family.is.our.life

Catch up!!!

2011-12-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

3 new babies, family reunion, Anniversary, The cutes grandkids ever.

We rode the cable cars in SanFransisco.

We visited Alcatraz. A scary place to be.

We got to tour a liberty ship like the one David's dad was on in WWII. When we went to California for our 33rd anniversary.

Saw the golden gate bridge. It is amazing.

Had a big Gilbert family reunion in July.

Most of the family, minus Katie and Alan who had just had Gabby a few days before.

Jack and Clara as "Jack N Jill" Abby, as the cutest cow.

Heathers kids at Halloween, Sam and Justine as ladybugs, Caden of course as batman and Brycen his usual self, curious george.

Brycen decide he wanted to wear grandpa's boots .

Justine and Gabby being twins.

Gabby with her pal.

I ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) in 2hours and 53minutes. not bad for an old lady.

The family cheering me on.

Caden enjoying his birthday cake.

Sam after her dance recital.

Brycen in disguise as a "I don't know what"

Jack and McKay helping feed the horses.

Justine's blessing day.

McKay being Mr. cool.

Alan and Katies little one Gabrielle

Gabby's blessing day!

Josh and Heathers little one Justine.

Craig and Angies little one Abigaile on her blessing day.

Bits and Pieces

2011-02-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

Ashton was blessed this last Sunday. Great Grandma Gilbert had lots of fun talking to him. he seemed quite interested in what she had to say. Having her there was very special for Jason.

I was watching the kids one evening and we had fun making valentine surprises for their moms and dads.

In Preschool we had our Nursery Rhyme unit and I was the old women who lived in a shoe. We had Jack and Jill, the moon from Hey diddle diddle, two Mary Mary quite contrary's, a baker,a Little bo peep and others as usual it was lots of fun doing nursery rhymes.

Brycen celebrated his 1st birthday. he liked the cupcake but wasn't to sure about the candle and fire. he got his own little recliner chair from his Grandma and Grandpa Fitzhugh, and he new exactly what to do with it.

I made a little quilt for Abigaile, nothing fancy, just something with lots of pink.

BABIES! N MORE BABIES!

2011-02-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

January was an eventful month for our family. We added two new little ones to the Gilbert clan.

Ashton Clark Gilbert was born on January 4th 2011, he weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

His proud Mamma and Pappa are Jason and Yasmine, and brothers Hunter, and McKay.

Next came, Abigaile Darlene Gilbert, (middle name is after Me and her Great Grandma Koyle)she was born on January 12th. and weighed 7lbs and 11 oz . She is a doll. Her parents are Craig and Angie and she has a brother, Jack and sister Clara. they love their new baby.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Jesus is the reason for the season. So this year i bought a nativity made for the kids to play with.

Sam enjoyed playing with the Fisher Price nativity. My splurge for this year. The kids loved it.

Devin was good about playing some Christmas music for our Christmas Eve activity. Clara and him became good buddies, especially if he let her play piano with him.

What a wonderful 10 days. All the kids were here for Christmas ( minus Jason and Yaz & kids) Yaz is expecting anytime now. But Alan and Katie came from Utah, and Holly and Devin from St. Louis. Also Heather and Josh and Craig and Angie. We woke up Christmas morning with a house full of kids and bikes. not to mention a ton of presents. It was so much fun. Alan and Katie also announced that they are going to have a baby the end of June. What a wonderful Christmas present that was. They only got to spend a couple of days here. But we were so glad they got to come. The weather actually cooperated for them traveling, to and from Utah. We had snow on the ground, so that was good. Holly and Devin got to go sledding and the kids built a snowman. We ate and ate and ate all week long. i am now going to have to get serious about exercising with my new Zumba tapes. Santa was very good to everyone. We spent time playing games and playing Josh's new Wii. Holly and Devin were pretty good about working off all the calories they ate. When we took Holly and Devin to the airport we spent the night in Coeur D'alene and went to the Holiday light show on the lake. It was really neat. something that little kids would get a lot of enjoyment out of. It seemed like it all ended to soon. But, we have now started a new year and hope that it is a prosperous one for everybody. We are looking forward to welcoming some more grand babies to the Gilbert clan.

Well HELL-O Snow!

2010-11-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

Talk about going from one extreme to another. Two days ago i was contemplating mowing my lawn one more time. and now it is under 2-3 feet snow drifts. but it is a green as can be just frozen solid. We had our first blizzard warning last night. We have had storm warnings before but not blizzard warnings. any ways it was an Arctic blast from the north. and my poor plants got caught in mid bloom still. they look as perfect as can be but are frozen solid. It's amazing how quickly things can change. That's why we need to be prepared. So David the next time you look in the pantry and say " looks like you have the whole dang grocery store in here" I'm going to bust out singing the song " Follow the Prophet", and I'm going to tell him I'm just being obedient.

winters coming

2010-11-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

David was getting things winterized before it snowed and Caden was helping him. They spent most of the time blowing out the sprinkler system. and then driving around to check if the

sprinklers had gone back down into the ground. If not Caden would go around and step on them. He always loves going and helping Grandpa. I asked him if he wanted any breakfast but of course Grandpa had taken

care of that already. He gave him what he has every morning. COLD CEREAL IN A GLASS. Sounds nutritious to me. Whatever!!! But Caden was as happy as can be with it.I was also watching Brycen when I noticed him palming the little soccer ball. He is just like Caden, give him a ball to play with and he's totally happy.

Here he is showing off his two bottom teeth. He has grown up so fast. He's such a happy baby.

It's Autumn Time! The leaves are falling down.

2010-11-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lions and Tigers and bears, OH MY! They don't look to scary. actually their kinda cute and cuddly.

Besides it being our halloween costume party, it was goofy glasses day.

Caden was on the lookout for bunnies, and he says he saw one in my garden. he was scouting it out.

Jack and clara loved the straw maze. The petting zoo was a big hit also.

What a cute little family. Pretty soon there will be 5.

The train ride was lots of fun, Jack couldn't decide if he liked the airplane or train best.

Angie had to make a trip to Moses Lake so we stopped at the pet store and Clara is not afraid of animals at all.

