we were able to watch them at swimming lessons! That was a lot of fun, yet it was HOT in Orem!



Then back home again, home again!

And....I found out I have a job come August 17th.....Now summer is ending fast!

But...we have one more vacation to go on!!!!! Where will we go????? :D
OH...and Scott's diet???? He has lost 25 lbs!

Prayers...

I've been praying a lot lately for my sweet friend and her family.
http://marcandmegan.blogspot.com/
If you could, too, that would be awesome!

Thanks!

How many months has it been? Who would've thought...

Well, once again, I have been away from the blog....I do read others blogs and think, "I'll get around to updating my blog some day!" Well, that day has come! Scott and Steven are gone for a couple of days and I have time to catch up on some things. This blog is one of the top priorities!

So, obviously, you'll get a brief of what we've been up to! Okay...So, what happened around our house in January? Birthdays! Yep, Scott and I both had our birthdays. On Scott's, we spent the day at the Oakland Temple with the youth from the ward participating in baptisms. What a great way to spend a birthday! Afterwards, Scott and I went to dinner at Olive Garden. It is one of his favorite places to eat and it was delicious! The next week was my birthday! It was on Sunday! I was spoiled rotten by so many wonderful people. I found a plant at my doorstep, birthday cookies and cakes dropped off, cards in the mail, pictures drawn for me, flowers given to me, etc. I was shown so much love and it really was a great surprise! THANK YOU! I also started teaching the Valiants in primary on my birthday! I have a class that consists of 4 girls with an abundance of energy! Lots of fun! I do have to say that I miss leading the music, but it was time for a change! I've been doing that for a long time and I've enjoyed it, but it is nice to be back in the classroom. I have missed it!

FEBRUARY- Well, during this month, I made a jaunt over to Concord one Saturday for a baby shower for our niece, Ashley! (Interesting side note.....their baby, James Taylor Christensen, was born today at 12:30 p.m. Utah time. 8 lbs. 9 oz!) It was fun to see my sister, Cheryl, and my niece, Kaitlyn, too. The next weekend, I made a quick trip to Utah with Cheryl, and some of her family. It was a last minute decision and they had room for me in their car! So, away I went since I was out of school! So much fun, yet so quick! But, I loved seeing the grandbabies!

We had lots of fun in the short time I was there!

We made necklaces together:

Sage helped her mom make "Balentine Cookies":

Sage made me a bracelet and ring out of her stickers:

Dallin showed all of his new teeth:

And his recently acquired "walking skills"!

We also had "Movie Night"with popcorn, so Michael and Kim could go out for Valentine's and Grandma got to watch the kids!

I was also surprised by Valentine gifts from Scott! I received a CD of Plain White Tees' singing-"1-2-3-4" (I really love that song!) Plus, I got flowers, and See's Caramels! (My all time favorite See's candy! YUM!) Thanks, Scott!

I had a great time in Utah! It was a lot of fun! The time definately flew by and then back for a drive back home so I could get back to work!

Another exciting part of February is our Boy Scout Troops annual Cake Auction.

Once again it was a wonderful success! (Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures until it was almost over, so here are just a few of the items that went for auction!

MARCH......

Our sweet little Sage turned 3! We can't believe that she is 3 already!

She has such a special place in our hearts! She is the one who made us grandparents!

Scott and I just love it! We can't get enough of her, or her little brother!

What a blessing grandchildren are! I'm sure that I am a much better grandparent, than I was a parent! I've learned a lot through experience! One important thing is, house can wait, but children can't! They grow up way too fast, so cherish each moment!

For Sage's birthday, she had a fun party with Kim's sisters.

Her mommy planned a "Princess" Birthday for her and she had a great time!

Kim also made her a wonderful princess birthday cake!

(It was her first decorated cake! I think she did GREAT!)

Although, we were bummed we weren't there to help her celebrate, we're so glad she had a great birthday!

Okay....I'm signing off for now.....more March 2010 and then April to come soon!

HAPPY 2010!

What a great blessing the last month of 2009 was!

We were blessed to celebrate Christmas and remember the birth of our Savior.

