The Long's

Save the Date

2010-11-04T11:36:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to give a heads up. Our next concert is almost here. It will be phenominal experience, as always. If you have any questions, let me know.

Fall Fun

2010-10-19T16:19:00.007-06:00

We had a great time last Friday. Paul and Jessi and family came for UEA weekend and we went to Wheeler Farms. They had a "Hay Maze", the kids thought it was okay. Nathan enjoyed it the most and it did keep him contained.

Other than a ewwww moment with Nathan in the milking barn, we had fun and it was a perfect day.

checking out the duck/geese pond

As we got ready to leave we got to pick a pumpkin.

hmmmmm, which one?

Maybe this one?

Nathan liked sitting on the pumpkins

Here is everyone squished in the car for the ride home.

UPDATED!

2010-10-07T16:01:00.007-06:00

So, I just got a very mean spirited email from my sister. So here is your update. Yes, Frank and I are still kicking.

We went to Emma's birthday party in August. My last blog showed the ingredients for a project I was working on. It was Em's cake. Here is the finished product.

And this time there were no collapses, not cakes falling apart, and it was pretty easy and totally off the top of my head. She told me that she wanted a Tinkerbell cake and there you have it.

Here are a few pics from Emma's party.

Emma and her pillow pet

Naffie

Jamie taking it all in

Frank and I went to Boise over Labor Day weekend. I'm not sure why, just to get away I suppose. Little did we know that Boise State was in Washington DC that weekend to play Virginia Tech in football. You would have thought we were in Denver (Broncos) and they were playing in the superbowl. I think that their blue "smurf turf" is ridiculous, but I was so sick of 'Bronco Nation' by the time the weekend was over. We did luck out and it was the Spirit of Boise weekend, so we got to see a hot air balloon "night glow". Way awesome.

Then on our way home we stopped at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. It was a lot bigger than I imagined.

I will try to find more interesting things than my bad tooth and Frank's bad knees to post about soon!

Hello, is anyone there?

2010-08-25T21:09:00.005-06:00

It seems like just yesterday that I updated my blog, but WOW, 9 months. Here is a quick summary.

December - Utah Voices 1st performance of Messiah. Christmas, birthdays, family pictures.

January - Frank's heart procedure that was only supposed to be an overnight stay and ended up being 3 days, more birthdays,

February - Birthdays.

March - Mom's shoulder surgery, birthdays.

April - Birthdays, Kass' piano recital, Utah Voices concert of Carmina Burana.

May - Birthday, sports, camping.

June - More birthdays, family reunion/camping.

July - Holidays, CTMH convention in DC, Utah Voices sunrise concert.

August - Birthdays, Frank's knee surgery, summer ending.

Still working full time, still doing Close to My Heart, still scrapbooking. Well, that about catches us up. Tonight I started my latest project for this weekend.

Hopefully it will work out the way I have it planned in my head. I will take pics of the finished product. After that I hope that it makes the 2 hour car ride. Wish me luck.

Until next time.

Halloween

2009-11-04T13:59:00.005-07:00

Halloween is pretty uneventful at our little house in Bountiful. The doorbell rang 4 times. The first group did have more than one family, but seriously 4 times. Our regular bloody brains and eyeballs party was superseded by a trip to Disneyland. We have heard that Harley had a great time there.

Mom and I were to go to turkeyland on Friday and Saturday for the Halloween parade and Kass' first piano recital. Friday morning we got a phone call saying that it looked like Nat had picked up the flu/bug from his sisters because he was running a fever etc. So we took a quick trip down for the parade and a shopping trip at the turkey store for other people and then home again. We did get to see the kids, just no hugs and kisses.

Kass with icky green stuff on her face.

Emma as a skinny Hannah Montana

Addi

Nat

Time?

2009-11-04T13:34:00.006-07:00

I am not sure where the time goes, but it certainly seems to have left me in the dust. When I sit and think about it, I don't know that I have accomplished anything since I last posted here, but then I went through my camera. Okay, so I have accomplished a few things.

We had a baby shower for cousin Nat earlier in the summer. And I found out that she had her baby last night. Congrats Natty, good job. Makai is CUTE. I have to share this picture of Nat at her shower, she was trying to look excited you know, ohhhhing and ahhhhing.

Then I finished a few sewing projects, here are the "girls'" twirly skirts. They were kind of fun to make, but I am glad that they are finished.

We took Jessi's kids to the Pumpkin patch. Emma didn't want to do the corn maze with us and Nat was asleep, so Jessi, Kass, and Addi and I went through the "small" corn maze, then the kids did the hay maze and then Emma joined us to pick pumpkins. It was cold and overcast, but we had fun.

I have been doing my stuff with CTMH and it usually gets pretty busy this time of year, I have card nights next week and the week after, then I am not doing any until January.

Our first performance with Utah Voices is less than 4 weeks away. It has been very demanding to commit the time and effort to a choir, but it has been absolutely fabulous. Our first performance will be a sing-in at the Meuller Park Stake Center on Sunday, November 29 at 7:00 pm. Then our big performance will be on Saturday, December 5, at 7:30 pm at Libby Gardner Hall on the U of U Campus. Then we will have a performance on Monday, December 7 at the Bountiful Community Church at 7:30 pm. We were even featured in the Davis County Clipper a couple of weeks ago. If you are interested in details of our choir you can check out the website, www.utahvoices.org. And come join us after the holidays for our next season.

A WOW Experience!

2009-09-16T09:14:00.003-06:00

Last Wednesday night I took a jump, stepped out of my comfort zone and attended a choir rehearsal for a new choir that has started in South Davis County. I decided after much thought to go for it!

About a month back I received a Facebook invitation from Dr. Michael Huff. Now for those of you who know me, I don't do Facebook. I have no desire to join Facebook, just don't get it. So I cautiously opened the link and found out that Michael (as most of us know him) was going to be directing a new choir in the area. It was a non-audition LARGE choir, called Utah Voices. So, I debated back and forth over it. I don't sing like that on a regular basis anymore and know that I don't have the voice for it, but, after much deliberation I decided to GO FOR IT!!!!

