What did you do on Memorial Day Weekend?

What did you do on Memorial Day Weekend? We had worked planned until BJ's family decided to come vist.  Then we got to work AND play.

 A trip to the lake to try out a new "all terrain vehicle" that Lincoln got for his birthday. it worked pretty well, on land, rock or water. The kids love the water no matter what so everyone was happy.

 Papa found his happy place with Max...

 Admiring the work that took all day.

 Maize is really good at "Gazing on".  She loves to watch.

 Papa and BJ layed the sod and then rolled it.  Just so you know - your efforts were much appreciated!

 

What it looks like now - a month later

This was my favorite part - the wildflower look.

Loved having you come Beej and Kiki.  You got to say good bye to the house you grewup in.  And YOU have been part of most of it's improvements.  Thanks for making the effort to come.

3 days of Idaho

This month I drove to Utah, picked up my sister JoAnna and drove to Idaho.  What started out being a "scouting" trip ended up being a lovely sister trip. 

We swam in a lovely lake to start off with - this was the only photo I got of it but we sure enjoyed it.

 We ate - a lot

 Ran into a fire (its Idaho, what was I thinking - its been on fire all summer!) Those little black things in the fire are the firemen - yeah, it was close.

 we got out of town fast.

 It was so fun to catch up on family and news and just talk for hours!

 Did I say we ate - HA HA, we ate a lot.

No, its a cinnamon roll not a pile of ...

 I think I could get used to some sister time every year - whada ya say

Annie Ba nannie?

 See, we did eat salads on the last day... hey ba nannie - did you get on the scales when you got home? No, me either. Why ruin a perfect 3 days.

Love ya sister

The Button Birth

Welcome  Tuesday Grace Button

She arrived on July 24th, weighing 11 lbs. 7 oz. and 221/2 inches long.

She is beautiful!

 

 

I got to be with Berni and Ryan when she made her arrival.  My most precious moments are baby moments.  Berni was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

 I stayed at the Button home for 4 weeks.  Yes, my son-in-law loves me...
I had so much fun! Hope the kids did too.  I think Berni appreciated the break and time to just be with her new baby.  SO - what did we do for all that time????
Beckham had a birthday that was stretched over 3 days with a darling dragon cake.

 Climbed trees and spent mega hours at the park

 Went on hikes

 I bought yarn for each child and let them just be creative with it.   Parker learned to crochet and made a scarf.  Easton made a penny purse.

This was Beckhams happy hour - he was truely inventive!

 

We spent many hours at the pool.

 

I made a quilt for Tuesday in the evening hours

All in all, I love this Button Bunch!!!



Thanks for letting me be part of your life and part of that special moment of birth when heaven and earth meet for a brief moment.  You are a special family! (As are all my kids families of course!!)

So much to be Thankful for!

The Buttons arrived very late Wednesday evening so we had a very casual Thursday morning.  Here the kids are making the turkey nut cups.

Then a trip to the park where we met the Deans and Messer family.  Here is Finn with her bells on her wrist that make a jingle at every move.  too cute!  Nice to catch up with their families.

The Great belly busting Feast!

The next day was warmer so an anticipated trip to the beach was all we wanted. 

 Calvin did a lot of this,

 The kids did a lot of this,

 and this,

and we got a lot of chatting in

 and relaxing.



And dad got lots of kid torture in



 

Thanks Buttons for making that long trip down our way to spend time with us. We missed the rest of our family but are always grateful for each of them.  Thats why we love these blogs.... so we can not miss out on all the good stuff!

Great Halloween Fun

Who ever said Halloween should be done away with.  IT's a great Holiday!  We spent the evening at the ward Halloween party. Here is Finnley in her Sock

Monkey outfilt.  Too cute for words.

 

Angie is here as...I'm not sure but she sure looked cute.

 

 Angie, and Tala Palu and another friend.

 Sandie Dean as a "Cereal Killer.  Her hat had miniwheats and cheerios glued all over it.

Wouldn't be complete without the cooking crew.  They cooked up 200 hamburgers and over200 hotdogs. While they were slaving away, I was enjoying costumes, eating the great food and laughing at the kids and saying hi to some I haven't seen in long while. We both got to do what we love most!

Lou Harrell, dad, Simon Palu, and Bob Marsolini

Happy Halloween Folks!

What Bunch...


We hosted a Bunch - a bunch of what...I'm still trying to think up a name for them!  A bunch of people who laugh a lot - no more than a lot.  That was all we did for 5 days with Tods siblings here.  It was a great, really great time.  We showed them around town. It started out pretty cool but then the sun came out and it was a perfect San Diego day for us.
I'll list some of the things we did - hiked Torrey Pines Reserve.  While standing at the look-out we spoted some whales...well truth be told you don't actually see the whales, you just know they are there because of the enormous spouting of water shooting into the air.  It was quite a sight.

Then we visited the Cabrillo lighthouse.  We don't go there very often and I have forgotten how beautiful it is there with so much history in one little spot.



 Next to the white sandy beach of the Hotel Del Coronado.  Not many people out roaming sands that day.  We happened to remember that Calvin was working on some condos that day so called him to see if he was anywhere near.  Sure enough we looked up and saw a tiny little man on one of the condos roof closest to us waving away at us.

 We did a two hour harbor cruise that was pretty fun - especially since we got the tickets for half the price.  That always makes everything sweet. 

Tod is a GREAT tour guide-just look at his captive audience!

 Got a little chilly for the Arizona girl

 Next stop was lunch.  I think everyone of us loved what we had.  Remember the Fish Market for our next set of company!

Deciding what to do.

Whats a trip to San Diego with a visit to La Jolla Shores
There was a disgusting show below going on so we just kept our eyes on breakers.

Below is our favorite ribs place.  Just couldn't believe how big this rack was...

obviously it was good!

 Here is Wayne at the Morman Battalion Visitors Center. He got the fun of dressing up like a soldier in the battalion with the all the garb they carried.  Get a load of (no pun intended) how long that rifle is.

The highlite of the trip was doing family name sealings at the temple but I didn't get any photos of that.  Or the games we played.  I loved that part.  Hope you are all doing well on your diets... It may take months to make up for those heavy meals but it sure was fun!