We were blessed to decorate the house, bake goodies and enjoy all the sights and sounds of Christmas.

We were blessed to enjoy the friendship and love of family and friends through our "empty nesters" FHE group and other activities.

We were blessed to celebrate Christmas Eve with Scott's mom, Aunt Joan and with singles from the ward.

We were also blessed to have many of those same people come and celebrate Christmas day dinner with us at our house.

We were blessed to have the "Christmas phone call" and talk with our missionary, Elder Allred!

We were blessed to spend time with Steven playing card games and watching Psych!

We were blessed with a trip to Utah to visit Michael, Kim and the grandkids.

WE were blessed to play games, play in the snow and just play with the grandbabies.

We were blessed to talk on SKYPE with our grandbabies and read them stories, too!

Just a few of our great blessings!

We are so richly blessed!

And I am extremely blessed to have him!

He is my ROCK!....(or my statue of Liberty!)

We look forward to this New Year where many new opportunities will await us!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYONE!

I LOVE the month of December!

"It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"
It is Christmas time and I love all that it brings!
I love the busy schedule of parties, celebrations, get togethers, etc.
I love the incoming Christmas cards and the list of out going Christmas cards.
I love to lick the envelopes and think of the people as I do that.
I love the music in the air.
I love that I can turn on the radio and get Christmas music.
I love the baking and the candy making.
I love the smell of the Christmas trees.
I love the ornaments on the trees, the angels and the stars, too.
I love the stockings on the fireplace.
I love the candles.
I love the Christmas paper.
I love the nativity scenes that seem to surround us.
I love the lights on houses, streets, light poles, etc.

I especially love the feelings of love in peoples eyes. That feeling seems to abound at this time of the year because of a little baby boy who was born in Bethlehem. He truly is the reason for this magical season.
And, I Love Him, too!

November.......how did that happen????

Welp, as I write this I realize that our missionary has been out almost 11 months! All I can say is the time has flown by! A note on him, he is doing Great! In fact we just received this picture from a family that had Elder Allred and Elder Snyder over for dinner! (We just love when members from the mission send us pictures and/or e-mails!

Other family news.....Steven is busily trying to find a house to buy. He has been approved for a loan, but hasn't found the right house in his budget yet. Pretty exciting for him! It is interesting, even though he "lives" here at home, he doesn't spend much time here day or night! The ambulance barn or the fire station is his home most of the time. We'll see if that continues once he gets his own home.

As for Michael's family, they are doing great! We went to visit them at the end of September/first of October. It was so much fun to spend time with them. We just love playing with Sage and Dallin and were lucky to get to have them while their mom and dad went on a date! Dallin is Scott's little buddy! His face just lights up when Scott enters the room! So fun to see. We took them to a pumpkin patch, the Kangaroo Jump and just played with them. We were suppose to go to Montana, too, so Scott could go fishing, but the weather had a major turn where it was a blustery storm, so we ended up staying in Utah longer.

Then, we spent a couple of days in Nevada. Scott got to go fishing at Pyramid Lake with my dad. I enjoyed the day sitting on the beach and reading a book. The weather was beautiful. We got back to Cloverdale a day early and so Scott and I just enjoyed being back home and not having to be at work! A low key day to get us ready for going back to work!

Also during the month of October, we took our Scout troop to the Capital March in Sacramento. It was a celebration in honor of Boy Scouts turning 100 years old next year. It was a fun day of marching with approx. 7,000 scouters to the capital from Raley Field. They also had a lot of activities after the march. We all had a great time!

We ended the month with going to cheer for our friend Megan and her parents who participated in the "Wine Country 1/2 Marathon". It was a brisk morning, but beautiful to watch the sunrise over the vineyards. We truly live in a beautiful place! Afterwards, we decided to get some things accomplished around the yard. A quick trip to Home Depot to get some retaining wall blocks and soon we had 90 blocks put into place! (Okay, maybe it wasn't as quick as that since each block weighs 23 lbs.! I would've never guessed!) Afterwards, we cleaned the patio and put hooks up to hang all the bikes! Alot was accomplished on Halloween Day, especially before 2:00 p.m.! We also got to see pictures of our grandbabies in their Halloween attire! So much fun!

