HAPPINESS IS BEING MARRIED TO YOUR BEST FRIEND

SHORT VISIT FROM SCOTT .... HEY, I'LL TAKE WHAT I CAN GET!!

2012-01-22T16:58:00.001-08:00

Scott flew in this past weekend to check on a job with "IMMIGRATIONS" ..... He had a lot of people to see and not a lot of time but we were fortunate enough to have him come out Saturday evening. He spent the night with us and went to church with us on Sunday.

After church we invited Art and Lynn to come have a quick bite with us before Scott headed back to Boise to see his former Bishop and some friends in his old ward. He went by his home in Meridian to check on things, got to have dinner with his dad and Traci and family and spent a little time with Mac and Phil (his best friends) as well as see us while he was here.

It was fun to see him and just hope and pray that things work out for him and his family. As much as I want him here, I'm praying that whatever happens will be in the best interest of his job and his family!

Oh !!! AND I NEED A HAIRCUT IN THE WORST WAY! lol

NOW THAT CHRISTMAS IS OVER .......

2012-01-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

I'm finally able to put up the lovely wreath that Heather made me for Christmas!!
I LOVE IT!! It goes well with the color of my door!

DON'T YA THINK??

NIKKI & DEEDRA'S BIRTHDAYS

2012-01-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit behind on posting this because I have dementia!! Ha ha .... been forgetting my camera lately
(NOT LIKE ME TO BE WITH OUT MY CAMERA!!)
so I had to get pictures from Deedra.

While Curtis was home on leave we celebrated Nikki's birthday on January 12th with the Butterfield Grandparents, Great Gramma Port and Great Gramma and Grampa Norton . Nikki chose a delicious Angel Food Cake with whipped cream and fresh fruit!
YUM!Here she is blowing out
ALL EIGHT CANDLES!!

It was fun to be with her on her special day. Then on Monday the 16th, we met with the Butterfields & Norton's again as well as Nic and Celeste Butterfield at
MONGOLIAN BBQ to celebrate Deedra's birthday!

Deedra's birthday was actually the next day and Tony and I thought we were meeting to have a last hurrah for Curtis because he left to go back to Afghanistan on Wednesday the 18th but alas it was for Deedra .... oops! We delivered a package a day later! lol

YAY!! Leftover's for lunch tomorrow!!

Curtis's dad has a sense of humor! lol

AND ...... I had to laugh at Mom ..... she had cilantro in her teeth! lol

And Great Gramma Port has a piece of food in her mouth!!
Gotta love SENIORS!!

We're pretty funny!! (and yes, I'm included in there!! )

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT!

2012-01-16T12:34:00.001-08:00

Our grand children continue to grow up!! Nikki is our 10th grandchild to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!
Last Saturday the 14th, we attended her baptism. It was a very special time for her. Her daddy has been working in Afghanistan and he came home for a couple of weeks to be with her (and Mommy and the boys of course) on her special day!

Grandpa and Grandma Butterfield and Great Gramma Port were there as well. Nikki gets her middle name (Orajean) from her Great Gramma Port.

And of course Tony and I wouldn't have missed this special time with Nikki either.

Nikki with her Mommy and Daddy. She was so well behaved and took it all so seriously (as she should have) and we were all proud of her and her new commitment to follow our Savior.

She was very proud of the new dress that Gramma Butterfield bought for her. She also made her the pretty flower in her hair and the necklace and bracelet. She let Nikki borrow the pearl earrings. Nikki looked as pretty as a princess!

Great Grandpa and Gramma Norton were in attendance too.

Nikki's baptism was very well attended by Norton's and Butterfields!! Her Bishop's wife was kind and patient enough to take a picture of the lot of us!!

It was a great day for Nikki and .................................

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT !

TUESDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES !

2012-01-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Tony suggested we go to the movie last night and so we called Curtis and Deedra to see if they wanted to join us. They were wanting to see
"GHOST PROTOCOL" as well and so we made it a date ..... well, kinda! We met at the theater! lol

Tony and I hit Costco for a quick bite as soon as I got home from work and then went to the theater to await the reunited couple! (for a while anyway!)

The movie was AWESOME in my opinion!! Stillman was right when he said your guts were in a knot from beginning to end!! WOW!! All I can say is he nailed it!!
It was a great action movie with some good humor!
LOVED IT!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE !!

2012-01-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening we went to Stillman and Michelle's to celebrate Michelle's birthday. I put myself in the rocker to visit with Donna (Michelle's mother) and then Stillman set up a place for Michelle to open her gifts and it was beside me (somewhat) so I gave the camera to Tony and told him he would be the photographer because he was in front of them ! I specifically said "NO PICTURES OF ME" ................ Here's the 1st one!! lol
He really listens to me! lol

Stillman brought in the cake and lit it up! Alex and Jayden helped Michelle blow out the fire!
They've cut down on the candles since the smoke alarm went off at Stillman's birthday! lol

Michelle opening her gifts!

Here's one from Stillman and the boys! I LOVE IT!!

Such a cute shirt! I would totally wear this one (IF IT COMES IN EXTRA LARGE!!)

We played games and visited after eating cake and ice cream!! It was an enjoyable evening !
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!~

2011-12-31T22:12:00.000-08:00

Today was filled with lots of fun and I accomplished a lot! I got up at 7:45 and headed to Traci's to learn how to make some Disney scrapbooks. I was at her house till noon and I got a good start on ONE ! I'm making 4 of them for Scott and Jill's kids and Traci and her girls made theirs. They are ADORABLE if I do say so myself!!

CHECK OUT A FEW PAGES!!
I'm far from done but you'll get the idea ......

I need a 6 for this page but I'll add it soon................

Cute huh? Can't wait to finish!

I've got a lot to do but I was happy to learn how to do these.

I left her house at noon and hurried home to clean up and then Tony and I picked up Mom and Dad Norton and we went to see the new Sherlock Holmes!

It was good and Tony and I enjoyed it but we knew Dad wouldn't like it .........
AND HE DIDN'T ...... No big surprise!!
After the movie we did a little shopping for some things we needed for Italian Soda's and then we went to the OUTBACK for dinner. Bob and Joyce met us at the restaurant and we had a nice dinner together. After dinner, Bob and Joyce took Art and Lynn home and Tony and I went again to the store to get one more thing for the soda's that we were not able to get earlier. While out, Tony bought me the car of my dreams!!! I couldn't believe it !!!!
I have been wanting a Mini Cooper for EVER!! I love that little car and we found a deal we couldn't pass up!! I was so excited to get back to Art and Lynn's to show them!!
CHECK THIS OUT ......................

I finally got the MINI COOPER I've been wishing for!!

Pretty dang cute huh?? Not the color I would have selected BUT we couldn't pass up the price!! LOL !

After all the excitement of my NEW CAR, we settled into a few rousing games of UNO and MEXICAN TRAIN!!

Real rousing huh? We all look like we are about to pass out!! lol

SO it was time to break out the ITALIAN SODA'S!! That got the party started! lol

Good times!! We actually didn't stay up long enough to bring in the NEW YEAR..... we are all old and we left around 11PM to go home and hit the sack!

Our Home Teachers had dropped off a package while we were out and about! A bottle of SPARKLING GRAPE JUICE, 2 glasses and some noise makers ...................
so we brought in the New Year in style! There was nothing in the cup but you get the picture!!

Now it's that time of year again to make resolutions and all I can say is :
I hope you see less of me next year!! lol

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2012 be better than the last!

MONDAY THE 26TH ... LAST DAY OF THE LONG WEEKEND!

2011-12-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Monday the 26th was the last day of a wonderful 4 day weekend!! We had a very
MERRY CHRISTMAS with family and friends!

We started off the day by going to the store to get wrapping paper for next year! lol Got some great deals and all foil paper!! LOVE IT!!
Tony also bought me a mouse and a carrying bag for my laptop and I bought him ramps for his truck. lol
We then went to pick up our friends, Larry and Zella Hendricks and we
went to see the movie
WAR HORSE!

It was FANTASTIC!! I highly recommend it and we will definitely be buying this one!! It really was a great movie!! BRING KLEENEX!!

After we dropped Larry and Zella off we went to the church to find a couple of things that were left there by the kids from our Christmas dinner.
We then drove to Meridian and used the gift certificate we got from Chris and Princess at Deseret Book!
I bought the 3 WISE MEN to go with the Nativity (Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus) that I got last year!
I LOVE IT !!

I asked the lady at the store if they are planning on coming out with a new piece each year and she said she thought they were but she wasn't sure. WOW!! If they do, I will have to find a special place for it BECAUSE ....................... they will be mine! lol

Thanks to all our family, near and far, for making this year such a wonderful memory in our Book of Life! You are all precious and special to us!
HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS. WE LOVE YOU ALL!!

CHRISTMAS DAY 2011

2011-12-25T22:25:00.000-08:00

Tony bought me a tripod for my camera on my Birthday in September and we hadn't used it till last night! It was so awesome that I decided to set it up and record our entire Christmas morning together. We got up, got ready for church, got the turkey going, had some breakfast and then I set it up ! Here's the tree ...........

Testing, one two three! ..............

YAY, it works! lol So here we go .......

My dear sweet husband got me a laptop! I'm pretending to act surprised because he got it for me on the 10th of December and I helped pick it out! lol And he got socks??? Whoopee!

Thank you sweetie! I LOVE IT! BUT I LOVE YOU MORE!

He gave me three new movies I wanted too and I gave him a new tool and a car wash gift card for his new pick up truck!

Just what we need ...... a box of cookies!! lol

It was a lovely Christmas, we enjoyed getting up late and relaxing before church.

One more for the road! lol
We had a beautiful one hour Sacrament Meeting celebrating the birth of our Savior through song and a couple of talks and one story! It was a really nice meeting. Tony was the narrator in the Choir's Cantata (which we both sang in as well)
After church we went home and got things ready for our Family Dinner which would be at 4PM.
We had scheduled the church for the party and it was nice to be able to all sit together at tables and the little ones all ran and played with some of their new toys!

Deedra with baby Lehi and his parents, Krista and Colby! Michelle in the background!

Isabel, me, Traci, Tammy and Deedra, Tony and Andrew (I mean Captain America) in the front!

I had the tripod all set up and then got so busy eating, I forgot to take a picture till we were all done!! lol (I lose all sense of reality when food is involved! lol) Anyway, I got a lot of us in this shot. Most of the kids had taken off to play. There were 28 of us and we had 3 visitors (friends of Deedra's and a friend of Callie's) drop in to say hi. It was fun!

After eating and visiting, Traci and the family went home to Kuna to have a dance contest with Sophia's new
Wi DANCE. Tony and I took our leftovers home and cleaned up the kitchen and then went to Stillman's to play games for a bit. Some were watching a Christmas movie .....

And some played games ..........

And some played more games! lol This is Jayden showing me his Angry Birds blanket! So cute!
It was a fun day.
One more day off and then back to the Ole Grind! Monday, Tony and I are going to get me a Laptop computer bag and he gets some ramps for his Pickup!
MORE WEEKEND TO COME ...................... UNTIL THEN ............... SEE YA AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS EVE 2011

2011-12-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

This year we loaded up the
NEW DODGE SLEIGH and made the rounds delivering to all the good boys and girls (at least the ones we could make it to in a 5 hour period) lol

We made our 1st stop at Mom and Dad Norton's and took a picture of the 4 of us by their tree. Then we all left and headed to Kuna!

We stopped at Jason and Traci's and exchanged gifts and they shared some delicious homemade chocolates and brownies with us and after a nice visit we jumped in our
DODGE RAM SLEIGH again and headed to Meridian.

