A Memorable Memorial Day

It was a typical Memorial Day as far as the weather goes ..... you know, overcast, rainy, cool! ....
It never fails!
But it was a fun day and now I'm EXHAUSTED! ........ but you know me, I'd rather blog than sleep so here goes!

I wanted CLAIRE and MOSTYN to spend some time with CADEN, SOPHIA, ISABEL and ANDREW before they leave to go back to Arizona after school lets out so ..........

I made arrangements with Jill and Mary and I was able to pick up Mostyn at his dads place and like I said it was rainy BUT I'd been promising the kids that I was going to take them to this very cool park in Meridian (Settlers) and they wanted to go RAIN OR SHINE so before going to Mary's house we stopped at the park with Mostyn and the kids played for a good hour!
Mostyn and Caden. They had a great time talking about video games, U Tube, books they have read in common ..... you name it!

The kids loved the spongy turf ...............................

And they tried out ALL the rides ..... Here's Belle on my little pony! lol

The slides were all wet but Andrew dried EVERYONE of them off and he left soaking wet !!!!

Sophia on the balance bar ......

And Mostyn actually balancing on the balance bars !

Andrew drying yet another slide and Isabel watching from the top!

Isabel just hanging around with the other 3 Amigos in the rear!

The kids absolutely LOVED the 2 big seated swings ...........

Who can resist ......................

So I even got in on the fun! (Are you surprised I even fit? Like I said ...BIG SEATED SWINGS)

They had a great time in the tire swing as well!

They were laughing so hard that a little boy by the name of Jason came over to join in the fun.

I introduced him to ALL the kids and he helped push and play with them.

After a good hour we decided we'd better get to Grandma Mary's. After all, we needed to see Claire too and we were gonna have lunch so we changed Andrew's wet pants to dry ones and headed for Boise. We stopped at Little Caesar's for a couple of pizza's and some bread sticks and then went to Na Na's house and had lunch on the deck. She had a taco salad as well as some fruit!

After lunch the boys went into Carlos office to play with some magnet toys and the computer while the girls went to Claire's room to prepare for a Fashion Show ......

Claire has grow so tall ! Look at the Stair Steps !!

1st on the Fashion Show was the purple ensemble! Very Classy!

2nd was "Pretty in Pink"

Here they are again in Ooh La La!!

The Beach ensemble!

A mixture of what was left I guess ..... lol

AND the disaster area after the models were done with their show! We skyped Jill and were able to say Hi to her and Hawkins and Scotlyn and then I had to have Mostyn home by 3PM and so after saying our goodbyes to Claire and Mary and Carlos we drove back to Meridian to drop off Mostyn and say goodbye to him then on to Kuna to drop off the McGregor kids. Andrew crashed in the car seat 5 minutes into the drive home. I finally wore him out!!

After I got back to Nampa, I stopped by the house, picked up a couple of movies and headed to Chris and Tamara's for a BBQ.

They had some friends over as well and the 5 of us had a great visit while the 3 children played.

The hamburgers were delicious and the kiddies were adorable. Mom's and Dad's are playing the "Pick Up" game here ...... lol

At around 7PM, I left and went to my friend Mary's (a different Mary from the previous Mary) and dropped off a movie for her as well. Came home, cleaned up the house, took a shower, talked to Princess and then Tony on the phone and NOW I'M GOING TO put this tired old woman to bed! I'm on my own at work tomorrow so I open and close and I need some rest!

I was a great day though and I hope you all had a great Memorial Day too!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY !!

REMEMBER .....

It is
the VETERAN
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the politician,
who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag and it is the VETERAN who
serves under the Flag.

Thank you to all the VETERANS who have given us these freedoms.

CURB APPEAL !!

My bushes out front are starting to bloom and they are beautiful!! They are called Snowbound Sparia. I love them! They are only in bloom in the spring and then green the rest of the summer but it's been so cool that they are kinda taking their time blooming .......

but I don't mind cuz I can enjoy them that much longer !

The lilac bush is beautiful too and soooooo fragrant!

The house looks pretty darn good from the street! It has a nice curb appeal with all the plants in full bloom!

Just thought hubby would like to see.

I love you Tony!

AM I A HOARDER ???

I've caught a view episodes of the show HOARDERS and have become a bit parinoid. In some ways I think I am one ! Although I think I'm an organized hoarder and NOT as serious as the ones on the TV program but I think I have some of those tendencies!

SOoooooo ..... I've started cleaning house!

I'm going to have a garage sale with my friend Kim so have started putting things aside for that.

The last couple of days, I've been going through mine and Tony's pictures and have been separating them for all the kids. That has actually been kind of fun but I told Tony that as parents, I think we are all the same. We have zillions of pictures of the eldest child and a lot of the 2nd and a little less of the 3rd and even less of the 4th and hardly any of the 5th and so on and so on ...... I found very few of poor Phillip and Deedra and what I did find of the younger children (mine included) had a lot of other kids with them. SORRY KIDS! lol Just a note to you ..... Don't do what we did. Take a lot pictures of your younger kids and make sure a lot of them are pictures of them by them selves as well as with their siblings.

Anyway, that was a fun cleaning project and I think the kids will get a kick out of the pictures. I can sure see a lot of resemblances of the grandchildren in their parents!