Our first rehearsal was last Wednesday. We met in the Bountiful High School choir room and at first there was a modest showing. But people just kept coming and coming and... We exceeded the choir room. It was phenomenal! It is always fun when you can sing with a conductor who knows what they are doing and knows how to get you to do what they want as well. I came home and told Frank that it was even fun warming up.

Our first performance has been scheduled on December 5 at Libby Gardner Hall we will be doing Handel's Messiah with the Salt Lake Symphony. Apparently they are working on another performance and a sing-in as well.

I am glad that I took the jump, and I know that it will exceed all of my expectations!

Happy Birthday Emma!

2009-08-25T20:58:00.006-06:00

Emma is 6 today. It doesn't seem possible! We went to her party last Saturday. It was fun to see everyone. She starts the first grade tomorrow.

I have decided that I need to do simpler, single layer cakes. Here is what it looked like when I finished it at home.

Yes, it is very crooked. More like the leaning tower of birthday cake. The problem is that it was four full squares of cake with a fifth square cut into quarters on top of that. I placed a dowel down the center of it to stabilize it. But here is what it looked like four hours or so later when we brought it out.

It had kind of started to collapse on itself. When I removed the top cone it had sunk about 3 - 4 inches. It was awful. Emma just smiled and said, it's okay. She blew out the candles and we ate about 1/16th of it. There was so much cake there. It was kind of gross.

I hope that Emma has a great birthday and a great upcoming school year. Love ya Em!

Busy Summer

2009-08-17T16:28:00.006-06:00

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. Almost a month. It has been a busy summer. We were lucky? enough to spend the 24th of July weekend in Moab. WOW! It was hot! But we had fun playing tourist.

This is all of us but Frank (someone had to take the picture) at Dead Horse Point State Park. That view is pretty cool .

Here is our view of Balanced Rock.

See how strong I am?! Ha!

After our weekend of playing tourist we have just been trying to keep up with everything that goes on in our lives.

I took a class at Heartland Paper (will post picture later). Got ready for card and scrapbook groups and have a few sewing projects in the works.

Can you guess what it might be? I will try to remember to take pictures of the finished project(s).

Family Reunion

2009-07-19T17:50:00.005-06:00

Boy, I think that it has taken me a week to get over our recent family reunion. Okay, so it wasn't the reunion that I had to get over, it was the family part of it. Let's just say that last weekend, we had a HOUSE FULL! But it was a lot of fun.

Last Saturday, July 11 - we had a Angus/Timothy family reunion at the Draper Park. We had hamburgers and all the fix-ins and just got to visit. I think Mom said that they figured there were about 160 people who came. I saw cousins that I didn't know I had, and their parents and grandparents. It was fun. The wind blew all day and there were rain drops every so often. But we had a good time.

Because of the reunion Jan and Curt and their family were coming to town. Carisa and her family came to stay at our house. So, I decided that Jess' kids needed to come and visit with their cousins. I picked the kids (all four of them) up about 1 on Friday and returned them to their Mom on Monday about 3. It was certainly a full house. The fun part was getting nine kids and three adults ready and out the door on time for church. We added to all but one primary class.

We had a great time and played pretty well with each other. While Jess's kids went home on Monday, Carisa and her kids stayed until Wednesday.

Here are some pics from our weekend.

Jamie, Nat, and Jess

Brent, Bruce, Diane, Jan, and Mom

Twins run in the family, can you tell them apart?

Here are all 9 of the kids together.

Brinley and Kassidy

Emma and Mallory

Mallory and Addi

Thanks for coming and spending time with us.

Happy Birthday Addi!

2009-06-24T15:36:00.008-06:00

Today Addison is 3! WOW! I can't believe it. We went to Jess and Paul's yesterday for a BBQ and cake.

It was fun to see everyone and have good food and watch her open her presents. I can't believe that she is 3 already. Frank says that she is 3 going on 12. And yes, sometimes she acts that also. When I asked her what cake she wanted, she said a Care Bear cake. Well, for anyone who knows me, I have created monsters in that sense that I always try to do a cake like they want. As they get older, they might just have to get what they get. But we lucked out, here is what Addi got:

Here are a few pics of Addi opening her presents, she was not into sharing in that process this year.

Then when it came time for cake, candles, and singing she didn't wait for us to sing before she blew out her candles. It was really funny!

Nate even had fun at the party with her balloon.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-24T15:30:00.003-06:00

So, I had a huge post for Mother's Day and now no post for Father's Day. Does that tell you something, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I looked and do not have any current pics of my fathers side of the family. So, here are the pics I took of the grandkids on Saturday. I am thankful for the husband that is a good father to his kids.

And we took Hannah birthday shopping the weekend before Father's Day. He is getting too big, too fast. (But aren't all of the grandkids?)

Hope that your Father's Day was a great one.

The Zoo!

2009-06-10T20:35:00.008-06:00

We were able to go to the zoo in May. Mom, Jamie, Ryan, Breanna, Zach, and I with Jessi's kids spent a late afternoon at the zoo. It was a nice afternoon.

Here is Nate enjoying the outdoors.

Addi and Emma in the zoo stroller, cause they are the best for riding in.

Here is Jamie sharing her drink.

Ryan and Kass.

And of course, we had to do the picture on the elephant trunk. We tried to be very careful of Zach, as he had recently broken his collarbone. Hopefully he was okay.

We didn't get Nate as he was sleeping.

Here are a few random shots from the day.

Paul and Jessi joined us just before we left. Nate loves his daddy.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-11T10:25:00.011-06:00

Sorry that I am a bit late on the wishes. After putting part of Mom's gift together, I really stayed away from the computer for a day or so. Now, I have gone through those pictures (1,166 of them) and I have a few to share with you. These are some of the Mom's and mom's to be that I am grateful for being a part of my life. (WATCH OUT, there are a lot of pics.)

Old family photo.

Not quite as old, but scary hair!

Can you imagine the size of this group now!!! (This is a picture of my maternal great grandparents and ALL of their offspring, etc. It was taken approximately 1974.)

Mom with Emma

Mom with Addi

Jamie and Mom

At the parade

Most of us, (at the time).

Jan and Curt

Jessi and her girls

Aunt Fay and us

Carisa and Baylen

Holly

Nat and all the kids of course!

I hope that you all had a great Mother's Day!