2nd Stop was at Colby and Krista's apartment. We had to laugh at Nephi. He didn't want to open his gift but was happy to help his baby brother and mom and dad. When they had opened theirs he decided to open his. lol

Back on the road again and back to Nampa for our 3rd stop at Nate & Melissa's. It was Ellie's 9th birthday so we gave her a Birthday gift before giving the family their gifts.

After a nice visit with the Cleaver's we got a photo and headed down the road to Deedra's.

We had planned about a four hour evening and we were running behind by quite a bit when we arrived at Deedra's but we got our picture by her tree and got to watch the kiddies open their gifts as well as their new pajamas from their mommy!
We got a call from Stillman wondering when we were going to get to their home. The boys were needing to get to bed! After all, lol Someone important was coming that night! (and it wasn't us!! lol)

So we were off again for our 5th stop (well technically, 6th counting Mom and Dad Norton)

The boys were excited to show us their new MARIO PJ's and back packs!

Our last stop was at Chris and Tammy's. It was fun to be able to see the kids all open their gifts from us and to actually get some good pictures! We enjoyed spending some time with each family and wishing them a
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We love all our kids and hope they all had a Wonderful Christmas!

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS !

2011-12-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

Tony and I worked Thursday and now we are off for a long 4 day Christmas weekend! YEHAW~!!
We started off the fun filled four days by going to Mom and Dad's Thursday night to watch the BRONCO'S play in the MAACO BOWL in Las Vegas! Colby and family, and Tammy and family and Deedra and family were there as well to watch Kellen win his 3rd out of 4 bowl games! It was a great send off to a remarkable Quarterback and a class act young man! We will miss him!!

Friday, we slept in and then did a few last minute preparations for Christmas. We made plans with Deedra to go to the Dollar Showing of none other than
PUSS & BOOTS.............
She had to take Jack to a Dr. appointment in the morning and then she went home and fed the kids lunch and then picked us up .

The show was so cute!! The kids loved it and so did we. There were some parts that were so funny I was laughing so hard I teared up!! Nikki asked her mother if she would buy it when it comes to the store. After the movie, Deedra took us to Art and Lynn's because I had left my purse and she had left a movie. I tried to get a picture of the 4 of them but Nikki said she was too tired to get out of the car.

I got one of Deedra and the boys and then she took us home.

After Deedra dropped us off, Tony and I got in our car and headed to the store. Tony needed some AIR BOURNE and we wanted a dessert for tonight. The town was buzzing with people doing their last minute shopping and it took us a lot longer than we anticipated. We finally got home and we set the table for our little
"GET TOGETHER" we had planned with Mom and Dad Norton and Bob and Joyce Haverfield!

It looked so pretty. Mom brought some homemade Turkey and Noodles and fresh asparagus. Joyce brought a relish tray and we provided Peppermint and Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream.
It was really a good meal and we had fun visiting and watching the video that Scott made Tony and me for Christmas.

After dinner we cleared the table and then the real fun began! .............................

We played "MEXICAN TRAIN". A new game Tony and I learned with our neighbors! It was so much fun and we laughed and laughed!
A great couple of days and a good start to our Christmas weekend!

MORE TO COME!!

I GOT MY OWN OFFICE ...... YIPPEE!!

2011-12-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

Remember all the heating and cooling problems we've endured over the past in our tacky little office ? Well, no more!! Nancy and I took it upon ourselves to change things up a bit. We use to be together on the side of the building which was called the
"SUN ROOM" ...... It was exactly that! Too hot in the summer (especially when the air conditioner went on the fritz) and too cold in the winter (and yes ...... the heater went out his winter too!) After a horrendous heating bill, the owner had someone come in and remedy the problem, however it is still cool sitting by the windows because they are so old and outdated so we moved all the testing to the SUN ROOM and we took over the two offices on the side of the building that is carpeted and toasty warm!

It looks sooooooo much better and more professional!
This is the SUN ROOM where we use to be .......
It is now the testing area!!

Such an improvement!!

And this is the old testing room and it is MY office now!

It's carpeted and private and I'm loving it!

It was very bright when I took these pictures in the middle of the day. I am going to get some blinds for the two windows right behind the desk.

I have a section at the front of the room where I have a couple of NICE chairs for interviewing!

However that changed!! Nancy moved another desk in here which she is at temporally, until she moves to the back office. The desk will remain however but I'll still be alone.

I have a credenza and Nancy put the main printer on it. NO PROBLEM!!

I had some extra material at home and I decided I needed some curtains on the windows above the credenza because they get the afternoon sun and I can't see my computer!! I am also going to make a valance for the windows on the right of the desk ...

It's nice up until 3PM and then I can't hardly do a thing on the computer so ...............

Whala! ...................

Once the blinds are up and the valance is done (probably after Christmas lol) it will be quite homey.

OUR WEEKEND !!

2011-12-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a rush (as is usual this time of year!!) Friday I had to open and close as Nancy took the day off. That puts me home about 5:35 IF I get out of the door right at 5:30 and IF the traffic and lights are decent and cooperating! We had the Missionaries coming for dinner and they wanted to eat at 5:30 because of other engagements. I had asked my friend Mary (who is struggling) to come as well. That meant I had to put Tony in charge of dinner and he came through with flying colors (as usual)
He picked up two pizza's from
"PAPA MURPHY'S" and they were more than enough. As a matter of fact he and I had some Sunday and finished them off last night (Monday) for dinner! lol Mary brought a wonderful Fruit pie with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and a cream cheese base! IT WAS MAGNIFICENT!!
The Elder's were awesome. One was from California and one from Africa! We shared dinner and they shared a wonderful message with us.
It was fun to have them and to see Mary, whom I haven't seen in a while.

Saturday, I got up and started to make cookies for the Young Women for Sunday. We won't have class this coming Sunday because it's Christmas so Lori (my 2nd Counselor) got them all a lip gloss and I made them cookies.
While I was baking, Traci, Sophia, Isabel and Andrew stopped by to drop off a plate of chocolates she had made for us. MAN, WERE THEY GOOD!! I can't believe how much she gets done. She has been sewing & crafting DISNEY shirts, skirts, dresses,bows, backpacks etc like crazy for her kids and Scott's kids for their trip to DISNEY WORLD the end of January!! THEN she made 60 POUNDS of chocolates!!! I asked her how on earth she gets so much done ...... she laughed and said "my house needs some serious attention" ...... I laughed! I guess something has to suffer, ya just can't do it all!

Andrew has on his leather coat, his sun glasses and his hat backwards and his typical sticky face!
He wanted to pose for me cuz he pretty proud of this look! lol

Sophia and Andrew posing with the plate of chocolates! Isabel wouldn't get out of the car because she was upset that her mother had dyed her hair. Isabel had spent the night with a friend and while she was gone Traci had her hair done and it is darker than it use to be. When Isabel saw her she started to cry and said "everyone will think I'm adopted" ...... She was not happy about it and refused to get out of the car! lol
After baking and decorating and visiting with Traci & the kids, Tony and I left to do some shopping. I needed to get new glasses and we needed some ingredients for my relish tray that I was going to take to the Bostrom's Annual Christmas Party that was held Saturday night!
We were gone till around 5:30, hurried home and put the tray together and wrapped our "WHITE ELEPHANTS".......................
Before leaving we donned our BSU CHRISTMAS STOCKING CAPS and asked Bob and Joyce to come over and take our picture and then the 4 of us got into my sleigh and went to pick up Art and Lynn!

The Bostrom Party is sooooo much fun! Everyone brings a dish of some sort. We all sit around and eat and visit and then the real fun begins!! ..... The opening of the
WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT'S!
While Tony and I were shopping, I got a box of two Genie Bra's. I had a BRILLIANT IDEA for the party !! I stuck in A set of silicone boobs in the Genie Bra Box !!

Brother Hollingsworth got it but his wife had what it takes to show off the gift!!
I'm positive it will be re gifted next year!! lol

Joyce got some Reindeer Antlers and she wore them proudly!

James got the twins he's always wanted! lol I can't tell you how many years this gift has been re gifted!!

Spencer got the "TEDDY" complete with thong underwear!! lol I think it will be back next year too! lol We had a GREAT TIME visiting, eating and laughing!
AND BOB FELL ASLEEP!! lol We all laughed at him!!

OK, he woke up after I took this shot and then we all laughed with him ....NOT at him!!

It was a fun fun party!!

PARTY WITH THE NEIGHBORS!!

2011-12-10T21:47:00.001-08:00

Friday after I got off work, Tony and I drove to Meridian and picked up Colby and headed to Costco and Best Buy in Boise to look at laptops. (Tony is buying me one for Christmas) I'm pretty dang excited! It's gonna be nice! After selecting one (we didn't buy it yet) we went back to Meridian and picked up a couple of pizza's at Papa Murphy's and then went to Colby and Krista's and celebrated Krista's birthday with her. We watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice as well. It was a fun evening!

Saturday, we ran errands and picked up the laptop at the Costco in Nampa. I can't have it till Christmas so I have to be patient.
We planned an evening with two families in our neighborhood a week ago so they came over and 6PM. I made roast beef sandwiches, Chris and Dale Sugg brought squash soup and Suzette and Sean Jarrett brought an appetizer (smoked salmon on a Ritz) After we visited and ate, we cleared the table and played "Mexican Train". It's a really fun game with Domino's. We played till 10:30 and decided we'd better call it a night!
AND I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF EITHER NIGHT!!!!
What's wrong with me??
I had the Christmas china out and the table was so pretty and I didn't even get a picture of that!
Grrrrrrr!!

None the less, it was a great time! We all had a lot of fun and it's nice to get better acquainted with our neighbors! Chris and Dale said they are going to invite us all to their home for New Years!
Better hit the sack! I have early morning church meetings and a Young Women's Presidency meeting after church so it's gonna be a long day!

WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY / YARD CLEANUP & STILLMAN'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION !~

2011-12-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

Another busy weekend but so glad it was here!
Friday night Tony and I went to the Ward Christmas Party! It was titled
"A NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM" and the Relief Society was in charge. They told the Christmas story and Ward members acted it out with Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, the angels, shepherds and wise men. The Primary sang as well as those in attendance. After the short program there were stations set up and the Young Women were in charge of the station making ornaments. There was also a game station but the ornaments kept me so busy I didn't really get to see what that was all about. Everyone was to bring a goodie to share and so there was lots of food at the "Bethlehem Market". It was fun and a nice way to bring in December and to remember what this season is really all about!!

Saturday morning, Tony and I got up and had a nice breakfast together and then bundled up good and went out to tackle the leaves in the yard!!

You might say it needed a good raking!! lol
The leaves were thick so we got started at 9:30 AM!!

Tony blew out all the leaves in the rocks ..........

And on the patio ....................

and I raked ..........................

and he continued to blow them off the patio .......

And I bagged .............. and then when we had it halfway manageable, Tony got out the mower and we sucked up the rest with the mower!!

After he got the majority, I took over while he went to the front yard to start cleaning leaves from the rock and driveway etc ......

Looked pretty different when we finished .......

I took the mower to the front and started mowing while Tony was cleaning all the leaves outta the rock between the neighbors home and ours! I ran out of gas so he told me to put a little in to finish the front yard and he would run the tank out on the neighbors yard ......
I got the gas can out of the shed and it felt practically empty so I put what was left in the mower. (oops) It filled the tank about 3 quarters!!

So we started mowing the neighbors yard to empty the tank. I mowed while Tony blew out their flower beds and sidewalks. I was getting sooooooo tired so Tony took over and I went in to shower and get ready to go to Stillman's birthday. By this time it was 1:30 in the afternoon!

