The Holidays are here

Thanksgiving was so much fun. We are glad Jerry and Julie's family came and spent a couple of days with us. The little ones were so cute. The food was great and as usual I ate way to much. But then what is Thanksgiving for.

Alan and Holly were good about helping get the Christmas lights started, BUT they weren't able to finish. They left on Sunday and the lights haven't been touched since. I think i'm going to have to call on the other sons that live close by to finish it up or they may not get turned on until Christmas. HELP!!! CRAIG & JASON.

I'm having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit.

I even had David put on a Santas hat to help get things going. I've been listening to Christmas music, but i think i just need a little snow to get the Christmas juices flowing. There is just something about that quietness of snow falling.

You got to love these little ones.

It's been awhile, and i just don't seem to have any grand and exciting things to share. So i will just have to bore you with my mundane (wonderful) life. On Conference weekend we had all the grandkids. Here they are being so good about sharing an apple with each other.

Heather and Josh have finally moved into their new home. It isn't quite finished but they are in. Life has been pretty crazy for them. Heather has started a preschool in her home and is taking a years leave of absence from teaching. I think it has been a little harder than she thought going from teaching 4th graders to trying to teach 3 and 4 year olds how to hold their scissors and crayons correctly, but she will do great.

We had our field trip to the pumpkin patch and it was a beautiful fall day. the kids had a great time finding just the right pumpkin. They even had Cinderella pumpkins. it really is a variety of pumpkins. When one of the kids lifted up one, a mouse ran out from under it. Or maybe it wasn't a mouse, but really one of Cinderella's coachmen.

This is a Cinderella pumpkin...

Dylan Allred had to have a green pumpkin, so he could make an ogre.

Hunter and McKay got to spend the weekend and we had a good time. McKay has that look on his face like he thinks he might be in trouble. if you notice his PB&J sandwich is missing the jam. and it looks like it is mostly on his face. so I'm assuming while i wasn't looking he licked it off the sandwich. But like his shirt says, "What happens at Grandmas stays at Grandmas" Who needs the bread and peanut butter anyways.

It looked like it might rain, so Sam and Caden decided we had better get the umbrella out. The kids are showing off their sweet looking pumpkins. Actually i wanted a picture by this beautiful barberry bush. I don't remember it ever being this bright and colorful.

I'm getting so excited for Thanksgiving. Besides my children all being here. My brother and all of his family are coming to spend Thanksgiving with us. We are going to have a great time. My sister Melissa's son Jacob just returned from his mission and he got to go hunting with David, Josh and Alan. it was his first time hunting. Josh got a little 4 point buck and they shot a bear, but it was only wounded. They tracked it for a few miles but never did find it. All in All I think they had a good time.

Fall is in the air? NOT at 80+ degrees

It is the end of September and it still feels like summer. I guess this is what they call an Indian summer. Why an unusually warm fall is called Indian summer, I don't know. We have gone to the last 3 football games in short sleeved shirts. It almost doesn't feel right. How are you suppose to by hot chocolate when it is still in the 70's after the sun goes down.
I have done a little bit of canning, beans, Salsa, Sweet and sour sauce and soup mix. We had our annual soup canning day. We had 4 ladies, 6 kids and 4 pressure cookers going and it all equaled 68 quarts of delicious home made soup for the winter ( that is if we get a winter this year). It really is fun doing it together. Sam and Caden helped stir the salsa.

They also got to go to Royals homecoming football game, so of course they dressed in the appropriate colors of black and gold. Sam even learned a cheer, Caden did to, but we won't let Josh know that Caden wants to be a cheer leader to.

The last bits of summer!

While i was taking Holly back to school we were able to go to a Koyle family reunion. (My Dad's side of the family) I hadn't been to one since Holly was a new baby. I was able to get a hold of my girl cousins and they came also. It was so neat to visit with them and other family members. Holly had a great time getting to know my wild and crazy family, and they thought she was pretty neat too.

We stopped in my home town of Rupert ,Idaho. We went and saw the town square and the old movie theater, that is now on the State historical registry. They are renovating it back to it's original state. I remember going to the movies for 50 cents and buying a huge sucker for a nickel.

When Holly got back down to Utah she had a beautiful paper flower waiting for her, made by an admirer. I thought that it was pretty cool.

Well i thought that after how many years now of my kids going off to school (college), it would get easier. But it still takes me awhile to get use to the quiet in my house. I'm sure once preschool starts i will have lots to keep my mind busy. I can tell I'm going to have to change my song on my blog, (Big Green Tractor) because that was Holly's theme song for the summer. even tho her tractor driving days were pretty limited this summer because of her foot surgery. Alan has settled into a new apartment, it is closer to Holly, which I'm glad for that. He has met new friends and seems to be enjoying it there. He just has to find him a job that will be able to pay the rent.

