Merry Christmas from Frosty the Snowman...

We woke up this morning to 2 feet of snow and more falling. I opened my front door to be greeted by this little guy...

I'm going to use him as a door greeter as long as he will last. He's so cute.

Thank you to whoever left him for us.

This is how I spent the first half of my day... shoveling most of the snow off my deck before it falls down!  Made some yummy snow ice cream, took a shower and then a nap. Yep, I'm old.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Never too busy for these...

Between playing nurse to Wayne after his knee replacement surgery, having family all here for Thanksgiving, my mom here for a 2 week visit and trying to get ready for Christmas... there is no time for blogging.
BUT... these babies are much too cute not to share with anyone who might read my blog... all 2 of you! 

I love them SO MUCH...

I am one blessed grandma!!

Elephants and Pea Pods.....

These are two of my favorite things!

Hope you had a Happy Halloween.

Logan Garrett has arrived!

So excited to post that our little grandson Logan has made his arrival...

Born on October 2, 2010 at 12:14 pm (he waited until the first session of general conference was over)  Stats:  7lb 14.5 oz and 20 inches long. 

Perfect, sweet, precious baby.

  We love you Logan :)

See for yourself how cute he is:

1 Day old

Good job mom and dad!

1 week old

 

The beginning of the 'firsts'... again

    I remember what seems like not too terribly long ago I was writing about how I felt about the last of 'the firsts' with my kids. All seemed to come to an abrupt end when my youngest children left home and my empty nesting years began.
   Luckily, we are now entering 'the firsts' all over again with grandchildren!
They are really just the best thing EVER and so much fun...

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Kellyn!

  

She's as yummy as the cake, don't you think?

Can't wait for the next one to get here... only about 6 more weeks!

Lucky me...

I got to spend a good portion of my day yesterday with this adorable little bundle of energy.

She is so much fun and almost one year old! I can't believe it's already time for a birthday party but then every day with her is a party. That's one of the best parts of being a grandma... I can say things like that because I'm not up in the night, cleaning up the messes, or having to be on constant guard duty during her wakeful hours.

We just get to make funny faces, giggle, shop for fun stuff that she really doesn't need, dance and sing in public places (because grandma has reached the age of not caring what strangers think...yay!) and gang up on mommy when she says, 'no'!

I LOVE THIS GRANDMA JOB!!

I'm so excited that soon there will be a little 

grandson to join the party!

Bring on the babies!!!

Woohoo! 

4th of July treasures...

In our little town the 4th of July holiday means LOTS of activity at the city park. An old country 'store' full of handmade items for sale, lots of games, unhealthy (yummy) food, a talent show featuring the best of our local talent and my favorite, a quilt auction! 

  What choice does a grandma have but to buy a quilt for each grandchild?

This one...

for her...

and this one...

for him...

(Can't wait for him to see it!)

How'd I do?

It's Summer... FINALLY!

Just enjoying a little 'pool time' at grandma's house.

I love her!

Perfect gift for Fathers Day....

Yep, it's just around the corner and I've found the perfect gift...

A tie!!! 

But wait...

this is not your ordinary tie.

I mean most ties just hand around ones neck but this one is functional...

To get one for your favorite dad go here:

http://pillowtie.com/

Happy Father's Day!

Question: If April Showers bring May flowers....

what does (late) May snow bring?

Answer:  Much stress to the mother of the groom hosting an outdoor open house in less than two weeks!

I'm praying this is the last hurrah of winter/spring and the sun will break forth and warm things up, turn the mud into something workable so that we can finish up the yard work and give us a beautiful day on June 5th. 

Keep your fingers crossed!

Yes it is May 24th and we woke up to THIS:

At least four inches of snow.

Our willow tree had branches resting on the ground on the back side!

My 15 foot lilac bush reduced to 2 feet!

On my way to the post office I past this sight in front of the court house...

More branches on the ground than on the tree.  So sad.

Dear Spring... PLEASE come to my house and stay for awhile.

Thank you.

Cute squeakers...

    Today Wayne and I ventured to the hardware store. (I know... so exciting) We did however discover an unexpected bit of entertainment while there.