My next project will be my craft room! WOW! That's gonna be a job!

It doesn't look this bad ................
But if I don't get to it soon it will !! ha!
Actually, my pantry is gonna be looking like this if I don't get to it pretty soon. That will have to come after the craft room is done! ONWARD AND UPWARD TO RECOVERY! lol

PS: Just so you know ..... this isn't my house ..... it's off the INTERNET!

I just don't ever ever want to get to this point!

BREAKFAST WITH LAURELS & DATE WITH AN OUTLAW

Saturday, 6:45 AM is way tooooo early to have to get up ....................

BUT, I did just so I could kidnap a Laurel and take her to the church for Breakfast and a welcome into Relief Society partae!!

I picked up Ivie Stucki and when her mother woke her up she looked at me like ...
"ARE YOU CRAZY ??" Anyway, it was very nice and the girls had a good time. The Relief Society President from the singles ward and her 1st counselor were there as well as our dear Bishop Glaettli. We had a wonderful breakfast of Quiche, biscuits and fresh fruit!

We were able to kidnap 5 Laurels and here they are ! Recognize any of them??

I thought they all looked pretty darn good for being pulled out of bed. They were all in their pajama's, no makeup ...... but when your 18 you can pull it off!

After breakfast, some of us stayed to clean the church. Debbie Edge and myself cleaned the kitchen ..... top to bottom, fridge, ovens, floors, the whole enchilada!!!

After that was done, I took Ivie and her little sister and brother home and then I went home and got ready for my date with the outlaw!!

I met Larry and Zella Hendricks at the theater to watch the New ROBIN HOOD movie!

It was different from the others I've seen but I did like it. A little like Brave Heart but it had some light moments too.


Now, it's raining and I'm home and ready for a nap! I'm tired!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACI~

I went to Kuna after work today to wish Traci a Happy Birthday! They had just returned from going to dinner with some friends and shortly after I got there the home teachers came ........ hence the pictures of the strangers to all of us ...lol
I didn't really get a picture of Traci opening her gift but I got Sophia (and one Home Teacher and his granddaughter)

Isabel and Andrew with the "Ever Present Binky" And Traci and Jason in the rear!

I popped the Binky out of Andrew's mouth and he gave me a cheesy smile and then grabbed the Binky and popped in right back in!

And Caden and Isabel clowning around as I was leaving!

It was a short visit but I enjoyed seeing the kids and I got home taught too!

What more can a mother ask for! lol

I BLOG BECAUSE .... I CAN !

Hey Tony, my dear! Check out some of the lovely things growing in our yard!
My baskets that I planted are really starting to take off! I'll take some pictures when they are hanging over the sides ( in a few weeks)

The Iris are in bloom and so I wanted you to see them before the flowers die and they are just green! Just beautiful!

Another hanging basket under the eve of the house !

And I bought myself a Fuchsia for Mother's Day because I felt I deserved it! lol

It's from you OK??

And this is our blackberries gone wild ..........

As you can see the weed killer I sprayed on the grass up against the fence didn't kill it!

I must have to use a heavier strength.

The lilac bush is in bloom and it smells sooooooo good!

Anyway, just thought you'd like to see.

CONGRATULATIONS COLBY !!

A post for Tony ~

You can be very proud of Colby (which I know you are) He graduated today from BSU ...
(OF COURSE ..... where else ?)

MAGNA CUM LAUDE !! It was a beautiful day. Weather was Perfect!! Deedra and I rode over to Boise with Mom and Dad and the ceremony was actually very good ..... (you know some graduations can be very boring but this one wasn't)

Afterwards we met on the campus grounds and congratulated Colby on a job well done!!
Here he is getting a BIG HUG from his wonderful wife Krista and his gramma and sister's looking on!

A proud wife and mother!

Nephi was so cute!! He kept saying "Dad, you graduated!"

The graduate and his professor (who couldn't say enough good things about Colby! ) He was very nice and personable and boasted about Colby's abilities! It was awesome!

A proud Grampa and the graduate!



Afterwards we went home and later in the day we all met up at ANN MORRISON PARK for a family picnic and graduation celebration.

Krista and Rachel were off buying the sub sandwiches and here's some of the hungry crowd awaiting their arrival.

I was fortunate to get Claire and Mostyn to come with me. They played some catch ball with Uncle Nate and Uncle Colby.

It was so good to see the kids and I think they had a great time playing with the cousins on the Norton side.

Derek and Rachel and family drove in from Salt Lake on Friday night. It was great to see them.

The kids are growing up so fast! Sarah is becoming a real beauty!

YAY! The sandwiches are here!! It didn't take us long to make short order of the food!

AND JACK LED THE PACK BY SHOWING US HOW IT WAS DONE !! lol

The Three Amigos!! Blake, Mostyn and Claire!

(Claire got glasses a few weeks ago!)

And a family shot of our Utah Kids! They are so cute! (Even Derek and his cheesy smile!)

It was a great day! The only thing missing was Tony and the Stewart kids! .................

and Phillip and Nycole and Tammy and Chris had another commitment ...............

Honestly, it will be a miracle if we can get us all together sometime!

We won't quit trying though!

Anyway, Congrats to Colby! We are ALL proud of you joining the ranks of ALL our College graduates!

ALL OUR KIDS ARE AWESOME !!!