We went to the country Mercantile,one weekend and also the pumpkin patch in Othello for preschool. It is such a fun place for the family. Jack found him a pumpkin just his size. and he's 3 pumpkins tall. I LOVE LOVE, LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR! There is so much to be THANKFUL for.

Fall is here!

2010-10-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

I love the fall, it's my favorite time of the year. It was a big weekend. celebrating birthdays and watching Conference.

September is a big month for birthdays in our family.Jason and Josh have a birthday on the same day and Hunter and Cadens are only 2 days apart. Jason turned 31, Josh hit the big 30, Hunter turned 6 and caden is now 4. lots of celebrating. They combined Josh's and Caden's party.

Jack is being a helpful big brother, pushing Clara. Caden and Jack are enjoying the cake and ice cream, Cousins are the best.

Heather had her snowie booth at the Leavenworth Salmon festival again this year. So I took the kids to see all the cool activities. It really was very fun and educational. They got to paint pictures, hear an indian story teller inside a great big in flatable fish. they learned the differant types of fish, made plaster animal tracks. got to hug all kinds of animals. They got to dress up as different animals. Sam was a chipmunk and Caden was a wolf. They had this fun cart track and miniture golf. A huge san box where the kids could build towns and villages. They showed how the indians smoked salmon and gave out samples. They had real indian dancers and all kinds of indian crafts. I give it 5 stars ***** :o)

Alaska!!!

2010-09-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is an iceberg, that is by Juneau. The ice has a blue tint to it because it is so dense and there isn't any air in it. It will last longer than regular ice.

This is a waterfall that comes right off of the iceberg.

There is a rocky island that the sea lions go to bask in the sun. when you get close to them they get quite noisy.

David and I got to go to Alaska for a week. A friend of ours has a cabin on Admiralty Island. We went fishing. Caught lots of salmon, saw some killer whales, looked for bears...not very hard or very far from the cabin, because there are a lot of bears there. We also caught some crab and fished for halibut, but we didn't get any halibut....bummer! It really was a lot of fun:o)

On our biggest day we caught 14, on our smallest day we caught 4. The biggest weighed 18 lbs. needless to say we have lots of salmon in the freezer.

There was a pod of killer whales playing off to the side of our boat

This was my first salmon, it weighed 15 lbs.

David and I showing off our big ones.

Summer, whats left of it.

2010-08-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well summer came and went, it seemed so short. There were a lot of changes going on. made quite a few trips to Utah. We are now officially empty nesters. Or as Janelle Dorsing put it. DEAD ENDERS. We are excited to have two new members of our family Katie, and Devin. Holly and Devin are in St. Louis going to medical school. Alan and Katie are still in Utah going to school. I got to go and spend a few days with Holly before she left to be with Devin. We had a good time, shopping, watching movies and painting shirts with Aubri. We also went to the Monty L Bean museum at BYU. It was amazing. If you have never been you have to go. They have every animal and insect, imaginable.

We managed to fit a camping trip in this last week. of course it was only in our back yard. but we pitched the tents, had tinfoil dinners and started a fire in the fire pit. Got the pool put up for the kids and went to Calalhans water slide. All in all we had lots of fun. Good food and great company:o)

Sam got to dance at the grant county fair. And it's time for school to start so i guess that means summer is officially over. oh well! onto the next thing, CANNING.

Weddings

2010-07-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well the long awaited occasions have arrived. We pulled it off two weddings in 30 days. We all survived and we still love each other. AMAZING!!! It first started with Holly recieving her endowments on the 27th of May. What a special time with all the family there in the Draper Utah Temple. We afterwards went and ate at the Texas roadhouse. Way yummy food. put a star by that one, we will definately go back again.especially since we got there about 15 minutes before they closed and they were just as nice as can be about serving our group. The next dayMay 28th was the big day, Alan and Katie's wedding. it started at 6:00 pm in the Bountiful Utah Temple. What a georgous Temple. The weather was a bit windy and it couldn't decide if it was going to rain or just sprinkle a little. But all in all it was a beautiful day. The bride was lovely and the groom was happy to finally have it happen. They make a cute couple and I know there will be lots of love there. We went to the church afterwards and had a wonderful meal prepared by Katies family. It was a darling reception with lots of favorite things there. The Bride and Groom headed off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. The next weekend we had a reception for the newlyweds at our home in Royal. The weather had been pretty nasty a few days before, but the day of the reception (which was held outside in our yard) it was as beautiful as can be. sunny and calm, It couldn't have been more picture perfect. Thanks to lots of family and friends, it was a smashing success. Katie and Alan are now settled into a cute little studio apartment in Orem. While Alan finishes his degree. Katie is working at a credit union and Alan is working part time for a nuts and bolts company called fastenal.

Now jump ahead 29 days. June 25th The kids (Holly and Devin) decided to have their reception the day before the wedding. So that the day of the wedding it could be a calm and non rushed day. What a great idea!!! The weather again cooperated for the reception. it got a little breezy closer to the end of the day but all in all it was beautiful almost as beautiful as the bride and groom, if you can call a groom beautiful (OK, Handsome). Again wonderful friends and family to make it run smoothly. The next day we headed to portland early. The wedding was scheduled for 1:00 pm in the Portland Temple. Now Portland is known for it's rainy weather and it had had a few days of rain, but not on this day. you couldn't have asked for more picture perfect weather. And man did we take pictures. Rosalie Black, the photographer took some amazing pictures, both at the temple and the day before at the reception. She was an all around awesome help that weekend. She did family pictures two hours before the reception. did Holly's hair, did bridal shots and reception shots and then traveled to Portland the next day for the wedding. As I write this Holly and Devin are also honeymooning in Hawaii. Thanks again to Yasmine's (Jason's wife's) parents Firoz and Diane Husein who own some condo's on Maui and was gracious enough to let our children use them for their honeymoons.

So things have calmed down a little, except that i'm getting ready for girls camp. (I'm the stake camp director). We have one more reception for Holly and Devin in Alpine Utah. I will miss the first couple of days of camp but will be there to finish out the week. Thanks to some very competent assistant camp directors. I'm pretty sure every thing will go smoothly without me.