Tony kept mowing and mowing and mowing. He ended up doing the neighbors on both side of our house as well as the neighbors across the street and then came back to our house and made another complete sweep of the back yard!! He finally ended up using a wire to hold the handle in place so the mower would continue to run while he put the tools away! FINALLY, it ran out of gas and he was able to quit! It was nearly 3PM by then!!
I felt bad that I'd put so much gas in BUT the neighbors liked it and think Tony is GREAT!! lol

We both got ready and then headed to Stillman and Michelle's to watch the last BSU game and celebrate Stillman's birthday.

We had finger foods and watched the game!! BSU won 45 to 0 against New Mexico! YAY!!
After the game Stillman opened his gifts!

Michelle made him a "Massage Shirt" .... It said "Stillmanville" on the back with a little town and roads and the kids all had mini cars and they drove them all over the roads on Stillman's back! It was so cute!

He also got a BSU Santa Countdown to Christmas, as well as some tools, a movie and a facial trimmer! He was one happy camper!!

Michelle found the cake recipe off of "Pinterest" ....... He loves Coca Cola (almost as much as me!) and his cake was chocolate cupcakes made with Cherry Coke and each cake sitting on a can of cherry coke with a maraschino cherry on top ! It was so moist and delicious!

We lit it up and sang "Happy Birthday" and the kids helped him blow out all 31 candles!!

We visited and relaxed and watched a little more football!

Tammy, Michele and Krista enjoying the cake and ice cream!

Lehi was such a good baby! Happy to be kicking on the floor!

Oh, and I made Stillman a cake plate and some Peanut butter bars!

I think he was happy with that. lol
It was a busy productive day and I am looking forward to Sunday and I am definitely going to RELAX!!

I FINALLY SAW IT !!!

2011-11-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

I've been dying to see BREAKING DAWN part one!
Last night for FHE, (lol) Tony took me to the show! It was so good!
Well, I know that it's not everyone's cup of tea but I enjoyed it and Tony said he liked it too!

The funniest part of the evening was when we were paying to get in ..... Tony says,
"I need 2 tickets for Twilight, a regular and a senior citizen" (as he motions to me!!!) I said
"Thanks Honey, nothing like taking the Ole Lady out on a date!"
It was funny but he's enjoying this
"Senior Citizen" thing way to much! (at my expense! lol)
I made him pay for his indiscretion at the concession stand! lol
(HOWEVER , I AM PAYING FOR IT NOW!! I can't win !! ) LOL

THANKSGIVING 2011

2011-11-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Tony and I left for Layton on Wed. the 23rd after we got off work. Left about 5PM by the time we got everything loaded and stopped by the bank to deposit his check. We ran into a bottleneck just out of Boise that brought us to a standstill several times so that slowed us down. We arrived around 10:30 PM and Jon and Rowan were asleep. We said our "Hello" to Heather and she helped us get our suitcases in and settled and then we all went to sleep.

When I got up Thursday morning, I came upstairs and Rowan saw me and yelled "GRAMMA" and came running to me with outstretched arms!! I picked him up and he turned his face away from me, as if to say ...... "Don't kiss me" but I kissed his cheek anyway! It made me feel good to have him come to me on his own!! Then he proceeded to show me his exercise skills with the rubber band! (see below) lol

We visited in the morning and Heather and I made a Pretzel Jello Salad, the Sweet Potatoes as well as a HUGE relish tray to take to Jon's parents home. Tony worked on some projects Heather needed done around the home. He started by screwing the dishwasher Heather just got, into place. He took all the measurements in the garage and started drawing out the plans for the shelving that needs to be done. (eventually)
Over the course of the weekend Tony replaced a ceiling light for her, cut a piece of plywood for a headboard, and cut a plug into the shelving above the kitchen desk so Jon can install his speakers for music. He was a busy little beaver!

We left a little early on the way to the dinner and went to a place and took pictures of Jon and Heather and Rowan for their Christmas cards.

Rowan found a bunch of leaves and had fun throwing them in the air. I didn't catch any in flight and I must have taken 7 pictures!! lol

I got a cute picture of Rowan while his dad was photographing him!!

Here we are at the Larson's home just getting seated and looking forward to a wonderful meal!

It was delicious!! EVERYONE contributed and it was fantastic!! Tony must be folding his arms to keep himself from diving into the slush in front of him! lol

And this is WHY we all came!! Ham, Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, dressing, a TOTALLY AWESOME VEGETABLE DISH of broccoli, cauliflower and almonds in a delicious white sauce of sorts! There was a wonderful slush drink, cranberries and homemade sweet crescent rolls and all the relish!!
For dessert we had a pick of 4 different pies as well as a pumpkin cake!
We weren't at a loss for food and we went home FULL and Satisfied!

Rowan, however ate part of a roll because he was too busy playing to eat!! So on the way home Heather asked if we would stop at Mickey Dee's for an order of Chicken McNuggets!! We did and he started eating them but fell asleep!! SO CUTE!!

It was a very nice day and we were grateful to be able to spend some time with Jon and Heather and the Larson's. Carol was a fantastic host and their home is beautiful and they were very gracious!!

On Friday, Tony and I decided to do a lot of our visiting with friends and family! We started with my friend Tammy Williams, who lives in Heather's neighborhood. She had never met Tony and so we spent about 45 minutes there and then headed down to Lehi to see Derek and Rachel and family! Rick, Tammy's husband was there as well so Tony went outside with him and told him what he needed to do to hook up their hot tub!!

After our visit with Rick and Tammy we drove to Lehi to see Derek and family!
We arrived at their home around noon and we rang the doorbell and we could hear the kids yell "It's Gramma and Grampa" .............. then we see someone (turns out it was Teancum) peak out the blinds and then he says "That's not Gramma and Grampa" ............ then they let us in and as we were walking to the living room, Helaman says to us ........ "You guys are soooooo old!"
WOW!! Way to deflate the two of us !! It was pretty funny!
We had lunch with the kids and then we went to Lowes and Rachel and Derek picked out some new lights and Tony replaced 4 old ones for them. We had a good visit and were with the kids about 5 hours and then decided we needed to go to Jess and Diane's. We didn't have a current phone number for them so we just dropped in and hoped they were home. We drove to Riverton and they were home!! We ate a cup of Squash soup with them and they asked us if we would go to a movie with them.

I wanted to go to Sandy to visit my little sister so we told them we would meet them at the theater. We went to Lorie and Dave's and Amy was home from BYU for the Thanksgiving weekend so we saw her too! We had a good hour visit with them and then left as they were going to the temple to do initiatory work. We drove to the theater and met up with Jess and Diane again.

We saw "THE HELP". It was excellent. I had read the book and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie!
We visited in the lobby after the movie was over for quite sometime and then decided to head back to Layton. It's funny that so many live there but each one is quite a distance apart so it's still hard (well at least it takes some planning) to see everyone.

We were going to stop at Debbie and Robins but it was too late by the time we finished visiting with Jess and Diane so we went back to Layton.
Saturday, we watched the BSU/WOMING game at Heather & Jon's and I helped Heather make a doll for one of the little girls in her family. After the game we headed back to Bountiful to visit with Diane and Robin. We ended up having Pizza with them and watching a movie at their house. We watched "UNSTOPPABLE" and had a great visit with them and enjoyed the evening.
We got back to Layton around 9PM so Heather and I made some cookies and got ready for Sunday.

Their church wasn't till 11AM so we had plenty of time to sleep in and then I played with Rowan after I was ready. He had a rubber snake and he would throw it down to me from the upper level of the house. I'd throw it back to him and he would say "Scary" and laugh . He had a blast! And I did too! It's so fun to see him smile & laugh so much!

Eventually, it was time to put his shoes on and go to church. He is going to school 2 days a week and it is helping him tremendously! He can count to 10 and he says his letters. His speech has improved 100%. He loves his school and when he gets up he's says "School ?" And his mommy will say "yes today" or "not today". Then he says "School fun". He sings JINGLE BELLS but it sound more like "Twinkle Toes" to me but he can carry a tune really well and you can pick up a lot of words that are correct.
At bedtime he sings "I AM A CHILD OF GOD" and it just melts my heart! He makes his mommy sing it over and over but he sings right along with her and you can definitely tell what he is singing.

I took a picture of the family by their Christmas tree before we went to church.

And again a closeup! It was so fun to be with them for Thanksgiving. Heather said it had been over 7 years since we've spent a Thanksgiving together, so it was time!
We hope all of our family had a great day and we just want you all to know how thankful we are for all our blessing ...... and that means YOU!!

NAMPA'S CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING !

2011-11-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

Last night, Tony and I went with Deedra and the grand kids to see the
"Lighting of the Tree" in downtown Nampa!
Deedra took a picture of Tony and me with the kiddies before the festivities began!
There were Carolers singing and lots and lots of people milling around!!

Santa came on the Fire truck and he was handing out Candy Canes to the little ones!

AND THEN!!!!

10...9...8...7...6....5....4.....3....2....1..................
FROM this ..................

TA DA!!! .................to this!!

It was a 42 year old tree that a man donated to the city
and it was BIG!!

We then got some pictures by the tree!

Deedra, Jack , Garrett and Nikki nestled under the tree!

Me and Tony, all warm and toasty in our BSU jackets!!

There were several businesses downtown that were open so we walked around and got free hot chocolate and cookies and then we went to the Historical Museum. I got a picture of the Butterfield's hitching a ride on the Polar Express! lol

Tony and me by the light pole outside the Museum!

Another shot of the tree before we left. It was a fun evening!
We then went back to our house and watched
"Shrek the Halls" and ate Deedra's zucchini bread. We were going to have hot chocolate too but we'd had enough liquids downtown with the free hot cocoa and hot cider at the museum! Thanks for the invite Deedra!
It was fun and neither Tony or myself have ever been to a tree lighting so that was a 1st!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

2011-11-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today was my Wonderful father's 91st Birthday!!

These pictures were taken last summer at the Berezay Family Reunion! I called Dad this evening to wish him a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and mom had just finished making him his "Birthday Dinner" and they were just getting ready to eat. He sounds good and Happy as usual! Happiness is my dad's trademark!! I NEVER see or hear him in any other way!

He's always wearing a smile. He takes life one day at a time and enjoys everyday to it's fullest!
I've learned a lot from these two wonderful people! I love them with all my heart and I hope dad has a WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY! Just wish we were there with him to celebrate!

DAD, YOU ROCK!! I love you and am grateful to be your daughter! I feel so blessed!

I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF !~

2011-11-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, I know I'm early BUT
..... I didn't really decorate for two years while Tony was overseas so I told my dear husband on the 5th of November that I wanted to start early and his reply was
"If it makes you happy it makes me happy!!
WHAT A MAN!!
So I started on Saturday the 5th and finished on Friday night the 11th! I love my Christmas decorations BECAUSE there are so many wonderful memories in them of people I love and things I've done at various times in my life! For instance ...............

I placed a lot of my Santa's and all of my Nutcrackers on a table ........... Santa's on top ! I have 3 very special Santa's that my sister Donna carved and painted for me!! One is a necklace, one is an ornament and one is a large full Santa and he stands on this table. The other two hang on the mirror above this table. There at two egg Santa's that I painted one year with my friend Sherryl Likes. I was going through my divorce and she and I would get together and make Christmas decorations and it was GREAT THERAPY!!

And the Nutcrackers on the bottom! I had been collecting them (one a year) Haven't got any for a while but I love them none the less!