What's up!

2009-04-28T18:41:00.004-06:00

Things have been busy as usual. I just wanted to do a quick update as I told Holly this past weekend that I would post these pictures if Jessi hadn't had an opportunity to do so. It was fun to visit with Holly and Derek and to see their newest addition, Reese. Watch out, she is on the verge of learning to laugh. Especially when she had a funny face like mine to look at.

These are the pictures of Jessi's cuties when we went to Kiddie Kandids a week ago.

I spent last week working on my layout for CTMH Sweet Art's Retreat. We are going this weekend. I am always intimidated when it comes time for retreat because a lot of people go way overboard on their layouts. I don't usually scrapbook that way, so I did one the way that I scrapbook. Here is my layout:

I will post later on how it is. I am excited for all of the ideas.

Way to Go Marci!

2009-04-20T20:09:00.007-06:00

Just a quick shout out to Marci, her very own salon, Salon Morpheus officially opened today! Due to circumstances beyond her control, she needed another option and so, she jumped in with both feet and lightening speed and opened her own business.

We stopped by after work tonight and it looked wonderful!

I will post more pictures of the inside prior to opening later. It was really awesome to see her vision put into reality and she had a fabulous contractor who worked his butt off. Way to go Justin!

PS - went with Jessi for kids pics on Saturday. Check her blog to see if she has put them on yet. CUTE KIDS!!!!

EASTER

2009-04-20T19:48:00.007-06:00

Well, we lucked out and were able to have our annual Easter lunch/egg hunt without any rain. It looked like it was going to rain all day, but we were able to eat, hunt eggs, get our Easter STUFF, fly kites and airplanes, and just have fun without any rain.

We had been having winter like weather for a week, but they predicted that Saturday would be rainy and Easter Sunday would be warmer and kind of sunny. So we went ahead with plans for Saturday. And it worked. We actually ate in the house (usually we eat in the shop because we can all sit at one huge table together). But I was in between stamp classes and didn't want to have to move everything out to have clear tables. One of the grandkids asked why we weren't having it in Grandma's "other" house.

Here are some of the festivities:

And then we always try to take a group photo.

It was a great day, and the raindrops waited until everyone left before they started to drop.

Almost Finished!

2009-04-08T09:50:00.006-06:00

Well, we spent this past week trying to get things moved downstairs. Last Friday they delivered our rocking chair, we bought end tables, lamps, an ottoman, and fabric for curtains. Now, I just have to finish sewing the curtains. Oh, and we need to figure out why there is no power to the outlets in two walls. (It is hard to get a lamp to work when there isn't any power going to the outlet.)

Then yesterday, I spent the afternoon with the Comcast guys. They came and upgraded our cable package, which means they have to bring it up to code from the pole to the house. Three guys from Comcast were at my house for 4 hours.

Needless to say, we now have upgraded cable lines coming into the house.

Hopefully, we are finished with BIG projects around our house.

WOW, What a week

2009-03-25T08:24:00.002-06:00

Boy, did we have a week to remember! It started last Wednesday night, I was doing a birthday treat for work and of course didn't have enough room in my fridge so I took a bowl of fruit dip out to the shop and put it in the fridge. As I was leaving, I thought I am not going to lock the padlock because I will forget to bring my keys out in the morning and I would be out there before I left for work the next morning. So Thursday morning at 5:50 am I go out to get the dip out of the fridge and the door to the shop is wide open. There are no lights on, but the padlock is missing from the door. So I cautiously step inside and flip the lights on. I doesn't look any different than it did when I left the night before. I casually check Frank's side and it doesn't look any different. So I find the padlock in the flower bed outside, get my dip and lock everything up. (I am going back in the house slowly as I dread telling Frank what has happened because he is always after me to lock the shop.) But I go in and tell him, he goes out and does a quick check as well and then we are off to work.

So we came home from work that and I went to change my clothes and Frank started dinner. Well, I heard him stomp on the floor in the kitchen. When I went back upstairs he was mopping the kitchen floor. I asked him what he spilled. He said that he almost fell because the floor was wet. We both start working on the floor and he opens the cupboard under the sink and finds that the drain hookups under the sink have come apart. We don't know how long the water has been leaking under there. So again, he pulls all of the stuff out from under the sink (at least this time is has been purged and organized), and he starts to dry the bottom of the cupboard up. I go to Wendy's to get dinner and then I go out to the shop to prepare for my card workshop that evening.

I am cutting paper and cleaning off the tables in the shop when I turn around to place a couple of sticky notes back on my lap top and realize what the lovely person who went through my shop the night before took, MY LAPTOP. Now understand that it is quite old, the battery doesn't hold a charge very long and there wasn't anything on there that could not be re-created. BUT the whole issue of someone taking it. Plus I had spent two evenings earlier in the week cataloging and sorting every stamp set I own into a very nice and organized excel spreadsheet. And it was GONE!!!!!!! Needless to say, I said a few choice words! And then proceeded with my evening. When Frank came home from HTing I told him what I had discovered. He wasn't surprised. So he went in and called Bountiful's finest? and we filed a police report.

Then on Friday morning we went and bought the furniture for our family room. Pictures will be coming when it is delivered this Friday. Frank and I spent most of the day running here and there looking at TV stands, side tables, lamps, etc. Saturday was pretty uneventful. Went grocery shopping, looked for Easter dresses for the granddaughters with Mom.

Sunday went early to church as I had been asked to meet with a member of the bishopric. Up until then I had been one of the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School Teachers. An intimdating calling, but one that I had begun to enjoy. We have a fabulous ward and everyone is so willing to participate in Sunday School. I was stunned when I was asked to teach the 5 year olds in Primary. Understand that my love is in Primary. I really feel that it is important to start our youngsters out with a strong teaching as young as you can. But I had come to the conclusion that my time in primary was finished. I was okay working with the adults. So, after some emotional minutes I accepted. I have a team teacher who I look forward to getting to know. And we have 8 lovely children in our class. So it is now on to bigger and better learning experiences. I will miss my Sunday School class and especially Relief Society, but I look forward to getting to know those cute little kids in my new class.

Thank goodness, other than SNOW, the beginning of this week has been much calmer and less eventful than last week.