My next big adventure will be this week. I am taking Josh's place on a sturgeon fishing trip that was planned for the guys only...but Josh got called to colorado on the catastrophy team (for his job as an insurance claims adjuster) and I am going to catch a huge fish, if not it will be the biggest fish story ever. See ya all later :o)

Sping is here!!!

2010-03-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

Spring is here and love is in the air. I love spring, just about as much as i love Fall. The trees and flowers are waking up. Everything is starting to turn green. There is a new clean feeling. i wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that my windows are clean and i can actually see out of them? I have lots of pictures that i was going to get put on the blog but i just never did. We have had a couple of exciting things happen in our family recently. Heather had a new little baby boy, named Brycen Larell Fitzhugh. he was 7 lbs and 15.8 oz. He is a cutie and a very good baby. He looks alot like Caden. We just had his baby blessing this week and we were so glad that Alan & Katie and Holly & Devin got to come for the blessing. It was a short visit but fun.

Alan actually proposed while he was here and she said YES!!! Her name is Katie Warner from Bountiful Utah, and she is a keeper. We are all excited for them. They will be married in May in the Bountiful Temple. As you can see by the pictures. We disked in the field. "Will U Marry me Katie" and then flew her over it. It was a great idea, but didn't anticipate her being sick that day and she almost missed the excitement. But she was a trooper and we are glad that she is going to be a part of our family. We can see why Alan feel in love with her.

Jack had his 2nd birthday, and we went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate.

It's a New Year!!!

2010-01-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

We finally got enough snow to play in. It was our off year for Christmas. So we didn't all get together until the 30th. Which means the Tree was pretty much dead by the time the kids opened their presents. It was pretty quiet on Christmas, but after the 30th it felt more like Christmas is suppose to be.

Jack looks like he's not so sure he likes sledding. It took a long time to get McKay outside, and i don't think he is very happy about the whole sledding thing.

Jacks rocking horse seem to be the big hit of the night. It makes horsey sounds and moves it's head and tail.The kids had a good time sledding. even if it was only on the pile of grass from this summer. David did get the 4 wheeler and pulled them behind it. They got a bit creative and hooked the 4 wheeler to my alligator teeter totter. Hopefully it still works after the grown ups got finished riding it.

Holly re-did her bedroom. It is more mature now. I kinda like the old bright colors myself. David was a little shocked when he opened his range finder. It was a total surprise , which is hard to do. Holly Jean just loves her road kill hat that Josh gave her. He's spent alot of time and miles trying to find just the right animal. What is that Josh? Rabbit or Squirrell?

The Holidays are here

2009-12-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-10-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-08-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-06-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-05-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

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

Aloha!!!--Mahalo!!!--Wiki wiki!!!

2009-05-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

These are a few of the words we learned while in Hawaii.

Aloha, which is Hello, and everyone says it. That's the first thing they say even at the beginning of church and the congregation all says it back, and if it wasn't very energetic they say it again and the second time it is with more gusto.
Mahalo, which means Thank You! And i can not say Thank You! enough to King and Diane Husein for letting us use their beautiful condo and giving us this chance to enjoy the beautiful island of Maui. We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Wiki wiki, means hurry, hurry, or faster, faster. Which is what Yaz and Holly were saying each time i was trying to catch a wave while boogie boarding. I think i spent more time under the waves than on top. But we laughed till our sides hurt. And i never knew swimming suits could hold that much sand. Holly is still digging sand out of her scalp, so i wasn't the only one rolling around in the surf.

Just some of the highlights of the trip: Snorkeling, is so much fun, we swam with great big sea turtles and did you know that each one of their shells have a different pattern or color on them; SOOOO COOL. Lots of beautiful fish and ocean creatures. I'm so mad that i forgot my underwater camera or there would have been tons more pictures.

Boogie boarding or should i say rolling in the waves and eating sand. VERY ENJOYABLE.

Just a side note from the college kid, (that would be Holly, who just passed her anatomy class)Did you know that your body can only absorb a certain amount of salt and then it flushes the rest out. So consequently the more salt water you take in the more often you have to get rid of it. "Does anyone know where the nearest restroom is"? We asked that a hundred times. OK, i asked that a hundred times. The ocean is very salty...

The Road To Hana; i have never been on so many S curves in my life. BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. Yummy coconut ice cream made from coconut milk. Beautiful waterfalls to jump off of, delicious banana-macadamia nut bread. Hasagawas general store at the end of the road.

Oh! and did i tell you we got to visit the Garden of Eden, and seriously it had plants and flowers from all over this world. Thanks to a years past hippie/musician/environmentalist/landscape artist/botanist/and all around neat guy named Alan Bradbury whose passion is enjoying the beauties of nature and sharing it with others. We fast became his favorite people in the garden, he even shared his bug spray with us. He has a faithful companion named Dandelion.

This is the Hawaiian cell phone tower

Luau: an opportunity to enjoy the native food, music and island hospitality. Not to mention great looking toned, muscular, tanned specimens. And you thought that Hawaii only had gorgeous native women. I got news for you...

Holly learned how to do the Hula dance.

Poi is the most tasteless thing in the world, but roast pork is fantastic. I didn't like the purple sweet potatoes, i don't care what color they are they still taste icky, and Haupia (coconut pudding) ice cream is to die for. Can i just say, "I could so live their". Well maybe three or four months out of the year. I would still need to have season changes.
Last but not least, every vacation has a story, When i get the chance i will tell you about the biggest hurkin spider you have ever seen. He was the size of a big crab, and I'm not lying either. He was big enough you could see his eyes. Thanks to Holly and Yaz i had time to contemplate what it was that i was looking at. If i had had my camera i would have had proof, because it took me a few seconds to register what it was that was running towards me on the wall of the cave. Holly and Yaz of course had already screamed bloody murder and dove back out into the ocean. leaving me to snap a vivid image in my mind of what was about to eat me. I finally came to my senses and headed out of the cave, of course going under the wall where the spider was. So much for coming to my senses. Needless to say I suffered PT SS (Post Traumatic - Stress Syndrome) about an hour later when i tried to talk about and describe what i saw.