Okay...so there you have a recap of OCTOBER...in a nutshell....or in a black cauldron....however you like to think of it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINDY!

Today is a special persons birthday! It's MINDY!

You may not know her, but she deserves to have a great day today!

(If you want wish her a Happy Birthday, too in the comments!)

Mindy, we hope that you have a wonderfully, pink filled day,

We hope it is full of fun and lot of polka dots, too!

Enjoy time with your family, your nephews, and your BFF's!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINDY!

A date in time that I will never forget...

September 11th......Just the mention of that calendar day makes me feel so many different emotions. So much happened in our country on that day. I feel sad, and disbelief for those who perished on that day. Yet, I also feel gratitude and respect for those who risked their lives not only that day but every day. It is a day that brought a lot of patriotism back to our country. Flags began to be flown again. It was a day when we forgot the unimportant things and started to reevaluate and prioritize what really is important-

Our faith in God,

Our families,

and the gift of living in the United States of America.

It definately is a day that I will never forget!

I hope others feel the same way, too.

So much to tell.....but not enough time to tell it!

So...Summer ended! School Started! How did it happen so quickly?

Fortunately, we had a great summer filled with lots of things.

So...here's a quick list that finished our summer, with brief detail!

(Sorry, but I've got to get this blog caught up!)

In July, Rachel made a quick trip to Nevada for her dad's 81st birthday!

It was fun to surprise him by just showing up! He had his annual birthday party in his backyard with icecream and cake served to all the guests. A lot of work he goes into preparing for his own birthday party! I am always amazed at what he is able to do! I hope that when I'm 81, I'll be able to do 1/2 of what he accomplishes.

It was also nice to go and visit with him the next day. I was able to visit with him and help him get his yard back in order. I love precious moments like that with my dad! He is an incredible man! I also was able to take him to lunch, although, when the bill came he wouldn't let me pay for it! :(

A couple of weeks later, I made my last summer trip to Utah! I just had to see the grandbabies one more time before school started! It was the best trip ever! I took a dear friend with me and we had the best time driving across Nevada, and back, too! We talked the whole way about everything and anything! It was so much fun! The time flew by quickly as we drove and drove and drove! (Thanks, Megan, for going with me!)

While in Utah, I had a lot of fun visiting Michael's family. That time flew by, too!

I had dates with Sage where we went to the pet store, the park and then of course, she fixed my hair! Yes, you'd be surprised at how many barrettes you can get into my hair! So much fun! We also spent one day at the Scera Swimming Pool in Orem. What a fun place! We also went to a place called "Jump On It"! Sage loved it! It is filled with trampolines and bouncey things! What a great place for kids! And 3 and under are free! You can't beat that!

I have to say, it was sad to leave Utah when it was time to go! Fortunately, I had my buddy to drive with me back to Cali! We also made a quick stop in Nevada and visited with my dad. He is always good for a fun joke and he was able to show Megan his beautiful yard! We were even blessed with the gift of walking sticks that he made! (Thanks, Dad! We love them! Now, we just need to go hiking!)

After coming back from Nevada, Scott and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary on August 9th! We keep it very low key by just going to dinner, but it is always great to know that after all these years, we wouldn't change a thing and eternity is going to be so great!

(I'll obviously have to insert a picture here later! :)

The next weekend, we made a quick trip to Oregon to see my sister Linda's son Cory. He returned with honor from a mission to the Czech Republic. He gave a great talk in church! Awesome young man! We also got to see her other son, Jacob, receive his Eagle Scout award. He is the 11th of 11 grandsons of my dad's who received their Eagle! During the evening Jacob presented "Grandpa Kay" with the "mentor" pin and also a picture frame with pictures of all the 11 grandsons and their Eagle badges. It was a great moment! Plus, it was pretty exciting, considering my dad only had daughters! lol Also of note is that all 5 of his granddaughters received their Young Women Medallions! We are so proud of them!