   I was patiently waiting while he fished through the endless selection of tubes, hose joints, elbows and whatever else is found in the plumbing aisle and realized I wasn't the only female doing that.  Standing a few feet away was a daddy with his adorable little girl who looked to be about 3 years old. She too was tolerantly waiting with her 'man' as he browsed. Although she did find the plastic parts a bit more engaging than did I. When her daddy was through, he started out of the aisle and realizing that she was still entranced by the plethora of pipes he called out her name to follow him. That's when it happened...

  With each little step she took there was a distinct SQUEAK! At first I thought perhaps she was carrying a toy, but nope, it was coming from her tiny shoes. They traveled all over the store in search of something, but as they did, no matter how far away she was we were enjoying her little symphony of squeak.    

  Realizing that I've been out of the 'toddler loop' for some time now perhaps everyone but me has already seen or at least heard of these but this was my first exposure to them. I determined that these were indeed made for daddies!
I'm certainly not intending to demean our menfolk, I mean after all, I wouldn't have a clue what to do with any of that stuff in the plumbing aisle and am so happy to be married to a man that does. But in my years of experience it seems more common than not that dads tend to lose track of little ones more easily and frequently than most moms do. Without a doubt these are the creation of either a worried mom or a dad that has gotten himself in trouble one too many times for losing track of Jr.  Either way I say it was brilliant!

  If you want to check them out for yourself, go here:

http://www.squeakersneakers.net/

     I would say one rule to these little shoes would be that they are

NEVER to be worn in the house.

I mean these things could drive one right over the squeakin edge!

P.S. After further exploration of the website I learned that the            

'squeaker feature' can be removed. So in-house wear may be acceptable after all.

I hear wedding bells...

The summer excitement is getting underway.

These two will be getting married in 1 month and 8 days!

Aren't they cute?

One of the chosen few...

A few weeks ago on a blog I faithfully follow was mentioned a great Provo photographer involved in a project to raise funds for the Center for Women and Children in Crisis. It's the third year he's done this particular project he calls, 30 Strangers in 30 Days. By leaving a comment on his blog you entered to be chosen as one of the 30 people he would be photographing.

This year and last year his theme has been mothers and daughters. I left a comment never dreaming I would be chosen... but I WAS! So I called my girls and told them the exciting news and crossed my fingers that they would be willing to participate. He waived his normal sitting fee and asked only for a small donation to the center and we got our very own girls photo shoot!

It was so much fun and I'm really pleased with the way the pictures turned out. Just thought I'd post a few here. Thanks Justin for the great job!

You knew, of course we wouldn't leave out the tiny girl didn't you?

I'm so proud of my beautiful girls.

Disclaimer: Since it's my blog I can brag if I want to.

Friday night mall chess...

I love Friday date nights. Well, honestly I love date nights no matter what day of the week they fall on. Tonight's was particularly amusing. We ventured to the big city (Provo) in search of some theatrical entertainment (the kind of theater experience that includes popcorn and a drink) and ended up at the mall. A little early for the show we decided to partake of nourishment (ahem) at the food court. We found our table among the hoards of other people also enjoying their Friday night meal at the mall. I notice to the left of us a couple of guys sitting at their table playing chess. Not only did they have the full sized chess board and pawns but they had some kind of electronic device with green lights on it that they would push a button on each time they finished their turn. (I'm assuming a timer? I'm obviously NOT a chess player.)

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it strike you as a little 'unusual' to come to the food court at the mall to play chess? AND to not only bring the chess set but also the electronic gizmo too!?

At first I thought, maybe their wives are on a shopping expedition and they decided it was a good way to kill the time. So I checked the left hands for wedding rings... NOPE, no rings.

I honestly tried not to stare at them although they were so engrossed in their games that I don't think they noticed. Yes I said gameS... during the time it took us to eat our meal they played several because each one was followed with a rousing handshake. I almost became obsessed trying to figure out the 'WHY' of this whole exercise. I began discussing possible scenarios with my hubby.

I don't think they're married and perhaps THIS very event is one reason why. They appeared to be in their middle twenties. Old enough to not be living at home anymore...MAYBE...hmmm. Perhaps they are so weird that their roommates kick them out on Friday nights. Possibly they think by showing off their mad chess skills some hot chicks are going to beg to share the evening with them.