Kitchen update

2009-03-12T08:23:00.004-06:00

I thought I should update the kitchen problem. Frank was able to pull the retractable hose out of the faucet and re-attach the sprayer. It wouldn't retract all the way, but it worked. We did however buy a new faucet. As my dear sweet husband prepared to replace it he realized that it was going to be a bit more difficult than he thought. The way that our sink is shaped and the fact that we have a VERY OLD, strangely constructed home, he realized that he would probably have better luck and less frustration if he just removed the sink. (Not to mention less wear and tear on his back.)

So last Friday, (thank goodness we have Fridays off) he undertook this adventure and now I have a beautiful, modern faucet. And I know that my sink has been cleaned and re-caulked. Here are a few pics of the process and the results.

(Don't look at the dirty dishes that were in the sink then.)

Kitchen dilemma

2009-02-25T16:23:00.006-07:00

Well, I finally decided to do the dishes last night. Anyone who knows me knows that dishes do not take a high priority in my life. I can ALWAYS find something else to do besides the dishes. But I thought since it was hard to find the kitchen sink that they were in order. So I sent Frank off to his High Priest meeting and set about cleaning the kitchen.

So I was filling the kitchen sink with HOT water and decided that the faucet needed to be in sprayer mode instead of just the steady stream. Boy, was that the wrong thing to do. Here is what my faucet is supposed to look like.

And after pushing the button to change the spray, this is what I now have.

And that is with the water turned on very low. When the faucet fell off the stream of water shot clear across the kitchen. All I could do was stand there and look at it shooting a heavy stream of water. Then it dawned on me that I could turn it off. So I did, then I mopped up the mess. But later I would go to rinse the dishes off and just turn on the water and again, I mopped up the mess. It was kind of funny, but rather annoying by the time I finished the dishes.

I did put a RED plastic cup over it to kind of get your attention so that Frank didn't have to mop the floor. I guess that we will be buying and installing a new one. Too bad we can't do new countertops and sink to match. (No, I would rather have furniture in my basement.)

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

2009-02-02T20:46:00.017-07:00

I am amazed at how quickly time goes. We had a busy January. It started with Jacob's baptism and Michael and Kassidy's birthdays and ended with Kassidy's baptism and Nate's blessing. And then everything else in between.

Here are some pics before Jake's baptism. It was a very special day with Grandpa baptizing and confirming him.

We went to the car show, I don't think that Nate was impressed, but he was really good for the whole thing. (I think that he is always a good baby, but I may be partial.)

Here are Addi and Em checking out the trucks.

We celebrated Mom's birthday. I had the brilliant idea that we should bring back the Chinese dinner that we used to do on the weekend closest to her birthday. By the time it finally rolled around we ordered take out and tried to beat Aunt Lynnette's record on ordering Chinese food. I think that we had fun, except maybe Grandma (Mom) who didn't feel good all weekend. Thankfully, she is now on the road to recovery.

This past weekend we had our annual Groundhog Day breakfast at the church and then headed to Moroni. It was the weekend for Kass and Nate. We were lucky enough to witness Kass get baptized on Saturday afternoon. She is a lucky girl who has lots of family that love and support her. Here is her and her mom and dad prior to her baptism.

Then on Sunday morning, Nate was blessed. He was not a happy camper prior to going to church. Jamie and I tried to get him to at least look at us, but all he wanted to do was cry. It is one thing to change his clothes, but then to put him down and leave him. Ha!!!

Happy Birthday Kassidy

2009-01-15T09:49:00.006-07:00

We got to help Kassidy celebrate her 8th birthday on Saturday, Jan. 10. As usual, I did the cake. This year I didn't ask what she would like. (Those kids are getting way too creative and my cake skills are very limited.) So I came up with a house looking cake, which fell apart on the way to Moroni. After I got it put back together kind of Jessi said that if it was blue it would look like a Smurf house. (Maybe next time I will do it blue.)

I don't think that anyone cares what they look like as long as it is chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. (Although I am often reminded of Kassidy's 3rd birthday when she wanted Strawberry Shortcake and I didn't leave myself enough time to decorate one and so I just did a sheet cake with pink frosting and a Strawberry Shortcake candle.) She was not happy about that cake!

She got lots of presents and yes, more American Girl books with mini dolls. I am not sure how she really felt about them. Later in the day, she had me help her put them chronological order. We hope that she will enjoy them.

Here is how Frank spent part of his day, rocking Nate because Nate likes to be held.

I hope that Kassidy had a nice birthday. Next is a baptism and a blessing. Woo Hoo!!

LOST IN SPACE...

2009-01-07T11:41:00.005-07:00

Not space maybe, but certainly lost in the Holidays. Our holidays were great. I wasn't so great at taking pictures.

The Saturday before Christmas Mom and I went to deliver things to Jess and her family. We had a nice afternoon hanging out. Didn't get to see Kassiday, she had a better offer with Nana and Grandpa in St George. It was fun to see how much Addi and Emma love their new "bruver" as Addi calls him.

We visited all of the grandkids on Christmas Eve as we delivered presents. Then on Christmas Day we went to Marci's for her annual event. It was fun to drag Mom, Jamie, and Ryan along. It was great food and fun as always at Bret and Marci's. John and Becky and kids came along.

This is pretty much what we saw of them as they tried to master Guitar Hero. Then Harley had to show them her new stackers game. I even tried that one, but Harley is still the fastest.

The Saturday after Christmas we took Jake on his birthday trip. He seemed to be excited that he got the Wii game he had been looking for. We were going to ride the train into the city, but didn't have enough time.

We did our usual PARTY at Bill and Lynnette's on New Years Eve. One of these years we will have to throw that confetti earlier.

On January 2 we took Jake, Mike and Sophie on the train to Gateway in SLC and we had lunch and then we went to the movie. I think that they enjoyed the train rides the most. It was a lot of fun for all of us. They were great kids while we were gone. We will have to do it again.

On January 3 we had a very special day! Grandpa got to baptize Jacob. WOW! We are so proud of Jake for making that choice. It was a great day!

SURPRISES ALL AROUND

2008-12-08T10:09:00.005-07:00

Well, it certainly has been a busy time for us. We started out with Frank in the ER on Wednesday, December 3. It appears that he tweaked his back painting in the basement and now he has a pinched nerve which is causing his right leg to not want to work properly. FUN TIMES!!

