ISABEL'S 7TH BIRTHDAY AND WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE ......

Monday the 28th was Isabel's 7th birthday. Her parents spent ALL DAY at the house with the adjusters as well as workers who were taking out things that needed to be cleaned or thrown out. Her mother called me around 6PM to say that they wanted to take Isabel to dinner and did I want to meet up with them after they all took a shower and cleaned the soot off!

Well duh? OF COURSE~

Isabel decided she wanted to go to "Chuck a Rama". I was on my way and then I got a call saying that she decided "On the Border" was better.

"On the Border" it is........



Here's the "BIRTHDAY GIRL" with the biggest taco ever and a smile to match!

After we ate, Caden and Sophia got a little sundae. It came with their meal. It sure put a smile on Sophia's face!
Ben...... not so much ! ha ha

He must be bummed cuz he didn't get one with his meal ...That or he's thinking about the date he has for Tuesday night! lol

And the "Birthday Girl" got a brownie and ice cream,

drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrup!

Yummy!

She looked pretty cute under that big ole sombrero!

Here she is opening her gifts. YAY...." BRAT" lotions and bath gels! What every little seven year old girl wants! (SERIOUS)

The pants didn't draw near the big smile.....lol

It was fun spending the evening with the kids and their parents and their Uncle Ben and Gramma and Grampa McGregor. It's been a little hectic around the ole house in Kuna so they needed a break. Tonight, they are going to spend the night at a hotel and let the kids swim as a continuance of Isabel's Birthday celebration!

On the other hand...... I've been trying to help out as much as I can with the fire damage and the work that needs to be done.

I volunteered for "Laundry Duty"........LOL

It's definitely keeping me out of trouble and I'm not at a loss for something to do!

I have to admit, she gave me "ALL" laundry detergent and "Downey" fabric softener and my house smells SOOOOOOOOOO good!

I'm gonna have to quit being so cheap and buy some of this good smelling stuff.

Although she got hers couponing so better yet,

I need to learn how to coupon.

A DIFFERENT SORT OF CHRISTMAS .....2009 FOR TONY'S ENJOYMENT

Well, this is mainly for Tony so he can enjoy some of this year's Christmas.
The plan was to visit each family (That lives here) and deliver their gifts because I was going to be spending Christmas Eve and day with Traci and her family.
I started out on Monday the 21st and went to Deedra's, Tammy's and Melissa's homes.
Nikki and Garrett were excited to get their books. Well, for sure Garrett was.....check out than grin !!

Well duh! It's a Buzz Light Year book!.....

HIS FAVORITE! Little Jack had some help from mommy opening up his gift. He's gettin the hang of it! Next year will be a whole different story! No more help from mommy, you can be sure!

Nikki loves Tinkerbell and it looked like she was reading every word on the back of her book.

OK, maybe she was looking at every picture!

Next I went to Tammy's. Got a picture of Chris with the "Infamous labeler" that you ALL got. Sorry, we're not very original but we liked ours so thought you all would like one!

I tried to get all clothes for the kiddies but my favorite store has dwindled in supplying me with kiddie clothes so all I got was an outfit for Katie. To be honest, Katie would probably have liked the book better! lol..................

A little big but not bad!

Next stop was Melissa's and I have to apologise to Nate and Blake because they were out of town so I missed seeing them. I should have planned a little better.

Alivia posing with her new Princess book!

Hey, it matches her jammies! Yeah, I meant to do that!!

Ellie was pretty happy with her scrapbook too. We sat and read about all the things she can do in it!

Oohhhh, I Love to buy those girlie things!

I made all the families coaster's to go with the labeler. Here's Melissa showing off hers.

Hey Tony, doesn't Melissa look great?

She's lost around 18 pounds now and gained a lot of muscle!!

On Tuesday night, I ventured out in the cold and met up with Stillman and Michelle. Their home was so nice and cozy. Here they are with the "infamous labeler" ....... lol

Here's Jayden and Alex with their books! I got Alex one about the "Transformers" and Stillman said I nailed it on that one! Alex LOVES Super Hero's and especially the Transformers.

Pat myself on the back! lol

Hey Babe, they know us pretty darn good too! They surprised us with a Clue game staring none other than OUR FAVORITE SUPER HERO......ta da.....JACK BAUER!

How nice! We love it Stillman and Michelle! Thanks so much!

Wednesday night the 23rd, I drove into Boise and went to RC Wiley to see Phillip! I'd gone in a couple of weeks earlier and had already given him and Nycole their gift but I wanted to see him and get a picture for Tony! Check it out.....he even had a tree !! AND ........

judging by that smile, he had a pretty good month!