This picture is blurry but I placed greenery around them with lights and lit them up!
TA DA! Not quite as pretty in this picture as it really is! lol

This is ONE of the many wreath's I own and I hung it on the wreath stand!
I made this one in Relief Society when I lived in Boise.

The closet door holds my Eskimo wreath! (Oh! and Woodland Santa hangs on the door) I have Sooooooooooooooo many ornaments so one year, my friend Sherryl Likes inspired me. She had hung a lot of her ornaments on wreaths and I loved it! So I did it too!

I have my miniature Family tree on an end table with ALL the kids and grand kids and parents and grandparents names on an ornament! (along with my snowball candle) This tree has been growing year by year as you can imagine! I made the Snowball candle at RS in Boise!

On the other end table I have my Department 56 Nativity!
I love Dept. 56 and one year when Tony and I were in Salt Lake around Christmas, he bought me this nativity. I LOVE IT!

And on the Entertainment Center I have my Hallmark Nativity. (Wise Men Still Seek Him) These are actually ornaments but really too heavy to hang and they look good in a Creche.

This is my whimsical nativity. I got this one 18 years ago in a store in Boise ! I couldn't resist the reverent manner in which the cute little animals worship the Baby Jesus!

I got this one in the Karcher Mall 4 years ago. It is plain white and gold ceramic but I love it and it was being sold in a kiosk for only $20!! A steal in my book!

And of course my favorite" Coke a Cola" tree on the island in the kitchen! I've always loved the nostalgic Christmas Santa with his bottle of Coke and then the Polar Bears later. I starting collecting for this tree 30 years ago! (Man these ornaments date me)

I have my Santa Cookie jar along with my Christmas Cookie plate, My Dept. 56 Santa Tea Set, my Holly tea set and my snowman measuring cups! My sister Lorie made me the Cookie jar with the cookies in it last year for Christmas! It's up year round and is used frequently!

I have the Holy Family (twice) in the back room along with the Resurrected Savior !
MY ALL TIME FAVORITES! The one on the left is one I made in Relief Society at least 25 years ago! My hubby bought me the Savior about 4 years ago and the Holy Family on the right I bought last year while Tony was in Iraq.

On the closet doors in the back room I have my Santa Wreath ........... And my Santa letters above the door (my friend Sherryl made the letters) and my tin punch was made by my friend Kaye and it reads
"This House Believes in Santa". She was selling them at The Ginger Bread House, which was a Christmas Bazaar held every year for a long time. (Sherryl was the founder and owner) I use to make things to sell at it myself! Great Memories and fun times!!

OK, now I'm jumping around but under my clock in the main living room I placed my Snow Angel light! I made this one in Relief Society in Boise as well. (We use to have some great Super Saturdays!)

And on the door going down the hall to the back room is ONE of my Disney wreaths!

In the back room there are two Santa's . The one on the right is from my son Chris (several years ago) and the woodsy one is from Debbie, my dear sister in law!

Here is my backroom is my Italian Fontanini Nativity! I like this one cuz the grand kids can't break it! I've had it for 20 plus year and whala ..... never been broken! lol

Another Christmas throw and a snowman we made in Relief Society when I was single and RS President in Boise!

My Boyd's Bears School Nativity sits atop the entertainment center in the back room.

And my sock snowman (on top of the speaker on the right) that my sister Donna made me several years ago! He is adorable!

And a cute snowman I inherited from my dear hubby when I married him! Don't really know it's age but he is darling with his little shovel and I love him!

In the bathroom downstairs, I have a snowman with lights that I got from my sister Lorie one year and the Snowman family I made in Relief Society years ago! I swear, my things are getting up there!!

The Snowman NOEL above the door to the backroom was made by my friend Sherryl as well as .....................................

the word PEACE. It actually has a Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus under the star on the letter A!
These two wreaths are both Disney! The one on the left is all Mickey and Minnie and the one on the right is All Grolier Disney Ornaments! I use to belong to a club and I would get a new ornament about every two months or so! I finally had to quit or I'd have ornaments out the wazoo!! (Oh wait.......I do!)

Sherryl made the SNOW word too. She was one talented woman! (well still is but now she's into quilts) The wreath on the left is all my Barbie ornaments and the one on the right is my miniatures! The Heart in the center of the closet doors is a countdown to Christmas that I made in Missoula Montana when the kids were little! I'm suppose to glue Hershey Kisses on the ribbon and pull one off each day of December but haven't done that for a long time!

In this little nook, I have two of the Santa's I made for Sherryl's Ginger Bread Boutique sitting on the couch. I sold several of them and kept the Black Santa cuz I just had to have him and I also wanted the White Santa to sit beside him. I had two more but I gave them to Deedra this year. (You can have too much) lol
I made the wooden snowmen and trees (on the right) at Relief Society (again) in Boise. I have a miniature living room on the table on the left which is Hallmark!

My daughter Traci made me the hanging blue
"Let it Snow" and my niece Caulene Piippo made me the red one! I made the little reindeer that sits between the two! You can see (kinda) the two carved Santa's that my sister Donna made me hanging on the far side of the mirror!

FINALLY............. a snowman that I made at a Super Saturday here in Nampa 4 years ago!

Stillman and Michelle gave Tony and me these pillows one Christmas about 5 years ago! I love them and the red one that says NICE has NAUGHTY on the back! SO CUTE!!

This is a wreath that I put together with all my homemade ornaments most of which were made by Sherryl, some by myself and some were gifts.
I TOTALLY LOVE THIS WREATH!!

This is my Willow Tree Nativity which I purchased from the Hallmark Store while our office was still located in the Karcher Mall. All I know is it's a good thing we moved locations because that Hallmark Store was a real downfall for me around the Holiday Season! The Snowman boxes beneath the Nativity was given to me by my sister Donna. I love him and each box goes inside the other! The SUBWAY ART was given to me this year for my Birthday by my sister Lorie~ It is awesome and it has art for several seasons behind the Christmas Words so it will stay out ALL year!

I made these BIG Santa's and Snowmen for the Ginger Bread Boutique and sold several of them as well. But Again .... I kept one of each for myself! I was pleased to see one at my sister in laws home when we were in Oregon this past October! I'd forgotten that I'd given one to her! The little snowman on the floor in front of the BIG one was from a mail order catalog!

This Santa was made by Darlene Miller. She is Sherryl's sister and we grew up together in Missoula Montana! She always made items for Sherryl's boutique too and I was a sucker for any and all things either one of them made!

This is my Dept 56 Christmas Village! It fits perfectly above my entertainment center in the back room and my dear hubby used his Mad Electrical Skills and wired things so all the cords are hidden on the top and I have a remote to turn it off and on! So cool!

I threw up a bunch of Santa's on the Generations Pictures and the tall angel doll was made by my friend Kaye from Boise! She is at least 12 years old and her legs have been broken several times but my dear husband repairs her for me every time!! LOVE THAT MAN!

My tree is decorated with all the rest of my ornaments, most of which are Hallmark. Some are not but I love them all! Tony got me Snowball lights about 4 years ago and the manger holding the Baby Jesus doll was made by Rod Likes. (Sherryl's husband)

This homely ole Santa was one I made for the boutique years ago and I titled him
"THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS" ...... I put him in a night shirt and I put a hole in his sock and his big toe is coming out and I made a "North Pole Gazette" that he is reading. I'm sure that is how Santa feels after a LONG NIGHT of delivering gifts all over the world! lol

My friend JoAnn Hoffman gave me this cute little snowman on ice skates! She was my 1st Counselor when I was the Relief Society President in Boise.

Traci made me this little snowman and he holds scented pine cones! I've had him for about 5 years! Love him!

I made this Nativity picture in Missoula Montana out of gold leaf! This a no doubt around 35 years old!

Under my Noel Letters is my "Precious Moments" wreath! ADORABLE!

A close up cuz it's so cute! lol

My sister Lori gave me this crow with a Santa hat one year. I hang him on the pantry door!

My friend Sherryl gave me this Santa timer and he sits on my stove! He doesn't work any more but he is too cute to get rid of and besides ..... memories!!

This is a lighted Gingerbread girl that I made in Boise at R.S. and she sits on the island in the kitchen.

I have a door hanger that I put on my front door. Sherryl made this as well. She was one talented woman!!

My front porch is decorated with my tin snow shovel that Kaye made. It's missing some bells that use to be hanging from the ribbon but is still in pretty good shape considering it's age!

As well as my "SNOW BUDDIES" that I made in Boise at least 10 years ago!

And this HORN wreath I made in Missoula! It not shiny and bright anymore but I love it and it brings back a lot of memories from Kasota Court!!

This is a Snowman stake that I put in a planter outside. I made him in Boise as well.
Lots of memories in all this Christmas decor! I love this time of year and reflecting back on good times!

BIG GAME DAY !

2011-11-13T06:11:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a busy game day for us! We started out the day by going to watch Nikki and Ellie play basket ball at Centennial grade school. 8:30 in the morning!! They are on the same team so that makes it nice. Jack was there with his mommy and brother Garrett when we arrived as well as Alivia and her Aunt Becky. Jack was so proud of his Woody PJ's and he proudly posed for a picture!!

Nikki on the far left (hydrating) and Ellie on the far right, getting a little instruction from the coach!

It's so funny to watch them at this age. They don't get overly excited or aggressive about the game. They kinda stand around and watch the other team shoot. lol

Even heading down to the other side ..... no big hurry! lol

Ellie and Nikki out for a rest while someone else plays. But they are watching intently!!

Jack was laying on the floor with his feet up on the bleachers, It made for a darn cute picture! He looks like he's all feet!

After Nikki and Ellie were finished we headed home and I made a big pot of Chicken and Dumplings to take to Art and Lynn's for the BSU game later that day. While it was on simmer we went to Isabel's game at 11:30 AM.

They play at Roosevelt school here in Nampa so it makes it nice for travel time for us Grandparents. We can catch um all.

Isabel running down the court.

Sophia in the bleachers with us watching the game.

And whose this crawling under my legs ????

OH, It's Captain America!!

We had to laugh at Isabel's team! They are all such girly girls! One is wearing a little frilly skirt, one always wears colorful leggings, and they are all very tiny! It was hilarious!

Look at the difference in size!

In the last quarter, Isabel scored 3 baskets!!! The only ones they had the whole game. As we were leaving one of her little teammates says to her mother ...
"Isabel did it all in the last inning!!"
We had to laugh!

Here she is with part of her team after the game! They look pretty excited!

We went home after Isabel's game and finished the Chicken and dumplings and headed to Art and Lynn's for the BSU/TCU game. I had seen on the Internet where some Boise fans went to the Airport and welcomed the TCU fans flying in for the game.
A VERY NICE GESTURE!!

It was a nail biting game and BSU lost by 1 point!!
VERY DISAPPOINTING! From what I hear, Scott, Jeff, Stillman and Colby all need therapy now!! lol

THANK YOU VETERANS, FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS !

2011-11-11T06:35:00.001-08:00

I was up getting ready for work this brisk Friday morning and I heard the Scouts drive up and place the flag in our front yard. A couple of days ago a young man (about 10) came to our door selling flags to support
"THE YOUNG MARINES" so we bought one. (It's by the light pole)
We always fly "OLD GLORY" on our house ............... Just reminders that we live in the greatest country in the world! We treasure our freedoms and it's all because of those who fought to preserve our precious nation that we are FREE!
I especially want to thank my
DAD, who fought in the BIG ONE! World War 2!
He was wounded and lived to fight another day! Dad will be 91 on November 20th and I want him to know how proud of him I am, how grateful I am for his service and
how very much I love him!