So we got to do Rachel's birthday shopping trip on Friday pushing Grandpa in the wheelchair. Thank goodness for malls with wheelchairs to loan and handicap accessibility. We had fun with Rachel and picking cute clothes for her. She is 12 now. I can't believe it!!

Then we got home and the contractor wanted to do his final walk through of the basement. His painting crew should be there today to paint the trim for us and our bedroom furniture was delivered on Friday morning. WOW is that a room full of furniture. We may decide to move the chest of drawers to the office. See what you think.

It looks kind of funny with no bedding on the bed and all of the packing stuff on it. But someday I might get it put together.

Then the BIGGEST surprise of all was when Jessi called Friday night and said that they had admitted her to the hospital. SHABANG! Her baby decided that he was ready. Nathan Paul Nelson arrived at 8:30 Saturday morning. He is a cutie and I think that his sisters love him already!

Congratulations Jessi and Paul. You have a beautiful family.

Thanksgiving and more!

2008-12-02T15:39:00.011-07:00

Well, we survived the Thanksgiving weekend. We had a wonderful dinner at Bill & Lynnette's. Lots of food and fun. Then we did gingerbread houses at her place. She makes her own gingerbread, cuts it out, puts in stained "glass" windows, even added stables/sled ports this year. Here are a few of the masterpieces.

Then on Friday, we didn't get up with the crazy's but we did go out and spend some money. We even met up with Paul and Jessi while we were out, then had a late lunch with Grandma and the girls.

Friday night we went to a surprise birthday party for Marci. She had pulled one off for Bret during the summer, so I guess he thought it was fair game. We went to the Clearfield Aquatics Center and she seemed a little surprised. There was pizza, soda, and swimming for all.

Then on Saturday we had a family lunch and let all of the grandkids decorate gingerbread houses. It was fun to watch their creativity show, and some of their parents as well.

Then it was outside for some family pics.

It was a great and busy weekend. I know that I need to go on a diet now, but that is nothing new. I hope that you had a great time as well.

PS - Got the floor finished in our new bedroom downstairs. It is BEAUTIFUL

Remodeling, Thanksgiving

2008-11-24T15:37:00.009-07:00

Well, for an update on our remodeling project, we are at the point of only one room to paint and picking carpet. We have someone coming tonight to give us an estimate on carpeting and another one coming tomorrow night. Then we have to decide. I told Frank on Saturday that it would come down to the cost because I haven't found one carpet that I like more than any other. There are definitely some that I like a LOT less than others.

Here are a couple of pictures of the family room with paint on the walls. It is the same color as our bedroom.

We even got the stairwell and surrounding area painted this weekend. (I will post it when there is carpet on the those stairs.)

Then I actually hung the shower curtain, put the rugs down and used the shower one morning. If it could only be completely finished.

Oh well, enough moaning about that. Time to move on to other things.

THANKSGIVING!!! One of my favorite holidays. I really enjoy that it is usually steeped in tradition. We will be going to Frank's sister Lynnette's home for dinner and the traditional gingerbread house party after. Then all of the kids and grandkids will get together for our family lunch... on Saturday afternoon. We have lunch, sing Happy Birthday to all of the family members who have birthdays this time of year, have cake and ice cream and decorate their gingerbread houses.

I have tried for a couple of years to get out of the gingerbread house habit because it is a lot of WORK. Lynnette has been more than generous and offered to bake them for me. Two years ago we just decorated cookies. (That got way out of control, fast!!) Last year I tried using graham crackers to imitate gingerbread. Those are not strong enough. When Hannah asked me last year, "Grandma, can we do real gingerbread houses next year?" I knew that I was committed. It is really fun to see how creative the kids are. And even though it might not be cool if their friends saw them, I hope that as they get older they will continue to participate in that tradition.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, what is your favorite side dish for the big day. Mine has to be the Raspberry pretzel salad. It is the perfect combination of tart and sweet, with a bit of salt in the crust. I get to bring it to the dinner this year. If you have a fabulous/favorite side dish feel free to leave me a comment on what it is.

Have a safe and tradition filled Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving and history

2008-11-05T10:16:00.004-07:00

(Sorry Lisa, I lifted a great picture from your blog.)

Yesterday was election day. While I voted 2 weeks ago, I was glad to see it finally come to an end. This has been a LONG, drawn out process. I am glad that the nasty ads will be gone. And while some of my choices may not have won, I am very thankful for the opportunity to cast my vote and to witness history, the history of electing public officials. We should be very grateful that we have the opportunity to go through this process. Another thing that I hope happens now that the elections are over is that the "chicken little"( the sky is falling...) type emails will quit finding their way into my mailbox. Especially those emails that are not entirely correct. Most days I don't even open them, but ocassionally I will weaken and click on one of them and then I have to delete it. I know that most people think that they are keeping others informed, but perhaps we should check the validity of them before we just click forward.

Okay, I am now off my soap box. I hope that were some successes in your ballot, and if you didn't vote, I don't want to hear it.

More halloween

2008-11-03T14:49:00.006-07:00

Mom convinced me (with a simple invitation) to go to Moroni with her on Friday to see the girls Halloween parade. I think that Jess needs to move one county closer or we do. That is a long trip to do round trip, oh sorry I digress.

We loaded up on Friday morning and made the drive down, had some lunch and rushed to parade route to get a spot. Two whole blocks of Main Street. The kids come down to Main Street and go two blocks down, turn around and come back and then go back to the school. We had Addi and Paul in tow as Jess had to go finish Kassidy's costume. It was great weather, we saw Nana and she came to stand with us for the parade. It was fun to see all of the costumes and even some of those not in the parade dressed up. Here are the ones I could snap of the girls as they marched by.

There's Emma the witch.

There's Kass as a bat.

After the parade, the kids got to come home. They were both a bit upset that we weren't staying the night. We hung out for a bit and then we headed home. Here are a couple more pictures. Some are of Addi in her ghost ensemble. She was playing a Tyrannous Rex in one of the pictures.

T-REX?