I wanted to see if one of his co-workers would take a picture of the two of us but Phillip said he could do it. ha, ha ........ this is what we got, not bad!

My last stop before Christmas was to Colby and Krista's apartment. They had a little tree like I did this year! Very Cute!!

All went well and they also liked their gifts .

Colby and Krista knew that I'd purchased a Blu-Ray for Tony for Christmas so they surprised us with a Blu-Ray DVD of "Wolverine Origins".... Cool, huh Tony! Now we have 3 Blu-Ray movies!

Thank you Colby and Krista! Well, here are three of the McGregor kiddies on Christmas morning! As you all know, they had a fire in their home on the 24th.... So much for having Christmas at their home. Santa's so smart! He found them at my place and placed their gifts under my little Coke Tree. Good thing I had it up! lol

The best thing under (OK beside) this tree for this ole Gramma was those little kiddies! Best present ever is to have ALL my family safe and unharmed!

Merry Christmas Tony!

I love you !!

THANK HEAVEN FOR BLESSINGS !!

Most of you have heard that Traci's house caught on fire this morning ! Yes, the day before Christmas!! All I can say is "Thank you Heavenly Father for keeping this family safe"..... Everyone is fine.
She had two trees up (both fake) and they melted a bit from the heat and some of the ornaments melted too but the fireman said if the tree's had been real, the heat would have made them implode and they most likely would have lost the entire home.

It's hard to see in the picture's but there was soot all over EVERYTHING!! You can hardly see the pictures through the glass and the ones that didn't have glass lost their color.

The fire originated in the kitchen. A "Pop Tart" in the toaster to be exact. Traci had just put a couple in for Andrew and then she and her friend Mary left to go to the store. Sophia smelled something and saw the wall on fire. She had the sense to tell Caden and he immediately got all the kids out of the house and even had the smarts to shut the door when they left! They had a cell phone and ran for the field and called their mom. She was only a mile down the road. She called 911 and turned around and got home before the fire trucks.The kitchen is toast! The fire went up the wall and across the ceiling.

The laptop was on the kitchen table and it got so hot the keys melted. Traci is afraid she may have lost all of her pictures.

This is the wall the fire started on. The stove and Fridge and microwave have been taken out.

The paint literally peeled off the cub boards.

So much for that paint job !!

More burnt offerings ! The kids were making a comment that someone had made them some really good cookies and candy and it was ruined. Maybe this is it !

A phone and a remote and some movies, and a pencil sharpener melted .................

The fridge, or what's left of it....

As well as the oven ...............

The ceiling and wall in the kitchen ............

It is such a mess but I am so grateful that everyone is safe and unharmed. We have our work cut out for us in the next few days just washing clothes. The smoke damage is incredible! A disaster cleanup company came and took some of their things but Traci doesn't want to spend too much insurance money on things she and I can clean ourselves. We'll go in tomorrow and take out things that are salvageable that she wants.

This will definitely be a "Christmas to Remember" .................

DID YOU HEAR ?? HUNDREDS GATHER TO PROTEST GLOBAL WARMING .....

Ha ha ha ...... I just can't help myself with this Snowman Humor !!!
I just love it !!

ELLIE'S 7th BIRTHDAY

Today we celebrated Ellie's 7th birthday. It's actually on the 24th but you know how those "Christmas Birthdays" are .....
Melissa wanted to make it special so those of us who could met at the GOLDEN CORAL and had lunch. I sat beside Jack and he was sure enjoying those fresh baked rolls!

This is Ellie and her birthday friends. Nikki, Alivia, Blake (in the back....as if ya didn't know) and Ellie in the middle of her two friends. Sorry I can't remember their names.

That might be Tonto in the far back .... lol

The GOLDEN CORAL CHORUS GROUP made Ellie stand on her chair while they sang to her.

Opening her presents. She got a dress and leggings from her mom and dad and she looks like she was pretty darn excited about it!

What can I say ............ ALL GIRL !

Ellie and Alivia just got their ears pierced and they were thrilled to show off their pretty earrings to everyone there!

Livie was just as excited about the many tubes of lip gloss as Ellie was.

Tony and I got Ellie a Princess book with all kinds of dolls inside and stickers etc.

I THINK SHE LIKED IT ...................

AND HERE IS THE "BIRTHDAY PARTY" ............ GIRLS ARE SO CUTE !!