THANK YOU DAD!
FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

2011-10-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !
I found a lot of the Grand kids on Facebook today and I since my parents don't do Facebook ........ I stole the pictures so I could show my little spooks to them ! I figured they would get a kick out of seeing the kiddies all dressed up for HALLOWEEN! I still don't have Traci's kids but she assured me she would send me pictures so I'll post them later.

Rowan was a SKELETON! with a sucker in his mouth!!

AND HIS FOLKS LIKE TO DRESS UP TOO! Check out these two ZOMBIES!

Scott and Jill posted some of the kids. The 1st one is Scotlyn as a Baby Diva!! I LOVE IT!!
It looks like she saying
"FILL UP MY KITTY PURSE ....... NOW!!"

Here's Tristan and Arianna ! Looks like Tristan is whispering
"Trick or Treat" in Ari's ear!

A little later he was dressed as a Samurai . Darn cute in his little costume and riding his rig!!

And Ari was a LITTLE LADY BUG PRINCESS
So cute!

Then there was a priceless one of Scott with his Mullet, his John Deer hat and a Chuck Norris shirt and he was packing the cutest little BUMBLEBEE! .....ever! Looks like Scotlyn got to dress up twice!!

Michelle took some Totally awesome pictures of her little boys! ....... This is Alex as SPIDERMAN

And Jayden as SPIDERMAN! Totally cool Trick photography! lol

Then I got a very cool picture of the Chris Stewart family!! Look at those two adorable babies!!

Here's our cute little BUMBLEBEE again!!

And here is Mostyn as a ZOMBIE, Hawkins a little NERD and Claire is a pretty little DIVA !! They are all such actors!! (Wonder where they get that from?? lol)

It was nice to get to see some of the kids who live far away dressed in their costumes! Thanks for letting me post so Mom and Dad Berezay can see!

UPDATE: Traci sent me one of Andrew!! (I mean Steve Rogers!~! )
I mean CAPTAIN AMERICA!!

UPDATE: Tammy sent me a picture of Katelynn. She went to get her FAIRY WINGS at the dollar store and she was disappointed to find all they had left were orange ones! Then she said "I can be a BSU PRINCESS! Smart Girl!!

Katie made her crown too!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

I hurried home from work to find some of our local grand kids waiting to
TRICK OR TREAT at our house!

Nikki was a cute little WITCH, Garrett was muscle bound SPIDERMAN! And Alex and Jayden were SPIDERMAN as well. One the Red Spidey and one the Black Spidey!
Spiderman is a popular costume this year! lol

Jack was a cute little DRAGON! He just woke up from his nap and just wasn't into it quite yet! ............ ALTHOUGH, I know just what to do! ................
HE NEEDS SOME SUGAR!! LOL

We got Deedra to take a picture of Grampa and Me with the chitlins!~ We had both just got home from work so after the kids left, Tony and I cleaned up and ate some supper and then went TRICK OR TREATING for ourselves!

WE GOT TONY HIS TRUCK AND HE IS ONE HAPPY GOBLIN!!

Its pretty darn nice and I can't think of a man who deserves it more!
Happy Halloween Honey!!

APPLES AND NEW TRUCKS !

2011-10-31T05:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Tony and I got up and got ready to work in the Church Orchard. We picked up Dad Norton and were at the orchard by 9AM. We picked for the church till noon and gleaned a lot of windfalls for our selves. We were working on the Fugi's. There were a lot of people there helping so we got a lot done. The apples were beautiful!!

Then we went home, cleaned up and went truck shopping for Tony. I told him when he was in Iraq that he deserved a "NEW TRUCK" when he got home for all his hard work. He wanted to get back to work before he started looking and now that he is working again, he's got the bug!!
We had fun looking at all the car lots (although the salesmen drive me crazy!!) We drove a Dodge, a Chevy and a Ford. The Chevy and the Ford were both 4 wheel drives and a lot more money that the Dodge. He is so practical and said he doesn't really need a 4 wheel drive and so we are leaning toward the Dodge. Tonight after work, we are going to check out the Nissan's and maybe some others. Just comparing
APPLES TO APPLES right now!

Who knows ......................He might make his decision tonight and since it's HALLOWEEN, he might be coming home with a nice
TREAT!!

PS: We made up bags of APPLES on Sunday afternoon and delivered a bag to each of our Home and Visiting Teaching Families and a bag to each of the kids here in the valley along with Halloween goodies for the Grand kids! Had to get them their TREATS since we will be out TREATING ...... FOR TRUCKS TONIGHT!!

FRIDAY DATE NIGHT ! ~

2011-10-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

Got a "buy one get one FREE" coupon (love that word) from Qdoba's so we got ourselves a burrito for dinner and then went to the Nampa High vs Kuna football game! Josh Bostrom is in our ward and is a fantastic player. Brandon Benjamin is also in our ward and on the team. Since it's the last game of the season for Nampa, Tony wanted to go and watch the boys play!

It was "Senior Night" so before the game started they had the parents come out with the boys.
There's Jorgette and Josh on the right hand side of the picture! Lamont (his dad) was in Vegas. He was moving his mother down there so missed the last game of the year.

This picture is Brandon, his mother Necole and his dad Aaron. (middle of the picture ..... Brandon is #54, Necole is the redhead with the black jacket and Aaron has his head down in the red shirt!

Josh and his mom again!

Tony and I were in our
Bronco ORANGE & BLUE so we kinda stuck out but I had to post this one because of the man behind me! HILARIOUS! He would have confiscated my camera if he'd seen this shot! lol

Got a picture of Brandon on the sidelines. He's a cute boy! I remember all my primary girls ogling over him when I taught them. Now they are in Young Women's and still ogling!

At half time the band and the color guard performed. My Laurel President (Beth Campbell) was in the group! She is in the middle by the boy.

Then Megan Breshears came up and gave me a big hug!! (on the right) she is in the Mia Maid class Presidency in our ward.

Here's Josh on the sidelines with his helmet sitting on the top of his head! He scored FOUR touchdowns! He was awesome!

Another picture of us! Megan took this one when she came to visit us! Final score of the game was Nampa 55/ Kuna 21 !! Nampa put in their 2nd string and Kuna still had in their 1st string and scored 2 touchdowns at that time.

It was not all that cold but I was still glad to have all my Bronco Gear!
With our coats and blankets and the help of that burrito we stayed warm and toasty! lol
Just kidding ...... sounds good though! ha ha

OPEN HOUSE FOR SARAH & LESLIE MARTINEZ

2011-10-25T06:13:00.001-07:00

Last night after both Tony and I got home from work, we ate a quick bite and then went to Boise to the Whitman's!
Heather's good friend Sarah was married last Saturday in the Salt Lake Temple. Heather was able to attend the sealing so I thought that we should make an appearance at the Open House held at her parents home here in Idaho.Sarah looked amazing! Her dress was gorgeous and her husband is the nicest guy! They make such a cute couple and we were happy to pay our respects!

BABY FIX, BIRTHDAY AND BRONCO'S !!

2011-10-22T17:15:00.001-07:00

It was a busy Saturday (AS USUAL) so it felt good to go to Art and Lynn's to watch the Bronco's beat Air Force and relax!
Well, let me rephrase that. It was waaaaay to close of a game to relax but I did manage to get Lehi to sleep during part of the game so I had to relax at that point! lol

Man, that little bundle of joy makes me look all that much BIGGER!! lol

It was Colby's 32nd birthday !! At half time we sang
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to him and had him blow out his candles!!

HOLY COW!! There weren't even 32 candles on the cake and look at the smoke!! Better not get any older Colby or were gonna have to call in the Fire Department! lol

After celebrating we finished the game! Our AWESOME Quarterback Kellen Moore tied the all time winning record with Colt McCoy. Now he will surpass all the others! Sure do think he deserves the Heisman!!

It was a good game and we won by 11 but we were hoping to win by 30 or better!!
It was a NAIL BITER at times!!

It was a good game and a fun day!

A DAY TO CELEBRATE !!~

2011-10-21T20:23:00.001-07:00

Two reasons to CELEBRATE today!!
1st: Tony got a job today with Tri State Electric! We are both so excited!
He will be working in the Boise Temple renovation! We feel so BLESSED!!

We ordered a Pizza for dinner to celebrate! lol
Well, order is the wrong term...... we went and picked up a $5 dollar Little Caesars! lol
After his 1st paycheck we'll have to order a Papa Murphys! lol

2nd: We went to Traci and Jason's tonight to wish Sophia a Happy 11tth Birthday!!

She is growing into a Beautiful Young Lady!

She had two friends over and they made her a
"Happy Birthday Wall"

This really makes me feel old! My babies are growing up way too fast!

Hugs from Gramma!

And a shot of us all!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SOPHIA AND CONGRATS TO MY WONDERFUL MAN!

LINDER FARMS & CORN MAZE FUN !

2011-10-18T21:35:00.001-07:00

Deedra asked us if we'd like to go to the
Corn Maze with her and the kids this year! We were going to go the 1st week in October but it rained so we waited till Tony and I were back from the coast. We went last night and it was a beautiful evening.We started with the small maze for the little kids!!
YEAH, it really is small! Tony and I are on our knees!! lol
Got a cute picture of Deedra and Nikki and Jack but it was hard to get Garrett in the shot. He was so excited and couldn't stop for this kind of nonsense!!

On to the
BIG BRONCO CORN MAZE ........

Grandpa leads the way .......

Eweeeeeee, it's getting dark! Where are we??

Let me figure this out! I'll get us outta here!!

Now Garrett is in the lead! Lets see if he can get us out !

I dunno? Deedra looks pretty skeptical!!

YEAH!!!! We all worked together as a TEAM and we found our way out!!

We hit the small maze again and the little munchkins found a mouse hole!

Finally !! Garrett is trapped and I got a good shot!
Blue Bronco Mustache and all!!

And lastly, out pops Jack!!

Farmer John (ie: Tony) and his farm hands! Gramma, Jack, Garrett and Nikki!!

By this time it was starting to cool down pretty good! We took a few pictures while the kiddies played in the hay !
Then we took a wagon ride out into the pumpkin patch and then back to the main area .........

Where the kids played in the corn while Grandpa and Deedra stood in line waitin for fresh cooked mini donuts!!!

Mmmmmmm, were they ever GOOD!!
MELT IN YOUR MOUTH GOOD!!

After the kids ate their donuts, Deedra let them ride the swing for a last hurrah of the night!
It was sure a fun evening!! That is quite the Production Linder Farms has going for them! Way different from the last time Tony and I were there (7 yrs ago) with Traci and the kids!!
GOOD TIMES!

TRIBUTE TO DON

2011-10-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

DONALD LLOYD BEREZAY 8/22/1950 TO 10/12/2011

I just got an email from Donna about Don's funeral. I was the only one in my family that wasn't able to make it to either the memorial or the funeral and I feel just awful!