Well those were just a few of our wonderful adventures on the beautiful island of Maui. Thanks again to Yaz and Diane for a fun, Girls Only Vacation. Hang Loose :0)

Callahan's Dairy - field trip

2009-04-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Martine showed the kids The cooler that the milk goes through,right after it comes from the cows before it goes into the big storage tanks. It's amazing how that little cooler can cool the milk down so fast.

It's spring time and cows are calving. But we weren't as lucky this time when we visited the dairy. The Momma cow already delivered. But the kids were pretty excited to see the milking parlor. I was totally suprized when March wanted to milk a cow by hand. Most everyone tried it. Sam and Addison are feeling how the milking machine works on their fingers.

But of course the best part was seeing the baby calves, and trying to feed the other cows. I think they were as curious about us as we were about them.

Lyra was trying to get the calf to eat but all he wanted was to suck on her fingers.

We really are Kountry Kids Preschool, how many kids get to hold class in the back of a pickup truck at a dairy.It just goes to show that you can learn no matter where you are.

Thanks Martine for the great tour! OK boys and girls. Where does milk come from? You had better not say from the store. As March would say, "It comes from cows silly."

Tribute to Husband , Father, Grandpa and Friend

2009-04-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Jack Larell Gilbert, August 16,1923-April 10,2009

This will probably be a long one, but then it wouldn't be right if it weren't when your talking about Jack Gilbert.

You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. The sun was shinning , the birds were singing and family and friends were gathered to pay their respects to a wonderful, kind hearted man. Who loved his family more than anything. It was evident in the comments and remarks made at the funeral service that he had a tremendous testimony of our savior Jesus Christ and tried to pattern his life according to Christ's teachings. I know as well that he loved each and everyone of his Children and their spouses. He was admired by all of his grand children and they learned valuable lessons from him during his many long Chats (lectures) :o)

I know that Jason and Travis learned that just because you aren't using something(an old truck) that you shouldn't be destructive and break out all the windows. It cost them a few hours of changing water and working in Grandma's yard. But they learned a great lesson. Teaching was one of his many talents, either by word or example.It is hard to imagine him not being here for mint harvest. And i always get a little teary when i drive by the shop and i know he wont' be there trying to put something back together, either with baling wire of JB weld.

Our children had the opportunity of living just a field way from Grandma and Grandpa when they were young. If i couldn't find them out in the yard i knew they had seen Grandpa or Grandma out in the yard and headed down to visit them. I will forever be grateful for the love and example they are to our family. Jack this isn't good bye, it's See you later...

GRANDPA-- GREAT

2009-04-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Great, that's what our grand kids called Grandpa Jack. And that says it all. He is great... He was a great teacher, father, husband and friend . It just doesn't sound right Grandpa without Grandma, or Grandma without Grandpa. It has been a very hard day, but also a great time reminiscing about all the wonderful memories we have been blessed to share with him. He has left a example to live up to. It was hardest telling our children the news, because they all had the chance to be his shadow at one time or another while working on the farm. Grandpa was the epitome of an honest days work. He didn't like quiting in the middle of a job, he wanted to see it through to the end. and sometimes that end might be 12 or 1 o'clock in the morning.

We are so grateful to have the knowledge that we will all be together again. That knowledge is what will get us through these lonely and tough times. Grandpa Stand tall, you give us something to work towards. WE LOVE YOU!!!

and MISS YOU.

SPRING BREAK

2009-04-09T20:00:00.001-07:00

My first activity in Utah was going to the festival of colors. It is a religious tradition that the Hindu's celebrate the beginning of spring or new life. They have a celebration where they perform different dances in traditional costumes, and a band plays music, religious hymns. Which they were pretty upbeat songs. They have traditional India culture types of food. There was a llama petty zoo . The llama symbolizes something to do with the Hindu religion, but I'm not quite sure what.

The funnest part is when the celebration starts by burning a demon, once the demon is on fire the celebration begins where you have all different colors of powdered chalk in bags and you throw it on those around you, hence the festival of COLORS. There were probably 2 to 3 thousand people there. We were right in the middle of the crowd. Pretty close to the demon.For about 5 minutes there is so much chalk dust in the air that you could hardly breath. I was trying real hard not to lose it. Since i am extremely claustrophobic, but i was pretty proud of myself. I did OK. We met up with a friend of Holly's, Adam Channer. And also Alan's close friend Molly Flynn. It was actually more like a rock concert, minus the hard rock. There was some what of a mosh pit, where people were body surfing. i actually got asked if i wanted to do it, but i of course declined. not that i wasn't tempted. but i could just see the headlines in our community paper. " 5o something Preschool teacher killed while body surfing." That would be the last time David let me go on spring break by myself. It really was quite fun and interesting.

group shot before the festival begins. Group shot after the festival.

And we tell our kids, they need to be good. It was really a kick.
Holly, Me and Aubri

There were at least a couple thousand people there. Totally Insane.

Our Road trip to Utah for spring break was a lot of fun. We had Fern who went with us to visit her Brothers, David, Tad, and her sister Gladys and a bunch of nieces , and also some of Lovell's family. She was a real trooper in helping keep Jack ( baby) occupied. He is just like any other kid, give him a phone and he can be on it for hours. he looks like he actually knows what to do with it.

Birthday

2009-04-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

WOW! it has been a whole month since i blogged last. Things have been extremely busy. First off we got to go and celebrate McKay's 2nd birthday. It was lots of fun. He is such a cutie. Yaz did an awesome job on the train cake as you can see by the pictures. It was almost to cute to cut up, but it was really tasty.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! McKay...We Love You

2009-04-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me for you ! I get to pick what I make for you, but it will be especially for you.**Here is the deal:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. You will receive it sometime this year.
4. You have no clue what it will be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.** The Catch
The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FABULOUS homemade gift by me!!! So come and play along.

So much sorrow!