I only wish I had been brave enough to break out my phone and snap a picture. I think due to their concentration perhaps I could have gotten away with it except that I was afraid the flash would go off and my phone likes to exclaim, 'say cheese' before snapping any picture! I know, I know... I could have turned off the flash and changed the 'talk' feature on my phone, but remember who you're dealing with here... I'm an old lady and by the time I figured out how to change all of that, we would have missed our movie AND the mall would be closed! I knew that this was a blog worthy topic though so I figured I'd search for a stock photo online when I got home to attach to the post. Low and behold... LOOK what I found:

OH MY GOSH! Really??? Have I been living in a cave? Is this a common occurrence and somehow I've missed it? I think I've spent my fair share of time at various malls (just ask my husband) and I have NEVER seen this before. I mean right down to the enthusiastic handshake!!!

Oh well... who am I to judge? A good clean game of chess at the mall on a Friday night never hurt anybody.

Checkmate!

p.s. Aren't you proud of me (and relieved) that I did an entire post without mentioning my granddaughter once? oops!

Oh Baby!

Remember my post from last year and how crazy busy it was? I mean we had a baby and a wedding within about 3 weeks of each other not to mention the missionary homecoming, graduations and all the rest.

Well, it looks like we're gonna do at least part of it again!

I've already posted about the wedding of Brian and Heidi in May now we get to add a baby to the mix! (oh, not THEIR mix) lol

Yep, we've got grand baby number 2 on the way! YIPPEE!

Jenny is expecting her first baby in September. At least this time the big events are spaced a little further apart... thank goodness!
We're so excited to be grandparents again. In the meantime, while we're waiting for that little bundle of joy to arrive... I'll entertain or perhaps bore you with more (stolen from her mom's blog) pictures of our first grandchild. She's growing up so fast!

Kellyn... so dang cute!

Who do you think YOU are?

One of the responsibilities I have is to serve as the director of the Family History Center in our area. Yesterday I spent my morning there helping orient some recently called consultants to their new positions. It was a great morning. Made some friends and heard amazing stories of family history and temple work. I came home feeling uplifted. What a fantastic way to start a day.

Last night was the premier of a new TV series entitled, "Who Do You Think You Are?" (Locally on NBC (ch 5) at 7:00 on Fridays). It was an awesome show! As members of the LDS church family history has a special meaning to us. Being able to bless the lives of our deceased ancestors with the gift of an eternal family is an honor. Though the producers of this new show obviously don't realize the eternal consequences this work could potentially have they are in fact, turning the hearts of the children to their fathers. What a beautiful thing to witness. I must confess that during this show, I was touched so deeply by the spirit testifying to me of the importance of this work that I was moved to tears.

Note to my children: I know, I cry at Hallmark commercials, don't mock me! lol

The Lord is indeed in charge and He is doing magnificent things to roll this work along. I hope you will check out this show next week if you missed it. It's so refreshing to view something of value on television these days. Yay for NBC!

Oh, the pictures in this post are some vintage posters I found while cleaning the closet at our Family History Center. Aren't they great?!

I need to frame them and hang them somewhere they'll be appreciated... any ideas?

Stolen smile....

Sorry... you'll just have to humor me once again while I show off my BEAUTIFUL granddaughter Kellyn.

I stole these pictures from Amy's blog but I figure we have some different friends so it's ok, right? For those of you that have already seen these sorry for the re-run.

Helping her mommy in the kitchen. Amy has turned into quite the 'Martha Stewart' since she's been a stay at home mom. Homemade EVERYTHING!

She has the same look her daddy gets whenever someone breaks out a camera! lol "Oh no, not this again!"


I only wish this one had sound... my favorite sound in the world... a laughing baby!

More 'love' news....

Remember these two....

Brian, our missionary that returned in April and Heidi, my youngest daughter's former roommate. Jenny married a friend of Heidi's in September... well now Heidi is going to marry a brother of Jenny's!!

Yep... another summer wedding for our family!
May 28th 2010 is the big day and yes, yet another child getting married in the Logan Temple! You'd think we live up there or something!!!

We're fine with it though. We LOVE Heidi and our son-in-laws (or is it 'sons-in law'?) It's like getting to have more kids without going through the pregnancy, delivery and teenage years! Woohoo! :)

Looks like Logan is the place to find a mate.
So happy for them!

(more news coming soon)