Don and I were very close growing up! I loved going to Uncle Lloyds because I knew I would be able to see Donny! He was just 11 months older than me and he was always so much fun!
He was a GOOD person! ............. NO, he was a GREAT person! He had so many family and friends who loved him! He was
COWBOY ALL THE WAY! His casket was pine and his son's had branded his brand as well as both brands from the two church ranches where he had worked on the sides. His favorite saddle was flung over his casket as well! They had toilet paper on the pulpit to dry your tears. The whole thing was sooooo DON!! He was a real tease and loved to get into water fights at the family reunions so at the grave site after he was placed in the ground, the grand kids were told that they could get the last lick in on their grandpa and they were all given a glass of water. At the count of three they threw the glass of water on the casket. They loved it and I know Don was smiling from on high!
Over the past week I have been reminiscing about the things I remember about Don. The first thing he said to Tony just this past summer was "Do I have permission to kiss your wife?" and without waiting for an answer he grabbed me and planted a big one! He was a real man! A hard worker, a Great Husband, Father and Grand Father!! He honored his Priesthood and I know that Heavenly Father was ready to welcome this wonderful son home! It must have been a fantastic reunion being greeted by his Mother, Grandma and Grandpa Berezay, Uncle Glen and Aunt May & Lorna, Uncle Melvin and Ann , Uncle Jack and Uncle Ray and then all of them with Don ...... greeted Clay!
Don sure made his mark in this world and we are all better people for knowing him!

THE FOLLOWING TWO PICTURES WERE TAKEN BY DON'S DAUGHTER DACIA.
THEY DEPICT DON AS THE TRULY GREAT MAN HE WAS IN THE SETTING HE PREFERRED!

DOING WHAT HE LOVED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD OUR FATHER CREATED FOR US!
HE REALLY KNEW HOW TO ENJOY THE OUTDOORS AND HE LOVED HIS ANIMALS!

TILL WE MEET AGAIN DON! WE LOVE YOU~

OCTOBER VISIT TO THE COAST

2011-10-16T20:36:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday after little Lehi was blessed, Tony and I took off for Vancouver Washington to spend the week with Jeff and Christa and check out their new digs! lol We didn't get away till after 3PM so it was dusk as we were driving into the Dalles and dark when we arrived.
The kids had soup and grilled cheese sandwiches ready to go when we arrived!
Mmmmm mmmm good! I got a picture of the house the next morning and it is really lovely! They have a great location (close to work for both of them) and it is a wonderful location for a future family!

I gave Christa a bad time about decorating so well for Halloween !!
THE REAL DEAL!!

There were two of these ugly creatures out side around the back patio. Cat Spiders and harmless to humans as we found out via the Internet but creepy just the same!!
Jeff took care of them with a can of poison! Bless his heart!!

Monday morning Jeff and Christa took us to the Pittock Mansion. It was a wet foggy day and Jeff was very disappointed that we were not able to see out over the city but it was fun anyway and the Mansion itself was a site to see!

I tell ya what!!! My hair looked horrendous ALL WEEK!! I don't do well in moisture! lol

Pretty fancy place but we decided less is more! Know what we mean??

The shower looked like a torture chamber! Something right out of
"Shutter Island" ...lol

This was a pretty staircase though and made for a great picture of Tony and the kids!

After touring the Mansion the kids took us to a Pie Company (can't remember the name) that makes Aussie Pies!

They were really tasty!! Totally enjoyed them! We went shopping at IKEA after this and also to the Tower where Jeff works! I wasn't allowed to take pictures up there but he has a BEAUTIFUL view of Portland, Vancouver, the rivers and trees. It is simply gorgeous!!
We also went to "Bath and Body Works" where Christa works and she got me some wonderful smells! (Thanks Christa! Your awesome!) We got a pizza for dinner at Papa Smurfs and went back to their place and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday morning, we drove out to
Multomah Falls! Tony and I have driven by it several times and once we even stopped but there was NO MORE PARKING SPOTS so we continued on our journey BUT TUESDAY WE DID IT!!
We hiked to the top!!! It was only a mile and a quarter BUT I'M 60 now and it was tough!!
We had to stop and rest several times and once I thought I was going to lose my breakfast so we stopped and they gave me a banana to eat and after about 15 minutes I was able to go on AND WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!!

This picture was back at the 1st bridge which was a piece of cake to get to ..............

It looks like an easy hike ( and I suppose it was for the youngsters) but I'm pretty outta shape and I was breathing HEAVY all the way up!!

It was so worth it though and the view was phenomenal!!

After getting back down (which by the way was A LOT EASIER) we drove to Hood River and had lunch at Micky Dee's and then drove on up to Mt. Hood! The Lodge there is the one they used in the movie "THE SHINING" ........ well just the outside shots!
It ended up being windy, rainy and some snow EVEN!! It was so cold so we were happy to go inside and warm up by the fire!

If the weather was good we would have been able to look out this window and see Mt Hood but as it was we could only see the pavement and a few trees!! Another disappointment for Jeff but we still enjoyed ourselves!!

Like I said, we warmed ourselves by the fire!!

The place is HUGE and we got some shots of the kids by one of the displays!
We were happy to drive back down into the valley and find that the weather was warm and so we went back to the kids home where we had a DELICIOUS Roast Beef dinner that Christa had put in the crock pot before we left that morning! It was sooooooo good!

Wednesday morning we got up early and headed to Seattle. We stopped in Calama Washington ....."A TWILIGHT LOCATION" .... lol We went to the school and took some pictures!
Tony!!! That little blood sucker!! lol

It was fun to see. We would have went inside but we had reservations for a boat ride and we didn't want to be late!

Check it out!!! Bella even has her own parking spot designated!!

After getting to Seattle we drove down to the Market Place on the water and got something to eat! We ate it on STEWART STREET! lol

Then the kids took us to the Famous Gum Wall! I had a hard time getting Tony to even stand by it!! It was pretty disgusting but fun just the same!!
After touring the Market place and eating we headed to the pier where we caught a bus to the location on the Washington River where we got on a boat for a tour of the Puget Sound! It was a total blast!! The weather was beautiful on Wednesday so we were able to see all kinds of sights from the boat! (like the house in Sleepless in Seattle, lots of river boats, house boats the city etc)

It was about a 3 hour tour (lol sounds like Gilligan's Island) but we didn't get stranded on some remote island and it was so cool!

We sat in chairs on the front of the boat and after the ride on the River ............

and being able to see all kinds of cool things like the draw bridge etc .............

we went through the locks which took us from the fresh water into the salt water and out into the sound!

It was amazing to be on the boat and lowered down from the lake and into salt water and then we went out into Puget Sound!! So cool and actually quite chilly once we got onto the ocean water!

The kids have done this ride once before and they were excited to have us see it! It was great and then we came around a bend and were able to see the Seattle Skyline!

Really breathtaking! It was so awesome that the weather was clear enough for us to get to see this!! Thanks so much Jeff and Christa!! We loved it!!

After we docked, we went to a little fish restaurant and ate fish and chips and scallops and a shrimp cocktail and a crab cocktail. It was delish!! As we were eating, Christa was multitasking!! lol
She was Geo Cashing And right out front of the restaurant was a statue and she found a Geo Cash there!
She was sooooo excited!!

It was a little cylinder with a paper in it and she wrote her name on it and stashed it safely away again.
It was so much fun and after she explained the whole "Geo Cashing" game to us we were kinda hooked too!

We walked to a building in downtown Seattle and rode the elevator to the observation deck! It was only $3 dollars for Senior Citizens (and yes, we were considered just that and the kids were $5 dollars ) It was Waaaay higher than the Space Needle which was $18 dollars to go up so we decided it was such a good deal we couldn't pass it up!

The two sports arena from the view on top!

It was well worth the ride up. We took lots of pictures and then we descended to the bowels of the earth! ha ha .......... We took the underground transit system to the location of the Monorail!
This is all underground!! It's totally amazing to think of all that cement and high rise buildings above this!!
BLOWS MY MIND!!

And the people ya see on the transit systems!!! lol

We got to the monorail and rode it to the Space Needle! While we were waiting for the monorail to come, Jeff got a call from Scott informing us that my cousin Don Berezay had passed away. He was only 11 months older than me and we were always very close growing up! He was such a great man! He ran the church ranch in Lehi Utah. He died of a massive heart attack while out in the fields with his cattle! That was a real shock to us all and we were so sad to hear the news.

Did a little more Geo Cashing at the park by the Needle. ..... Notice how sneaky Christa is so Muggles won't see her get the stash!!

Another little canister with a place to write her name! (So much fun!!!!!)

The Space Needle, the kids, and the fountain (which reminded us of the Bellegio Casino fountain in Vegas as it spurted to music!!)

This Seattle weather in soooooo good for growing tomatoes! lol
I'st a garden by the Space Needle!
There were some actual vegetables growing there too! lol
After we saw the sights around the Space Needle we headed back to the parking garage and back to Vancouver. We stopped to eat a ways out of Seattle at a Burger joint.

Thursday morning we drove the kids down to Astoria for some sight seeing. On the way there we were able to see Mount Saint Helen's pretty good! The weather was finally cooperating! I got a shot from the highway.
Next time we come the kids will take us up there to the observatory sight and we will get some awesome photo's!

We stopped at the Maritime Museum 1st in Astoria! There were 9 ships on the Columbia river at that time!!
Captain Jeff and his 1st Mate! lol

Jeff, ready to take on the enemy!!

After touring the Museum we headed across the street to the Bowpicker for the
BEST FISH AND CHIPS EVER!!!!!

We then stopped in and saw Rick and his office and he told us to come to their house after we showed the kids some more sites! We headed to the Peter Ire dale Ship wreck .................

and while leaving there, we Geo Cashed and Tony found one! He now has the title
"Geo Sniffer 52" ............. lol

We went out to the observation point on the jetty! It's where the mouth of the Columbia and the ocean meet !! Got some good pictures and then went Geo Cashing again!!

We couldn't find the one at the Wild Life Observation point or at the Batteries BUT we still found two big ones with all kinds of fun stuff in them out in the brush at two different locations! A totyally fun Global Game!!

Checking out the Battery.

They used these in World War one and two. You can see where the big gun was located at one time!~!
It was getting dark so we headed to Rick and Wendy's and they had dinner for us. We had a Great visit with them and got to see their new home. They insisted we spend the night and since Jeff didn't have to be to work til 3PM the next day ....we did! It was fun visiting with them and they exchanged numbers with Jeff and Christa and they plan on getting together to show them the sites on the coast! Rick and Wendy KNOW THEM ALL!! Such great hosts!!

Before driving back to Vancouver on Friday, we took the kids to Tapiola Park! It is the children's park that Wendy raised so much money for when they 1st moved to Astoria!!

We got some pictures there and then headed for the docks to see some Sea Lions!

These fella's were barking like CRAZY at us cuz we got fairly close to them!! They are HUGE!!! This is as close as ya wanna get!

And of course you can't go to Astoria without seeing the Goonie House ..........................

So we did!!
Jeff said it was just like he remembered it in the movie and Christa said she remembered Chunk playing on the front yard!! lol
We then took Katie with us and headed back to Vancouver so Jeff would have a chance to get cleaned up and relax a bit before he started back to the old grind!! Their home is just an hour and 1/2 from Rick and Wendy's. We got back and Tony and I showered and did a load of laundry while Christa showed Katie their new home. It was such a fun week with the kids! They live in a beautiful area with a lot to see! Can't wait to go back and do some more exploring with them.
Thanks Jeff and Christa for a wonderful week!! We love you!

After we left Vancouver, we drove back to Astoria and chilled with Rick and Wendy. We had found out at that point that Don's funeral was going to be on Monday the 17th and Rick had to speak on Sunday and we weren't going to be able to make it either so we spent the weekend together.
Saturday they wanted to take us to a site we had never seen before.
HUG POINT just past Cannon Beach! We wanted to get there at low tide so we could walk out on the beach to the location BUT we missed it and the tide was coming in so we had to go over the top and down ......

And yes!! It was as thrilling as it looks!!

It WAS NOT an easy hike for two old fat people!! They handled it well but they had to help me practically the entire way! Tony did pretty good but told me later that it was pretty strenuous for him too!