2009-03-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

I guess i just need to put it down on paper, or something. Then maybe i will feel better. It seems like the minute that i have time to stop and think, i find myself heavy hearted and crying. It's just there has been so much tragedy and lose in this little community this past month. I just want the sun to come out and make all the heart ache go away. We have lost 4 men here in Royal, just in the past month. Some very close friends, some friends of my children and some just acquaintances, but never the less it has left families without fathers, Husbands, Dads, Brothers and friends. And it makes me want to just hug everyone and tell them that i love them, because we never know when they will be taken. We are all one BIG FAMILY...So to all my family and friends i want you to know you are important to me...and I LOVE YOU!!! So Bring out the Sun... :0)

Nothing Better ...except maybe

2009-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Well things have been quit chaotic around our house this past week or so. We had decided that after 19 years it was time to replace the carpeting in our home. I was so excited. There is nothing better than new carpet...except maybe a new baby. They both have the same features they are so CLEAN and SOFT, and they smell good :0) So here is the pictures of before, during, and after. As you can see There is a definite dirt line, where the furniture was. We decided to save a few bucks and tear up the old carpet ourselves. Craig and Angie helped. Thanks guys!

We also had a few squeaks in the floor so David decided to fix them before we put the new stuff down. I turned out to be a bigger project than we expected. I gave David a hard time about tearing the whole floor apart just for a few squeaks, but if you want a job done right just call David. I'm thankful that he is a perfectionist.

There are NO MORE SQUEAKS and we practically laid a new living room floor. J/K

We did have a little set back when i was pulling up the old carpet on the stairs. I tangled with the carpet tack strip and I LOST. i ended up having to go in and get 9 stitches in my finger. Which made it hard to move furniture.

Rudy Mendez and his partner Melly did an awesome job. They were really fun to work with and they were good sports in letting me post some pictures of them in action. If your ever need some carpet or any kind of flooring done i would gladly recommend them. They are listed under Mendez carpet installation. 509-488-0179.

Catching up!!!

2009-03-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile so i thought i had better bring my blog up to date. This is Grandpa spending some quality reading time with Sam and Caden.

The weather has finally started to think it's Springtime. We were all getting cabin fever. Angie, Jack, Sam and Caden went for a walk. It was nice enough that Sam thought she could go without shoes.

The Sweet things in life...Family, Friends & Sugar.

2009-02-16T15:36:00.001-08:00

Four generations of Gilberts. Baby Jack, Daddy Craig, Great Grandma Arlene, Great Grandpa Jack and Grandpa Gilbert (David). Slurrping noodles with friends. Addison Lawerence.

Watching your grandson have his first birthday party. and Oh! the facination with fire and frosting. One is hot and the other tastes yummy.

The thrill of getting lots of valentines in your valentine bag.

There of course is nothing sweeter than decorating a valentine cookie and then eating it.

To all those special people I LOVE...My Sweetheart David. My Children: Jason, Yaz, Heather, Josh, Craig, Angie, Alan, & Holly. My Grandkids: Hunter, McKay, Sam, Caden, Jack & the littlest Sweet thing ?

There's Still Hope!!!

2009-02-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

This morning started out a little rough. Sam and Caden were fighting over each others cereal. Caden got mad and threw his bowl of cereal and milk ALL over the kitchen. Which of course landed him in time-out, after i made him help clean it up. He was definitely not a happy camper, nor was I. But what surprised me was that while Caden was in timeout, Sam felt sorry for him and went and sat by him and consoled him. If you can be beating on each other one minute and loving the next, i guess there's still hope for the world.

Going, Going, GONE!

2009-02-03T11:41:00.000-08:00

I think That McKay must have some of Grandpa Gilbert's genes. They can fall asleep any time, and any where. He even stayed asleep while we washed his face. That's one tired boy. :0)

THERE IS CHANGE IN THE AIR

2009-01-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

Well as of Sunday David is no longer the Bishop of the Royal 1st ward. He served exactly 5 years to the day. I'm sure it is a bitter sweet feeling. I on the other hand am glad to have a little more of my husbands time and attention. He actually asked me out this week and i could choose which day was best for me. It was nice to just relax and enjoy being together without worrying if the phone was going to ring. We saw the movie Mall Cop and it was pretty funny. He started reading a book, and i haven't seen him do that for a very long time. The last five years have brought a lot of change in our lives, and a lot of that was good change. But I'm excited for some different change. WELCOME HOME, Dear!!! Well Done. Now maybe he can hit that Honey-do list full force. :0) In my dreams. He's probably thinking, now i can work more on getting the plane finished and flying this year...This is what it will look like when it's done.

This is it now!

Can you guess which nursery rhyme???

2009-01-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

This week was our nursery rhyme unit. It is one of my favorites. Probably because the Mother Goose Nursery rhymes were what my Mother read to me as a child. So it triggers happy memories for me. I also read nursery rhymes to my children, then again more wonderful memories. See how many nursery rhymes you can guess, by what we are dressed up as. The one who guesses them all first gets a suprise. Good Luck!!!

New Years resolution! Do It Or Die Trying!

2009-01-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

I've decided that maybe if i put it down in writing , so every one can see. That maybe I'll have a better chance of keeping my new years resolution. I had my yearly physical and when i got the results of my blood workup back, i had a little note from the doctor, that said my Cholesterol was on the high side. I was a little surprised since I've never had any trouble before. The note preceded to tell me that i needed to adjust my diet, exercise, and lose some weight. OR come in and get some medicine to help lower it. But he would rather me try lowering it on my own. so i have decided to get serious about it. I am trying to eat healthier and i started a more serious exercises routine. I have always been one who enjoys sports especially playing them, BUT the one sport i have never played was basketball. ( Go figure ) short and basketball don't really go together. But there is a group of ladies who play Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. They had invited me to come play with them, so i did and i have enjoyed it. of course they are all about 20 years younger and 2 feet taller than me. But they are very patient and try to teach me the game. They really are a great bunch of girls. Thanks for making feel like i am a part of the TEAM.

I also got Holly a work out tape called "Hip Hop Abs" but she left for school before it came, well i have been working out with it on the days i don't play B-Ball. Boy if you don't think that a 50+ women doing Hip Hop is a candidate for America's funniest home video's. It would probably win the grand prize. But i guarantee you all will never lay eyes on that one. It really is a lot of fun though. So here is a picture for you unbelievers, that MOM really is playing Basketball :0)

24 is back, We Love Jack Bauer!