Halloween and birthdays

2008-11-03T14:38:00.006-07:00

Wow, it is amazing how time flies... A week ago Sunday, October 26 we got to go to the annual bloody brains and eyeballs dinner in celebration of Harley's birthday!! It was a fun event and for once I didn't freeze in the basement of the garage. (We have had incredibly beautiful weather.)

Here is Harley amid the stringers and stuff that Sunday. Besides our wonderful serving of bloody brains and eyeballs we got to have kitty litter cake and homemade ice cream. The ice cream was great, but I am not too sure about that cake. Here it is before anyone cut into it.

Then for Harley's birthday shopping trip we picked her up on Saturday. We went and found the Clearfield train station and took Front Runner into Salt Lake, then Traxx to the Gateway shopping center. We were all told that she could not get another Build-A-Bear. (I think she said that she has 13 of them, as well as all of the rest of her animals.) So we went to lunch at Applebee's and then went to Barnes and Noble. I don't think that Grandpa knew you could spend so much at a bookstore. Oh well. Here is Harley with her birthday present as we wait for the train.

For this year we have a shopping trip with Rachel in November and a shopping trip with Jacob in December, then we get to start all over again. Too much fun.

UEA

2008-10-22T07:10:00.008-06:00

Well, UEA was last weekend and even without kids, I got to go and play. Jessi, Paul and the kids came to Bountiful and we played on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday we went to This is the Place State Park. They had some great stuff for the kids to do and a few long lines. They got to get their faces painted, ride the horses, do an art project in the old school, get a cornhusk doll and ride on the train. The weather was perfect. Here are some of the pics from our day.

Then Friday afternoon we went to The Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. WOW, there were a lot of people there. It appeared to me to be a very successful event. They had bounce houses of every kind and shape. Addie wanted to go in the first one with Kass and Em and we just about lost here. Kass and another girl were very nice to pull her up to the top so that she could slide down the slide and out of it. But she didn't like the Jr. Haunted House. She came out holding on to Daddy for dear life. She told me there was a "Big Monster" in there and she didn't like it.

We got to eat caramel apples, kettle corn and mini fried doughnuts. And stand in longer lines than the day before. Jessi, Addie, and I stood in line forever to ride the little train. We sat in the back and we just about got beat to death and squished Addie between us. Then we went over to the barnyard side and got to pet more animals and ride in the big wagon that was pulled by the tractor. It was fun for all of us?

Decisions, Decisions, blah, blah, blah

2008-10-08T20:22:00.006-06:00

Okay, I am so tired of the whole remodeling thing. I cannot imagine what it would be like if we were building new. Frank and I would probably not survive it. I don't like to have to make decisions. And there are not that many to make here, but it is driving me nuts. The contractor and his crew for some reason, cannot work here for an entire week. Why???? I can't seem to get an answer to that question. We have gone beyond our 3 months. Last weekend we were here on Friday when our contractor and his supervisor showed up, with our exterior door. WooHoo!!!! So we did kind of a walk through to talk about a couple of spots. He told us that they were going to fix them, blah, blah, blah. He told us that the tile guy would come in on Monday to clean and seal the tile, so don't walk on it for 24 hours after that. And that we would need to purchase our light fixtures before Wednesday as the electrician would be in that day to finish them. So we went between conference session on Saturday to pick out the light fixtures. Boy, that was painful. Here is what we picked, see if you can figure it out.

Then we painted some sample boards and decided on our paint colors. Considering that all of the walls in my house except my bathroom are white, this was not an easy decision either. Here are the two colors that we picked. (At least until I put them on the wall and something changes my mind.)

So Monday at work was a hectic day and I get a message from Frank that says that our contractor called him and they had found water on the floor of the bathroom downstairs and they don't know where it came from. So they were going to look into a few things and see what they could find. That was Monday, today is Wednesday and no word from the contractor and no apparent progress on the water issue. BUT... they did finish the light fixtures. The only problem is that they didn't pay attention to my VERY EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS, and they mounted my bling light fixture in the office and not our bedroom. Well, me of little patience, called the contract right then. He was trying to placate me, but I have had enough. We can't decide on furniture, carpet, flooring, etc. And then the few things that I have decided on the contractors group messes up. Here are the light fixtures.

Bottom of the stairs

Hallway lights

Fixture #1 in our bedroom

The bathroom fixture.

The "bling" fixture that got put in the wrong room!

They got the bulbs in the can lights in the family room and the bulb in the shower. I just wish it was finished. Okay, I will try to be patient. And hopefully I will get some painting done this weekend as well as get stuff for card groups put together. Wish me luck!

IT IS GONE

2008-09-24T15:00:00.013-06:00

Wow, I can't believe it, we came home on Tuesday evening and the tile is all finished in the bathroom. (Except for cleaning.) The cabinet and vanity are in, the closet doors have been hung. And BIG SURPRISE ... the wood burning stove is GONE. It is no longer sitting in the family room where it has lived for many years. (It is just outside the door, but no longer in my house.)

Here is proof, an empty corner of the room.

Here is the tile in the bathroom, starting on the floor and then the shower.

This is the floor in the shower, it is called a brick mosiac.

Here is the new vanity. (Natural Maple with a solid piece on top.)

We spent a busy weekend. We went to Bill and Lynnette's cabin. I didn't think I would ever live to see the day that Bill had sinks in his cabin, let alone sinks with running water. But it is true. They have an almost fully functional kitchen and each bathroom has a sink with running water. It was so cool!!!!!!!!!!!! Their kitchen is beautiful and the rest of the cabin is fabulous. Thanks for letting us come and visit. (Sorry, no pics. Forgot to take them.)

Then on Monday, Frank had a conference at the Homestead in Midway. He invited me to come and go to the dinner with him and spend the night. It was a nice time. Lots of fun people to meet and I learned that everyone has the right to VOTE, so get out there and to it. I came in to work a bit late on Tuesday. And it was 35 degrees when I left Midway on Tuesday am. I think that summer is gone. I just hope that winter waits a while before unleashing on us.

REMODEL Update

2008-09-18T12:33:00.007-06:00

PROGRESS

Yeah, there is finally enough progress on our remodeling job that you can see the results. When we got home last night, there are new doors hung, tile on the floor and they have started the tiling in the shower. The ceilings have been painted and the walls have been primed.