It looks easy but the grass, logs and rocks are all slick! The hillside was steep and full of vegetation!!

BUT, it was so gorgeous when we got gown to the bottom and saw the waterfall that flows right into the ocean!!

Rick loves to take pictures and took several of them with my camera for me!

I love the waterfall effect on this one!

He got us walking hand in hand on the beach!

Then when we were ready to go home, Rick tired to find an easier way out than what we came in on .....see him at the top of the rock??? He decided that wasn't the way! lol

While we waited for Rick to find a new way out, Will and Katie played on the rocks!

Then we started our accent up!

We made it and my legs are paying for it today! It was quite the hike!! lol

But it made for some great pictures!!
Saturday after we left Hug Point we stopped at an authentic Mexican Restaurant and had a delicious lunch. Then that afternoon, Tony and I went to Warenton to a Sports Bar and Grill called "BUBBA'S to watch the BSU game! They were so good to us ! It was fun!!
After the game we went back to Rick and Wendy's and took them out to a Thai Restaurant called the "Blue Ocean" and we had a GREAT MEAL!
It was a fun October vacation with Jeff and Christa and Rick and Wendy!

Thanks to my kids and my brother and his family for being so fun to hang out with! It made for some awesome memories!~ AGAIN!

NEWEST GRAND BABY IS BLESSED!

2011-10-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went to Colby and Krista's ward for Little Lehi's baby blessing. I got the family to pose for a quick picture before the meeting started!
I love that Nephi got Elmo in the shot as well! Such a cute picture!! The baby was adorable and I enjoyed sitting behind them and watching him smile at his mommy! It was a nice day and we were able to see a lot of the other family members as well!~

REUNION WITH THE HAVERFIELDS !

2011-10-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

I had to close Friday at work so after I got home Tony and I went to
CARL'S JR. to grab a burger before the BSU game ! He told me that Joel and Kim Haverfield had stopped in at their parents home before heading to Twin Falls to see their daughter and her family. Tony went over and had a good visit with them. When we got back from CARL'S JR. he saw a vehicle at Bob and Joyce home and said
" Joel and Kim are there, lets go over and visit." I was game so we did! Well, it wasn't Joel and Kim ..... it was Cindy and Tye. We had a great visit with them so Tony was able to get in two good visits with his cousins. We were having such a good time we missed the 1st quarter of the BSU Game!! lol

Anyway, Bob and Joyce invited us to go to lunch with them on Saturday (today) at the Golden Corral because their youngest daughter Lona was flying in at 1:30 in the afternoon!
We were happy to and were able to visit with all three girls!!
Mom and Dad Norton came too so I got a shot of all of them outside the restaurant before Tye and Clint showed up.

After we were done eating I got pictures of Cindy and Tye ...........

Heidi and Clint ..............

And Lona and Tony. She came alone and her husband Peter is in Raleigh North Carolina so I told Tony to stand in with her! lol

They are all such pretty girls and it was fun reminiscing with the three girls. We had some good laughs about the good old days in Missoula Montana!

JACK AND COACH PETERSON HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON!!~

2011-10-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

I took this off of Scott's Facebook page last week before the
MIGHTY BRONCO'S
played Nevada!! Thought it was hilarious and of course if you remember the movie "Princess Bride" you will get this ......................

Well, Saturday at Garrett's Birthday party, little Jack was so excited to eat a cupcake and he chose BLUE! ................ Smart kid!!

I thought he was sporting a pretty good
BLUE STACHE
himself when he was done! It reminded me of Coach Peterson!

Pretty dang cute huh??

CONFERENCE WEEKEND !!

2011-10-01T22:44:00.001-07:00

Tony and I got up Saturday and enjoyed the 1st Session of Conference before heading to the folks home to set the DVR to record the BSU game and then the 4 of us headed to Deedra's for Garretts 5th birthday party. His birthday was the 29th and Deedra was going to have us over on Friday night but Garrett got sick so she said if he was better on Saturday, she would do it between sessions.
GARRETT WAS BETTER!

Garrett was pretty excited to see us and ready to get started!!

Deedra made him a cute "UP" cake with cupcakes for the balloons! It was darling!

We turned out the lights and set up a number "5" candle and sang "Happy Birthday" to Garrett!

And then he started to tear into his gifts!! I made him a Hamburger Happy Meal out of felt! Fries and all! All three kids had a good time with it.

He got a "Spiderman" costume from his mommy and Daddy as well as some clothes and a bike!

Here he is with Great Gramma Norton ..... in his "Spidy Costume" eating (well pretending) a Hamburger ..................
And fries!!
Little Jack got a blue cupcake and wanted his picture taken before he devoured it!

Nikki played with the burger and fries and was willing to share them with everyone!

Nikki, Mom and Garrett and the "Evil Captain Surg" which was another gift from mom and dad.
And Nikki having yet ANOTHER burger! he he (ok, it was the same one!)

After the party, we took Mom and Dad Norton back home so they could rest before the 2nd session and then we went to Garrett's soccer game. Before leaving Mom took a picture of Tony and I in our matching BSU outfits! lol

He was happy to have us there and he did great!

They ALL did great and we did their FAVORITE thing that happens at the soccer games!
THE VICTORY TUNNEL!!
After the game, Tony and I drove back to his folks house to watch the 2nd session of conference and eat. I had made a crockpot full of Hamburger stew and Lynn had homemade whole wheat bread! Mmmmmmm! For dessert we had a plum/raspberry cobbler I had made with vanilla ice cream on top!
We settled down in for conference and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The speakers are always so inspired and know just what we all need!

After conference we watched the 1st half of the BSU game and I proudly showed my colors where my MOUTH IS!! lol

DO YOU LIKE ?? lol Tony and his dad went to the Priesthood session at 6PM so I had Tony take me home so I could put up some of my October decorations and read my book. I'm on the 2nd one of the "HUNGER GAMES" and I can't put it down either !!~ Tony and Dad went to the Stake house for the broadcast. He picked me up after it was over and we headed back to Art and Lynn's to watch the 2nd half of the BSU game! ................ YAY, we won!! We celebrated by playing UNO with mom and dad and Bob and Joyce and guess what??
I WON!! lol
It ended up being a pretty long and busy day but very very enjoyable!!

The Sunday Session of Conference was awesome! I truly felt uplifted and inspired and very Spiritually fed!! It was nice to relax at home and enjoy it with my husband.

I had been reading blogs on the Internet earlier in the week and saw a couple of recipes on a site that said these would be good for Conference Weekend!~ (obviously an LDS blog) So I tried them!
Mine don't look as pretty as her's did
BUT THEY WERE BOTH DELICIOUS!!!

This was a spinach salad made with strawberries, caramelized almonds, feta cheese and a homemade poppy seed dressing!
HONESTLY, I can't wait for tonight cuz we are having leftovers!!

Then I made a Roast Beef Manwich and it was to die for too! Tony loved it !! They were displayed on her blog much better than mine but the taste is what counts and both of these were DANG GOOD!!

A GOOD READ !! HOPE THE MOVIE WILL BE THE SAME!

2011-09-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Stillman and Michelle told me about this book a good year ago and I finally started reading it on Monday!!
I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!!
Sooooooooo good!!

There are two following this one and I expect to be on # 2 this weekend! Kinda reminds me of the movie "RUNNING MAN" but so much better!!

I guess there is going to be a movie in March (I believe) 2012 !! Hope it's as good as the books but I highly doubt it!!

YOUTH TEMPLE TRIP

2011-09-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

This was a busy weekend! I celebrated my 60th birthday Friday night (see previous post) and then got up early (5:30 AM) on Saturday morning, got ready and left for the church. I picked up one of the Beehive's in our ward cuz she lives close and we met everyone else at 6:45. There were 16 Young Women and 8 Young Men as well as 11 leaders. I was hoping I wouldn't have to drive but it turned out that I had to so I had 3 young women ride with me. Tony had the 2nd half of his code class so he was gone all day too.

We got to Twin Falls a little after 9AM.
The Youth heading into the temple! They were so excited and it was great to feel of their enthusiasm.

It's hard to get a picture of the entire temple from the grounds! It's small but
Beautiful !

After doing nearly 300 baptisms and confirmations we left the temple and I was able to get a picture of all of them in front of the main doors. We then grabbed our sack lunches and ate on the temple grounds. There are so many nice areas and benches and it was so peaceful and relaxing!!
We then took the youth to the Institute at CSI. The Institute director talked to them about the importance of furthering their education and to make sure they attended Institute where ever they went. It was actually very spiritual as well so the kids were fed spiritually twice!!

The kids getting seated at the institute and ready to listen to the director!

Afterwards they were served ice cream sandwiches and donuts! Yay! A big sugar high just before we leave!!

The boys and girls (and leaders) played a little pool at the institute after eating!

And a little Ping Pong! It was a fun day. We left Twin Falls a little after 2 PM. Tony called me when I was 19 miles from Boise and said he was just leaving Garden City so he would beat me home but not by much! It was 4:30 by the time I got home and I was starting to get sleepy so was so glad we finally made it back to Nampa. I was pretty tired but we watched the BSU/Tulsa Game and that was exciting! I hit the sack immediately after the game and it felt so good to sleep with visions of another win dancing in my head!!

SUNDAY:
The gal who I got my grapes from said that she had done 8 quarts and didn't want the rest. She had already picked them and said I could have them if I wanted. Well, I couldn't see them going to waste so Tony and I went over after church and got them. Then we hurried home because our home teacher was coming. After he left we scarfed down some spaghetti and then went to Mom and Dad Norton's because she had asked me to come and take pictures of her and two of her friends she use to sing with. We visited a short while and then hurried home to start juicing!
Another late night, but we got another 16 quarts of juice so a total of 52 Quarts for the season!
That outta do!! (The ox was in the mire)

OLD IS A GOOD THING ... WELL AT LEAST TODAY !!

2011-09-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't believe it ...... I made it to 60 years old!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!
Not that I made it that far but that I'm seriously 60 !!!
It has been a fabulous day!! I got so many Birthday wishes from my sweet husband, my parents, my in-laws, my siblings, my kids, my grandkids, friends and Young Women at church!
I had over 40 people comment on FaceBook! It was so awesome!!
GREAT DAY !! Thanks to everyone who made this old lady feel special! I love you all!
After work Tony took me to Tucano's for dinner and his folks joined us!
Dad and Mom Norton had never eaten there so it was fun to have them along! They loved it too!

Tony caught Mom with a shrimp! He just caught me with my mouth open! lol

The waitress was kind enough to take our picture! I guess I didn't explain things good enough to her ..... "No gut shot's please" ..... oops, too late!!

I guess when it's all out there, that's what ya get!

They came to sing to Tony and I and they asked which one of us wanted the tambourine. I said Tony so then she announces to EVERYONE
eating at that end of the restaurant that we are celebrating our birthdays and that Tony is going to play the tambourine and I'm going to dance!
WHAT ??.............
I tried to get the tambourine back but Tony wasn't giving it up for anything!! I shook my hips a wee bit but NOT too much! I was afraid if I got them moving I wouldn't be able to get them stopped!
He did a good job and thank heaven's I had the camera! Sure didn't want a picture of me dancin!

Now the little waitress takes back the instrument and we get a bowl of ice cream with Oreo's on top!
It was delicious and a fun day and evening! We then went to the New Tai Pan Trading Company on Milwaukee. It's brand new and I wanted to go check it out! Then home to relax.

Thank you to EVERYONE who sent cards, called and sent emails!
YOU MADE MY DAY!!

TOMATO TUESDAY !