2009-01-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

I know! I know! It's just a show. But there's nothing better than watching someone do what ever it takes to protect our country and the dirty politicians in our government. Wait a minute are you sure this isn't based on a true story? Anyways we had our annual 24 season party at Steve and Sue's place last night. Except for a few technical difficulties, the food was great and the company was even better. Thank goodness for DVR. you can skip the commercials and rewind when you didn't hear what they said. Ya got to love it...There's a certain power you feel when you got that remote in your hands.

A warm fire, and Jack Bauer, What more can you ask for? Well i guess a cute hubby to cuddle up with.

The saga continues tomorrow night!!!

Photo Shoot!!!

2009-01-12T11:11:00.000-08:00

For preschool the other day we had show and tell. Sam brought her princess dresses, that she got for Christmas. So Grandma decided to do a little photo shoot, while the dresses were here.

The red and white one matched her Snow white slippers, and the yellow Belle dress matched of course her Belle slippers. Sam is our only Princess so far, but we do have 4 handsome princes.

Here comes trouble!!!

2009-01-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

I should have seen the writing on the wall (actually the writing on the shirt) When Caden showed up this morning with this shirt on. It only went down hill from there. When i went to pick up Caden from Angie's after preschool. He was in time-out. BECAUSE he had gotten into her hand dipped chocolates and just taken a bite out of a bunch and put them back. Not a good thing to do.

Next if you notice #4 on his shirt. Well he was suppose to be taking a nap, i told him to close his eyes and i would sing little toy trains (his favorite) he said that they wouldn't close. So the next best thing was to cover them. It worked for about 2 minutes and he thought he had fooled me. But that didn't last long as you can see. I finally gave up and let him get up. But only to find him a little while later batting at my hanging snowflakes. So i would have to say that the shirt was appropriate for today. Heather on thursday- please have him dressed in an angel costume, and MAYBE he will act accordingly. J/K :0) You know what was the hardest part about today. Trying hard not to laugh at it all. You got to love that boy!!!

Christmas was awesome!!!

2008-12-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

Caden got a little bike, but he wasn't quite sure if he liked it. he just sat on it and wouldn't even move.

Holly has a new boyfriend named slick. At least i hope he's a boy. We really aren't sure of it's gender. hahaha!!!

Jack finally got the hang of tearing off the wrappings. The ornaments were just to much to resist.

McKay thought that if Grandma couldn't see his eyes he wouldn't get in trouble for touching the train. Sounds like something his dad would do. JASON!!!

We had a wonderful time this Christmas. The whole family was here. We recieved some great news. Craig and Angie are going to have another little one in June. We are just so blessed that they live close by.

I don't think i have ever seen so many presents under one tree. but there was a whole house full of us. We basically ate, played,and enjoyed the time together. Children make christmas so much more exciting. No offense Holly and Alan, you just don't quite have that total look of suprise on your faces when you wake up on Christmas morning. probably because you have already checked everything out before we all got up. RIGHT!!!

We have a Christmas tradition of getting a box of cold cereal with our socks, that way i don't have to make a big breakfast on Christmas morning, and everyone gets to taste a bunch of new cereals. It makes for a great cereal buffet.

Sam got 2 beautiful Belle dresses from Mrs. Claus (aka) Aunt Marla. The dresses were soooooo pretty. THANKS! :0) I wasn't sure she would wear them but she decided dressing up wasn't so bad. She even got some heels and a tiara.

Fern came and spent the afternoon, enjoying all the excitement of Christmas with us.

Hunter got a Where in the world is Thomas the train book and it didn't take him long to find Thomas.

Alan was the favorite uncle, The kids just love to hang out with him. especially if he helped them walk on the ceiling. You started it!!!

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. And let us not forget why we are celebrating.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

2008-12-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

The preschool kids put on their annual Nativity play, and they were wonderful. We had one angel that got stage fright, and of course it would be my granddaughter Sam. She had been so excited to be an angel and to tell the shepherd " Do not be afraid" but, Oh well she was dang cute anyways. She spent most of the time sitting on Tyree's lap ( who happen to be the narrator and chorister). Thanks! Tyree. Im so thankful she is willing and talented. The Nativity just seems to put the finishing touch on the CHRISTmas holiday. Now the festivities can begin. For truly JESUS is the reason for the season!!!

The Angels waiting patiently for the play to begin. Addison, Lyra, and Sam

Our shepherd Hayden Rasor, watching his flock...

Colin and March were wonderful as Mary and Joseph.

Christmas excitment!

2008-12-06T23:54:00.000-08:00

Jack was determined to get that carrot and eat it.
Look, there's that train again.

I got it!!! Jack was pretty fast at catching the trainI know it's in there

Hey! Where did it go?

This is why i'm so excited for Christmas...Children is what it's all about.

30 Years! Wow what a ride.

2008-12-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

David and i had the opportunity of going to Pebble Beach California to celebrate 30 years of marital bliss. OK maybe not blissful all the time, but lots of good times. Anyways thanks to Yasmine's parents who have a rental home in Monterrey, They graciously let us spend the week relaxing and seeing the California coast line, while staying in the rental. We got to see the Monterrey Aquarium which is awesome. It is amazing what is in the Ocean. Then we ate at the most fabulous restaurant on fisherman's wharf, Called the Grotto. The sea food was excellent, and the clam chowder and Calamari was to die for. The scallops and calamari just melted in your mouth. Non of that chewy stuff. Dang my mouth is watering just writing about it. Thanks to the Huseins for a fantastic meal. The desert was scrumptious. I had Creme Brule, and David had Key Lime pie.

We went window shopping at Carmel. Because that is about all you can afford to do. but it was fun. I did find an awesome toy store called Thinkers Toys, it has a ton of educational toys. needless to say i got a few stocking stuffers. We saw the infamous pebble beach golf courses. If your willing to drop a few hundred bucks (400-500)you can actually play there, but you have to book it about a year in advance. so we didn't get to experience that Aw Shucks!!!