Here we go. This the bathroom floor.

Sorry, this picture is turned the wrong way.

Here is the family room.

Hopefully the progress will continue.

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

2008-09-16T09:10:00.007-06:00

Well, yes it has been a while since I have updated this. Sorry for the two or three people who might look at it occasionally.

We have had a slug of birthdays during the end of August. And I didn't have my camera for most of the occasions. Jessi turned the BIG 30 on the 21st. We drove to Orem to have dinner with her family and extended family at the Spaghetti Factory. It was a lot of fun and good food. (We also bought a new bedroom set while in Orem.)

Here are the little girls at dinner.

Then the next day, the 22nd was Bret's birthday. He turned 40! Marci had a surprise party for him at the waterslide in South Ogden. We were only able to stop by as it was wrapping up, but it looked like everyone had a great time. Happy Birthday to both of you.

Aury turned 8 on the 24th. On August 29th Grandpa and I picked her up after school and we rode the new Front Runner train into Salt Lake and then we took Traxx to the Gateway and had ice cream and then went to Build-A-Bear. Aury chose a leopard and dressed her in pink. It was a fun day. Aury, we love your new short hair cut.

Emma turned 5 on August 26. They had a party for her on August 30. Here is her cake.

It was a fun one to do. Emma got some great presents that day. The family also got new 4 wheelers, here is Em ready to go.

She has no fear on this or of most anything else. Here she is opening some of her gifts.

Then I found this picture from 4 years ago. My how fast they grow.

Wasn't she cute? She still is and continues to be a princess in our family.

Enough for now. There has been some small progress on our remodel. But supposedly they are starting tile today in the bathroom. I will update tonight if the progess warrants pictures. They did finally pull up the old carpet in the family room, ewwwwwwwww gross. It had literally rotted to the floor in some spots.

Tagged!

2008-08-19T16:00:00.003-06:00

My dear friend Lisa recently tagged me on her blog. Thanks Lisa! It has taken me some thought on how to respond to some of the questions. And because I know that no one I would send it to would respond, I guess it stops here. Here we go:

1. Random thoughts about me: I am a procrastinator, anyone who knows me will agree. I tend to overextend myself. I don't know how to say no to people.

2. Places I'd like to visit: Just about anyplace in the US. I am not so sure about traveling abroad. Maybe I am just a bit chicken.

3. Current obsessions: Any type of craft. Right now I am in to knitting and crocheting dish clothes. I think maybe just to prove I can figure out a pattern. And of course, my all consuming obsession is reading.

4. Movies I have watched more than once: Top Gun, Dirty Dancing, Sabrina (both versions), Steel Magnolias, Thomas Crowne Affair, all Harrison Ford movies, most Disney cartoons at least parts of them. Any decent chick flick.

5. Goals I have set for myself: This one is a tough one for me, because I don't do well with setting goals. Especially if I write them down. (I am a Franklin planner drop out). I would strive to be a better friend, and to be closer to my husband and family. And perhaps to have more patience!

6. Favorite foods: Tacos, spaghetti, shrimp, and M&M's.

7. Fears: I don't acknowledge them and then they can't become real. No how was that for denial.

8. Favorite TV shows: Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, The Closer, most anything except reality TV.

9. Places I've visited: New York City, Washington DC, Nashville, Victoria BC, LA, Rapid City SD

10. Things I'm looking forward to in the coming year: Having our construction project finished, holidays, watching the grandkids and nieces and nephew grow more.

11. Joys in my life: My husband, sisters, babies, LIFE, good health, family, a testimony. What is not to be joyful about.

Construction updates

2008-08-19T15:44:00.010-06:00

Wow! there has been progress in our basement! Last Thursday they delivered drywall and mud. Then they worked on it some Friday, some Saturday, and on Monday. It is starting to take shape. It is amazing how small things suddenly look, and yet they look like rooms now instead of some wierd skeleton. Here are pics from last night. Sorry for the poor quality, but there wasn't much light in some of the rooms.

This is our bathroom, looking at what will be the vanity and toilet area.

This is looking at our bedroom closet. This room has never had a closet before. They only have the walls in here to put the drywall up.

This is looking down the hallway towards the "office" and storage room. There wasn't a hall here before either. It is fun to see what it looks like now, compared to the mess from before.

We also had our girls weekend in Park City last weekend. We rented a condo near the outlet mall and stayed for two nights. We definitely made a dent in the outlet mall, watched some Olympics action and had a great time.

Where does the time go?

2008-08-11T20:30:00.009-06:00

Well, it has been almost two weeks since I last posted. I swore when I started this that I was not going to be one of those people who start a blog and then maybe every three months or so remembers to post something. I better shape up because I could be headed there.

We have been busy with all the stuff that seems to take over your non-work time around the house and such. Speaking of the house, it is moving along at a snail's pace. To my logical way of thinking, if the crew just showed up every day for all day and did the things that needed to be done, they would be finished very quickly. Well apparently that is not the way that contractors and subs think. They go for days without doing anything at our job site and then like tonight, it is 8:30 pm and the plumbers are in the basement moving pipes and cutting up old pipes, etc. It is very noisy and distracting, but hey someone is down there hopefully making progress.

The weekend of the August 1-3 Frank took me to Cedar City as a belated birthday present. We went to the Shakespearean Festival. We went to Fiddler on the Roof, which apparently is this years run away hit. It was so good.

Then we went and saw Mamma Mia! at the movies. I so loved that movie. I made Frank take me to buy the soundtrack. One thing we do not have to worry about is Pierce Brosnan changing careers at this time. But he did a good job in the movie.

This past weekend I stole Jessi's girls and we spent a few days together. Wow, I marvel at what my sister is able to accomplish with those three free spirits. Just getting them up, fed, dressed and out the door can be a miracle sometimes. We went to the zoo on Friday with Grandma and my neighbor Mindi and her daughter Sophie. Here is some of the fun we had.

Kass, Emma, and Addi on the Elephant statue

Emma all by herself.

Emma, Addi, and Sophie waiting.

The girls at the giraffe house.

I will update photos soon of the remodeling project. It is hard to show that there has been progress. Although it has been insulated, so that is some progress. Soon!