We (Holly, Jill, Deric and I) took a Sunday drive up Provo Canyon to a place called Cascade Springs. It was beautiful and peaceful.

Holly is back at the same place as last year, with a few renovations ( thank goodness) New bathrooms, new furniture, new paint job, but the same roommates!!!YEAH...This is her senior year and she won't be coming home for the summer, because she has a 3 month internship possibly in Utah. Maybe that's what makes me sad, is i always know that it will only be for a few months. And then Alan calls me the other day and says he will probably be staying the summer also, so that he can get another semester out of the way,and his lease goes for a whole year. BUT there is always Holidays...right? AND southwest always has cheap flights to Utah :o) I will survive.

OH! MY! GOSH!

We did have something new and exciting happen in our family. Craig and Angie had a baby girl on July 2nd. She is actually 2 months old. and is the cutest thing. When i hold her she reminds me so much of Holly when she was a baby. They both are small and petite. Her name is Clara Marie Gilbert. They just had the kids pictures taken and they just make me want to cry when i look at them. especially the one where Craig is holding Clara in just his hands. Angie has them posted on her blog. You will all have to take a peek. And it makes Jack seems so grown up now. We are so loving having them close by. Craig has been helping David work on the airplane early in the mornings, since Dee has moved to Arizona. They may get it done yet.

We are still Alive!!!

Things have been so crazy here, I can't believe the summer has almost come and gone. I haven't really done anything fun and exciting. Just a lot of everyday stuff that fills up my days. WOW! my life is starting to sound real boring. We did get away for a weekend and go camping. It was fun. We went with Josh and Heather and Josh's family. We picked huckleberries and made pancakes and cobbler.( They were little tiny berries so it took awhile to get enough, but they were tasty) We fished and caught enough for us to all have fish for breakfast. Of course that brought it's own little drama. A week later i ended up in Spokane in the hospital with a fish bone lodged in my throat and they had to put me out and remove it. It still feels like there is something in my throat. i guess i just need to be patient. The doctor said that it was inflamed and infected. Thanks to Yasmine's Brother Omar who is a E.N.T. specialist i was able to get in in one day and have the surgery that same day.

A Little of Everything!!!

It has been a couple of eventful weeks. First off Phelan returned from his mission. It was very exciting seeing him again. He served in the Minneapolis Minnesota mission. Myself and his family were at the airport in Spokane to meet him. For those of you who don't know, Phelan is kind of an adopted son to us. We are very proud of his service on his mission. He is adjusting to the non mission life. and that takes awhile. But he plans on going to college in Utah to UVU. Welcome Home Bud!!!
Here he is doing what he does best...SINGING. He has a beautiful voice.
NEXT: Was preschool graduation. As you can tell we had a patriotic theme. The kids did real well, singing their song and saying their parts. I am sure to them it is just another part of preschool. repeating the pledge of allegiance. But to me it is something that moves me when ever i hear it. I found a web site that had an address by Red Skelton explaining what the Pledge of Allegiance really means. It was really neat to hear it broken down like that. I would encourage you all to read it.
The kids found a frog in my pond and they were more interested in that than the after graduation treats. Sam hanging out with UNCLE SAM!!!Heather made a delicious patriotic desert for graduation.

Talk about a blast from the past. Sam found some roller blades and her shorts were short and tight. she could have fit into the seventies easily.

Caden, and Sam thought they would smell all the roses.
This is my favorite rose. It is the "Barbra Bush". It has such a Sweet fragrance.

This is the first rose i planted when we moved in 19 years ago.It is called red velvet. Grandma Gilbert gave it to me.

Catch Up time!!!

I know it's been a while, but we have been busy around here. No rest for the wicked. J/K :o)

After we got back from Hawaii, Holly had surgery on her foot. so she was pretty much miserable for the last week and she will be laid up for a while.

Actually we went to the doctor today and he says she is doing real well, so we went and got her a knee scooter, and she just cruises around the house like no other. The crutches kind of get caught in the carpet, since it supposedly is shag carpet according to Holly. (It really isn't shag it is called Frieze, just a little shorter than shag.)

We also went to a baby shower for Angie, she will be having a little girl the end of June.

We made cute little hair bows.

We had our last preschool field trip for the year. We went to Dorsing's cherry plant and got to see how they pit the cherries and dry the cherries and blueberries. It was a lot of fun and we also got to sample the finished product. The new cherries will be coming into the plant in July.

They go through 50 of these bags of sugar every day during the packing season.

I got to watch Jack the other night and we went out and was watching the swallow build a nest on the side of the house. Jack spotted the Tonka truck and of course he had to push it around. There's just something about little boys and trucks. notice the design on his Jammie's. Yep! it has wheels, imagine that.

We also got to watch Sam dance at the park in Moses Lake. She spotted Addison (she is one of her preschool buddies) in the crowd and stopped to wave at her.

Sam is the second one from the left