We drove down the coast to Big Sur that's where there are big waves for surfing. We only saw a few. but i don't think it must be the time of year for surfing. The weather was not really hot just a nice 70's + This time of year is apparently the nicest time to visit Monterrey, because it is really clear and i guess they get quite a bit of fog there. It was a great place to visit. but there's no place like home.Thanks again to King and Diane for their Hospitality. And Honey, Thanks for a wonderful 30 years. Hope there will be another 30 +.

more pics of graduation

2008-11-26T01:33:00.001-08:00

Just a few more pictures of Jason's special day.

I'm So Proud

2008-11-26T00:57:00.000-08:00

I know that we are not suppose to be prideful, but Jason has just graduated from the Police Academy, and has now started his career as a policeman for the Othello police department. It makes me proud that he has chosen a profession of service and that he wants to make the world better for others. I only hope that he is careful and uses good judgement. There of course is always that underlying worry, but i know he will do his best. Congratulations Bud! We Love you...I think he looks dang good in a uniform. These are a few of the special moments at his graduation. Hunter and Yaz got to pin his badge on him. After completing the academy they get to ring the bell as one of the final acts as a recruit. They aren't allowed to smile as they are being inspected and presented. One of the highlights was his two best friends suprized him and flew in for his graduation. It was awesome because we were able to keep it a surprize for a whole month. Dang we're good. He didn't even have a clue. I have to give Yasmine and the kids a lot of credit for holding it together while Jason was away at the academy. I think it was hard , but she rarely complained. I'm proud of you also Yaz. Now on with life... Well maybe in a couple of weeks that is, Get better soon. I Love you Jason. You can come and stay at our place anytime. But next time you better be a little more careful what you eat out of my fidge. I've been know to grow things in there, such as MOLD. Bet those sausage pattys were good...YUM :0) J/K I'm sorry i just couldn't help myself.

What a week

2008-11-25T23:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know where to start. I guess it would have to be Goodbye to someone who has had a tremendous influence on my life. My Uncle Lovell. A man who is small in stature, but has the biggest heart. David and i had just left for a weeks vacation to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We got there late Monday night, only to receive a call early Tuesday morning about Lovell's passing. As sad as it is, i know that there were others rejoicing and waiting to welcome him home. As i said goodbye at the nursing home on the Saturday before we left, i told him that i was going to be gone for a little while and that i loved him, and he responded with "I've loved you for a long time". I'm so thankful for him and his great example. I was also able to give him a haircut that week. WOW! So many memories.

If that wasn't enough a couple of days later Jason ended up in the emergency room late at night with acute appendicitis and had to have surgery. He only got to spend one day on his new job as a policeman for The Othello police department. He will be recovering for a couple of weeks, so he will be here for Thanksgiving and be able to attend Lovell's funeral.

Hat Day!!!

2008-11-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

This week we were learning about the letter H. I had the kids wear their favorite hat, and i had a bunch of different hats for them to try on. We talked about how you can tell where some one is from or what type of job they have by the hats that they wear. The kids had fun trying on the hats. Colin is wearing my hat that i used when i worked on road construction.

Colin would be a great Mexican hat dancer. This hat weighs a lot. The kids did the mexican hat dance around the hat.

Caden wants to be a sailor and Gunnar will be the captain of the ship.

Bet you can't guess what he wants to be when he grows up,(Conductor of Thomas the Train)

So Hats off to you all!!!

2008-11-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

I'm a little slow at getting things on my blog. But i finally have a few minutes to update. Aweek ago my girls, Angie and Yaz went on a scrapebooking retreat to a lodge up in the mountains. It is something i look forward to. This is my third year now and it is just such a nice time to get away not worry about antything else but laughing and having a good time. I really enjoyed having Yaz and Angie there. There was quite a group from Royal this time also. You just kind of rejuvenate your creative juices, and glean great ideas from other scrapers. I was a little bummed because i got sick part of a day and spent precious time in bed instead of scrapping. But all in all i got some things accomplished. I have to say that i have the cutest grandkids, and i enjoyed their pages alot more than i did scrapping about me. I hope we get to do it again next year.

2008-10-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ok! so Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, i don't know if it's the fact that you can choose to be sombody or something else but i like it. So i got into our photo albums and took a walk down memory lane. I don't know if the kids will get a kick out of this, but i did. So you can see just how cute MY kids are. That is if i can get this thing to work right.
Top left: Craig, aka-Superman, Alan, aka-bunny rabbit, Jason, aka-lion-King of the Jungle.
Top right: Heather-Mummy, Craig-Dracula, Jason of course-Mr. Football, Alan-Cowboy, and Holly- witch/cat
Bottom left: Jason-Cowboy, Heather-Cat woman, Craig-vampire, Alan-Tweety, and Holly-Sylvester.
What i wouldn't give to go back to those days. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
LOVE YOU GUYS...

2008-10-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this one. i was doing my daily blog checks and Sam was looking at my preschool books and talking to me. I finally noticed that she had stopped asking me what i was doing. I turned around to find her totally loosing the battle to stay awake.

2008-10-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Sam is hanging on tight to her very own pumpkin that she picked out at the pumpkin patch in Othello. The preschoolers loved it. This next picture is Caden after he woke up from his nap. he has the worst bed head of anybody i know. But heather informs me that he gets it from Josh. She says Josh can be pretty scary looking in the morning. I'll have to get a picture to compare it to Cadens. Sam was trying on David's new hunting boots, and they were almost as big as her. She had a hard time walking.

Well this is kind of a random blog, but it had some cute pictures on it. I was watching Sam and Caden the other day and they wanted me to make them a tent so they are here eating their fruit snacks in a make shift tent. It worked and they were happy for a little while. Next Caden is showing off his new Texas longhorns hat that Josh brought back from Houston Texas, where he spent 3 weeks working on claims after the hurricane. He is on the catastrophy team for Farmers Insurance.

David's trip to Alaska

2008-10-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

David and his friend Dee Grimmer and a few others went to Alaska Salmon fishing. They had a good time. They caught Salmon and Crab. Saw a few bear and basically just enjoyed the great outdoors and some fresh air. Sometimes i think David would rather be with Dee, But there are days that i probably would rather spend time with my girlfriends too. I have reaped the benefits of this trip also with some delicious salmon. Their next trip was a hunting trip up into the blue mountains Deer hunting. They weren't as lucky on their hunting trip as they were on their fishing trip. They got Skunked, and came back empty handed. But i'm sure they had a good time anyways.