BIG NEWS

2008-07-30T21:22:00.006-06:00

Today my sister posted on her blog that they had found out the sex of their upcoming arrival. IT'S A BOY!!!!! She called me Monday after they found out. She has three girls and her husband was expecting another girl, but they are getting a boy. So tonight I printed her ultrasound pictures and actually created a scrapbook layout. I haven't truly scrapbooked in months, but here is what I created. I still have to do the journaling, but ta da.

Left page

Right page

Both pages together.

If you want to check out the pics better, go to Jessi's blog. (See the side bar.)

We have had construction people in and out of the basement. The electrician has been here as well. The framers are almost finished. If the work was consistent, it wouldn't take them very long to have it done. But I won't ever understand their view of time. (That's another story.)

24th of July

2008-07-27T20:14:00.009-06:00

Well, we survived another Pioneer Day! We had a great time. We went to the parade on Wednesday night. We were facing the sun, so we hid behind umbrellas while waiting for the parade to start. Jessi and the girls came up. Here is a few pictures.

Addi figured out how to enjoy herself. She put her feet up and ate to her hearts content.

The parade was a lot of fun. We left hot, sweaty and full of candy. On Thursday we went to the Bountiful park. They have a handcart days event at the park. There was lots of food, rides and activities for the kids, and entertainment. The girls go their faces painted.

When we finished at the park it was early afternoon, but we were hot, sweaty and tired. We had a bar-b-que that evening, let the kids run through the sprinklers and did fireworks.

It was also Caleb's birthday on Thursday. He turned 16!!! WOW, where has the time gone. We picked him up for lunch on Saturday and then we went to Guitar Center. He really enjoys playing the guitar. He is a good kid and seems to have some great goals. We are really proud of him and I hope that he acheives his dreams and goals and continues to play the guitar! Happy Birthday Caleb.

Now we get to go back to work tomorrow. Yee Haw!!!!!

Saturday

2008-07-20T18:47:00.008-06:00

It was a very busy Saturday. Mom and I met Jessi and her girls in Orem for pics and a birthday lunch.

Here is one of the group shots.

They are growing up too fast. Then we had lunch. Just a slightly different view of the three.

Then we shopped and then left to go home. After that Frank and I went to Jacob's baseball game. WOW was it HOTTTTT!!! They played really hard, but lost the first game. We left before the second game and no one called to tell us how it turned out. Here is Jake up to bat.

Well, I hope that the coming week isn't quite as busy. It will be shorter, as Pioneer Day puts a holiday in their on Thursday, so that means that I have to take Friday off as well. We will go the Bountiful Handcart Days parade on Wednesday evening. Hopefully it will be a little bit overcast so that it might be a little bit cooler. But probably not.

Cookies

2008-07-16T08:57:00.002-06:00

I had to make cookies last weekend for a board meeting at work. Here is a recipe that I tried, maybe for the second time. They are really good:

Marshmallow Brownie Cookies
from KSL

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. soda
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
Large marshmallows cut into thirds

Cream butter & sugar. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Sift dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternating with milk, until fully combined. Drop on greased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes, immediately place a marshmallow piece on top of each cookie and bake for 2 more minutes. When cookies are cool, frost.

Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 c. butter
3 T. milk
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. cocoa
4 c. powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients. Frost cooled cookies.

Monday!

2008-07-14T19:34:00.004-06:00

Well, Monday is almost over now and what have I accomplished? I did go to work today, and had a board meeting to attend. It seems like some Mondays, I don't get a lot accomplished and suddenly the day is over.

My weekend was over way to quickly. Friday after I got off work, I picked up Harley. Here is a picture of Harley from our Father's Day party. (She is playing with Aury.)

We were going to go to this place and make beaded bracelets. And then spend the rest of the afternoon together. So, after running a few errands, and the lunch that Harley bought me at DQ, we get ready to go to the bead place...AND IT IS GONE, CLOSED, NO MORE!!!!! I was sooooo disappointed. So we went to the Mall and went shopping. We even found a bracelet for Harley. But I was really looking forward to making one with her. So now I will be brushing up on my beading skills so that we can get together again and just make them at my house. Thanks Harley for a great day. It amazes me how grown up she has gotten, and she is one smart kid. Love you bunches.

The rest of the weekend went by pretty fast. On Saturday we went looking at furniture. (You know, they have started the remodel and I am ready for furniture to be moved in.) It was a long and tiring time and I don't really think that we are any closer to any decisions, which I guess is okay since no one came to work on our place on Friday or today!!!!! Kind of frustrating. Then we came home and had to do all of those Saturday things. And I had my Sunday School lesson to prepare. Fun, fun.

I do have my July/August layout finished. My scrapbook group worked on it last week and really enjoyed it. I will make a modification from July 4 to July 24 since that is almost bigger here in Utah.

Have a great week!

Busy Summer!

2008-07-10T13:14:00.010-06:00

We have had a very busy summer! I can't believe that it is almost the middle of July. It started off with a fun Father's day celebration. Here are all of the grandkids enjoying their popsicles.

Then we went to Miss A's birthday party. Here she is ready to open her presents. I had to make her cake. Who would have thought that a "Larry and Bob" cake 7 1/2 years ago would result in 3 cakes a year. And they keep getting more complicated. (Sorry E, I can't find a PetShop or My Little Pony). Here is A's requested cake.

Then with card groups, scrapbook groups and all of the other stuff. It seems like the months have just flown by. And now they are finally working on our basement. As of last night, there is nothing but the shower pan left in the old nasty bathroom. Check it out.

I will try and keep you up to date on the progress? Also, look for a MASSIVE wooden stamp sale coming soon!

More trial and errors

2008-07-09T13:26:00.002-06:00

Let's see if I can add a picture to this post.

This was the family room when I got home from work last night.

2008-07-09T11:55:00.000-06:00

Sorry, forgot to add the pictures.

NEW!

2008-07-09T11:51:00.000-06:00

Wow, it looks like this really works. We will see how easy it really is. It seems like everyone I know has started blogging, so why not. Update for family members, our basement remodel has started! It was an ugly job cleaning out that basement, which has not been used for much more than laundry and storage. But here is what it looked like last night after they finished.