FALL IS HERE

2008-10-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well harvest is almost over and the last month has been very busy with preschool activities and trying to get everything ready for the inevitable WINTER. My girls( Heather, Angie, and Yaz) have been working hard at getting stuff canned for our food storage. We are so blessed to live where we have access to all this bounty. There is nothing better than looking at and eating the fruits of your labours. I actually look forward to Fall and all the beautiful colors that come with the season and it's nice to know that things will slow down a bit on the farm. The weather has still been fairly warm, so football friday's are enjoyable. And the Holidays are fast approaching. YEAH! that means kids will be home from college for a visit. I am so glad to have my family so close by. They are what makes my world go round. What more can you ask for, FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!

Oh! i have also been involved in helping our young women in the ward put together a cookbook for a girls camp fund raiser and they will be ready by Christmas. There are 450+ tried and true recipes from more than 125 different people. It should be an awesome cookbook so if your looking for a great gift idea give me a call and we will get you set up with some. our goal is to sell 400 books.

Preschool field trip

2008-09-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Preschool is in full swing and we did our annual apple orchard visit. The kids get to pick a bag of apples and we take them back to the house and make apple pie. They really like the hands on rolling the dough and especially eating the pie. Sam was pretty proud of her pie.

2008-09-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well camping is alot of work but it is so nice to just get away and relax by the fire. breath in that fresh mountain air and a little campfire smoke. We got to go camping a few days before the kids left for school. and it was fun. We mostly sat around, played some cards , ate and went fishing. speaking of fishing, i bet you didn't know that Dora the explorer was a fine fisherman. Actually the GUYS were going fishing and i wanted to go to so Josh thought he was being funny and gave me Sam's Dora fishing pole. he cut the little play bobber off and put on a real hook. of course the pole is only about 2 and a half feet long but i went fishing and guess what, after about the third cast i reeled in a keeper, a 10 inch brook trout. I was so excited i was screaming and Josh didn't believe me at first. We cooked it up and i ate it, it was quit tasty.So now you know that the size of the pole doesn't matter.

Back Home and alone

2008-09-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well summer vacation is over, i just returned from taking my kids, (Holly and Alan) back down to Provo for another year of college( Not that they need their Mom to go to college, but their Mom needs them to feel that she is needed. Does that make sense? ) It was probably a good thing that i went because Holly's apartment that was suppose to be a great place turned out to have quite a few problems with it. like no internet, no Air conditioning, no lights in the stair wells and they are on the top floor, try manuvering that at night when it's pitch black, and a vaccum that doesn't even work. It's amazing what you have to pay for these days and you don't even get what you pay for. As you can tell i'm still a little peeved.But supposedely it is all going to be taken care of. There was light on the stairs that same day after i visited with the manager. Don't get me wrong he is a very nice young man and he tried to do what he could,but sometimes you just have to be a little more forceful. needless to say i think he was happy when my 8 days were up. Their apartment is going to be quite cute when it is finished. We shopped at DI and got a entertainment center for their 1970's TV. A little polish and some scratch cover and it looked good as new. Sometimes when your around these young kids it makes me wish i could do it again. But then i snap back to reality and think. I am SOOOO glad i don't have to go through that time again. So it's back to preschool, canning, grandkids, and Ya Hoo!!! ROYAL FOOTBALL...

2008-08-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

Kids Say The Darndest Things!!!

On our return trip from taking Aubri (Holly's roomate from San Diego) back to the airport we ended up going through a pretty big storm with lots of wind, dirt and rain. While we were trying to drive through the dirt it got really thick and dark. I was getting a little nervous and commented to Heather that i could hardly see the lines on the road. When Samantha Heathers 3 year old piped up from the back seat. "What! where are the LIONS on the road? About the time we finished laughing, we came out of the dust storm into a major lightning storm. And as the sky lit up. Sam's comment was "Wow Mom! that was a pretty Sunset Flash. Oh! to be a child and see things as they do. Those are the things that make life worth living. Thanks Sam for giving me somthing to laugh about. Grandma loves you...

2008-08-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

i recieved some birthday wishes from some special people. Jason who is in the Police academy. Marla in Utah, Mary in Idaho, Heather, Josh and the kids and two of my sweet little preschoolers. Thanks! Ty and Colin. Angie also left this birthday wish on my front door

Birthday Fun

2008-08-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

i have to say that celebrating another birthday wasn't so bad after all. nothing big and fancy, just a little impromptu game night and B-day cake with the kids and Steve, Sue, and Dustin. of course as you can see by this picture, Holly and Dustin wore more cake than they ate.

2008-08-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

WOW! that year went by fast. I've decided once you reach that magical age of 25 anything after that really doesn't matter. I've been telling myself that now for the last 25+ years but every morning i look in the mirror i'm reminded that mind over matter isn't working. So i'm going to accept the fact that it's OK to be 26..."If it is to be, it's up to me" that is my motto. So i'm not going to grow old gracefully, i'm going to fight it all the way to the end...
LIFE IS GREAT even at 28. OK! OK! i'll be honest, since i can't get to heaven if i lie. LIFE BEGINS at 51, so let this party begin!!!!

2008-08-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

A Day on the lake

2008-08-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

We bought a days rental of a party barge at the girls camp fund raiser. We took the day off from farming and spent a day at the lake(Mardon Resort) it was a lot of fun just relaxing in the sun and enjoying the water. We anchored at Sampsons beach, where the kids played in the sand and enjoyed the sun and water. We had a little BBQ. it was a really enjoyable day.

2008-08-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Caden was captain of the boat for a while.

2008-08-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

Holly and Alan on the wave runner.

2008-08-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

I am new to this blog thing. it all started because i couldn't make a comment on Jason an yaz's blog, so i decided to conquer the frustration and see if i could create a blog of my own. i have mastered facebook so on to the next challenge. BLOG SPOT.