2011-09-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

I came home at lunch time and went out to the garden and picked about
15 big red tomatoes!
I already had a big bowl full in the fridge that I'd picked last week. The 1st big batch I'd picked a couple of weeks ago was made into spaghetti sauce and we ate spaghetti for a week so I knew I had to do something different with them!! ( Unless your Russ Storey and can eat spaghetti at every meal... lol)
so I decided to just can them . Will use them in stews and soups this winter.I got 9 quarts and hope to can more in another week or so.

FAMILY HOME EVENING !!

2011-09-19T21:03:00.001-07:00

So, tonight for FHE Tony and I went to my friends home and picked FOUR 5 gallon buckets of concord grapes !! It's gonna take us all night to process them all but we have a good start on it!!

FROM THIS ................
TO THIS ..........................
Awhhhhhh, isn't it lovely!
So far we have a dozen done and we are still on our 2nd bucket! This could be a long night!
Fruitful but long!

UPDATE:
We were up till midnight and did 26 quarts and I still have a 5 gallon bucket to do tonight! Should get another 8 or 9 quarts! Just ran out of steam last night and 6:30 came real fast this morning!

2ND UPDATE:
I just got a call from my
WONDERFUL HUSBAND
and he finished the 5 gallon bucket!! He got 9 more quarts! Sure do love that man!!

I JUST HAD TO SHARE !! ~

2011-09-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Scott emailed me some photo's, so I had to share !
1st it's Captain America .... (wanna be) lol
Personally, I love his shirt!! lol Now that is so Hawkins!!Scotlyn seems to be the spittin image of her brother ..... She has a lot of the same looks!
THEIR CRAZY LOOKS but it's just like her brother would do!

Just thought I'd share!! (For my parents enjoyment)

MOON OVER MY MANSION ! LOL

2011-09-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I climbed into bed and saw the moon again through my window.

The bed is in a different position now (since my last moon shot) but it's so cool to see it!
Tony wears blinders at night (lol ... a mask) so I had to tell him to take it off so he could see the beautiful sight!It was full and bright and very lovely! The Lord sure has made a beautiful world for us to enjoy!
From daylight to dark! It's ALL GOOD!

PEACHES, PICNIC'S & PARTIES!

2011-09-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Friday night, Tony and I went out to the church orchard to do our 2nd picking of the peaches! We spent about 3 hours in the orchard and got quite a bit done.
Then on Saturday, we had our neighborhood block party to get ready for so we got up and started to prepare!
Tony got a call from his dad mid morning and he said that he and Brother Perry were the only ones at the orchard so Tony asked if I could finish the yard and he headed out again. I mowed the lawn and picked our tomatoes and some Swiss chard from the garden and then went in to bake rolls and get the Kahlua pork in the oven.
Tony came home around 1PM and we set up our tables and chairs........
as well as our two lighted palm trees etc!
It looked pretty good and we were excited to be having the block party again. We didn't do it while Tony was in Iraq so it was good to start again.

We didn't have too bad a turnout. Some that hadn't been before came and I think all had a good time getting to know one another.

The food was great. Everyone brought a side dish and Tony and I did the Kahlua pork and the sweet potato souffle and rolls. We had a couple of desserts and some salads, baked beans and relish trays. Mmmmmmm!

I got out my new drink server as well as the old one and served cold water and lemonade.

The weather cooperated and we held it a little later than before so conditions were perfect~

Everyone that came thanked us for doing this for the neighborhood and some even suggested we do something at Christmas! LOL
Sunday evening we picked up Art and Lynn and headed to Melissa's to celebrate
Alivia's 6th Birthday.
She is our 9/11 Birthday girl!
She had celebrated a few days earlier with some friends so Sunday evening was for just the grandparents and Aunt Becky!
Livie was really in a funny mood and she was very entertaining!

She opened all her gifts and was very excited about all of them and then said .....
"Are there any more presents? ....OK, let's have cake!"

Nate set up the camera on a tripod and we got a group shot with Livie and her
"Birthday Cake"

She chose a Red Velvet Cake and Oh My.... it was delicious!!

It was a three layer and we all got a good size piece (I didn't need it but I ate it and relished every bite!)

Alivia enjoyed it too! It was a fun evening. Happy Birthday Livie!

I LOVE MY NEW CRAFT ROOM !!!!

2011-09-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

I had Young Woman's last night and we were going to be doing some preparation for our
"Young Women in Excellence" which will be the 1st Wednesday in November. My 1st counselor and I had gone shopping on Tuesday to get the things we needed for making tissue flowers! (We will be using them for decoration!)
We had asked the girls to bring a shoe box as we are wrapping them in decorative paper!
I was afraid that we would be done too soon so after work yesterday, I went home and up to my new
"Craft Room" and cut out 30 cards and over 100 flowers with my Cricut Machine! They were to put on the cards so the girls could make Invitations for their parents!
TA DA!!
I wanted it simple so they could do it quickly ......
I made a sample for them to look at so they could follow what I did ...... HOWEVER,
I got some like this ..... done backwards .... Oh well, original, right? lol

And we did get most of them done.....
All in all, they did a good job. I had 3 stations set up and an advisor at each one to assist. Some did flowers, some boxes and some cards and then after they were done with one station, they went to the next!
I was so glad I did it that way because it worked out perfectly! It was a fun night and we accomplished a lot.
I simply love my craft room and my
Cricut machine!

Saved my bacon last night!! I have to thank my
AWESOME HUSBAND again for making this room for me! I can actually do my work, find my things and keep the room clean !
HALLELUJAH!

WAKE UP BRONCO NATION!!!

2011-09-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again!! Is EVERYONE getting all geared up to watch the
BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL ... EVER??
I know our household is!! Tony started listening to Jeff Caves and Mike Prater on FM 93.1 a couple of weeks ago and personally I find the two numbskulls very annoying but I love
BSU football!

CAN YOU SAY KELLEN MOORE? (I still reminisce on my airplane ride with him ....awhhhhh) lol
It's gonna be a
GREAT WEEKEND!! GO BSU!!

BUSY FROM DAYLIGHT TO DARK !

2011-08-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Tony and I had a very busy but productive Saturday! We started off the day by doing service at the church. We'd signed up to clean the building so we got up at 7:30 and ate a quick bite and headed to the church. We both grabbed vacuums and hit the chapel and got it all done before heading down the hall on one side and doing all the classrooms. We only had to do a couple of more rooms on the other side of the building as someone else started on that side later. We then washed the door windows on one side of the building (and there are quite a few) and fortunately Brother Shiley and his children said they would do the opposite side of the building. After our service was finished, we went home to tackle the craft room.
Gotta get it finished!!!

I helped Tony place the cubicles in the position I wanted them and then in and then we began making the cuts needed and hauling up the desk tops. Tony nailed them in place. We had to take a bit of a break so we could prepare the Kahlua Pork Roasts that we were in charge of for the '"High Priest Group Party" which was held at 6PM Saturday evening.

After wards we got back to business while the smell of the delicious roasts tickled our nostrils! We cut the shelves and put them up. Tony had already got the brackets up earlier this week as well as the strip along the wall to hold up the back of the desk. After getting the desk top and brackets in place he put up the "Embellishment Center" and my ribbon holder ............. ignore Tony's radio on the shelf ....

There will be one more on the other side of the window as well but we are waiting for another shipment to come in!
PATIENCE LaVerne !!
After getting all in place, Tony caulked the back of the desk and the small nail holes. We both did the ends of the desk and shelves and now I will paint where it is needed but we couldn't do anymore because we had to go to the potluck activity! I had a hard time quitting!
ISN'T IS AWESOME? I will be putting things in place this coming week! Yehaw!! Can't wait to start working in it!

The activity was held in Art and Lynn's backyard. We invited the Elders and here they are shaking hand with everyone as they arrived.

We sat and waited while Tony shredded the meat. The women weren't really happy about my camera. When I told them I have to document my day, they said "Don't you have anything better to do?" Man, if they only knew!!

The dinner was fantastic! The Kahlua Pork was a BIG HIT! It always is! Sooooooo DELICIOUS!!

Brother Stuckki gave the activity a BIG THUMBS UP!!

We had a bout 35 people show up and ran out of chairs. They sat along the patio and didn't seem to mind at all. It was an enjoyable activity and a dang good dinner.
Tony and I left after a couple of hours and went home to chill and watch an episode of NCIS (our personal favorite!) bit before going to bed. We were wore out!

Today is going to be a busy Sunday. I have Ward Council at 9am, then Choir practice at 10:15 and we are sing in Sacrament which immediately follows. Then during the Sunday School hour, Tony and I have to run to the Stake house to renew our Temple Recommends. Then back to our building for Young Womens from 1 to 2PM. Then I have "Prepare The Way" with the youth from 3 to 4 and then a Presidency meeting from 4 to 5 or so at my house!
YIKES!! I thought Sunday was a day of rest! lol
NOT WHEN YOUR YW'S PRESIDENT!

CHECK OUT THIS PAINT JOB !

2011-08-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Traci and the kids went down to Utah a couple of weeks ago and went to the Lagoon with Heather & Jon and Rowan! Andrew got his face painted and LOVED IT!!
See why??
Guess he wouldn't wash his face for two days!!
EVERY LITTLE BOY'S DREAM!!

LI'L ABNER CLEANING MY HOUSE !~ LOL Check out the boots!

2011-08-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I did laundry and cleaned house while Tony washed all the little cobwebs off the house with a
"POWER WASHER"!

AND BOY DID IT NEED IT!!!

He washed out several wasps that had made homes in the nooks and crannies ........

and all those nasty webs that get filled with Nat's!!

It looks 100% better ..............

Now we have to get all the leaves cleaned up ..... Can't believe they drop all summer!! That Willow is always dropping SOMETHING!!

Then he washed off the steps and driveway and the little homestead looks mighty fine! lol

Then early afternoon, we went and purchased all the materials for the shelves that are going to be put up in my
CRAFT ROOM!!
Yahoo, I can't wait! We asked MOM and DAD NORTON and BOB and JOYCE HAVERFIELD to go to
"17 Miracles" with us Saturday evening so we didn't get any shelves put up but we will work on that tonight when I get home from work.

The movie was really good. Sure makes me appreciate our Pioneer Heritage!! I could not have done what they did!! SERIOUSLY!!

HUBBY JUST MADE A DATE FOR TONIGHT !

2011-08-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

1st of all, I was getting ready for work this morning and I said to my husband ....
"I wish it was Friday!"
Tony says ... "It is Friday!"
SERIOUSLY??
For some reason I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday!
YEHAW!!

Now it is 3:30 and I've got one more
B. O. R. I. N. G.
hour left! BUT Tony called me and asked if I wanted to go to the movie tonight!
NOT ONLY YES BUT HECK YES!!

We are gonna go see Captain America!I've heard it's really good and I think he's good lookin so I'm game!!

A start to a great weekend that I thought I had one more day to wait for! lol

UPDATE: It was soooooooo good!
FUN MOVIE!!
We both really enjoyed it!!

KINDA A FUN MOVIE !~

2011-08-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

OK, so Tony and I went to
"COWBOYS & ALIENS"
last Friday night.It was pretty fun! Those danged old Aliens had the cowboy and Indians helping each other out!
Sounds bizarre ....... and it was a bit ..... but we liked it!!
WHAT A CONCEPT!! and who doesn't like watching Daniel Craig?? lol

AWESOME FIRESIDE LAST NIGHT!!

2011-08-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last night there was a Fireside at the Roosevelt building for the youth and their parents and the leaders. Richard Paul Evans (author) is in town for a book signing (today) on his new book entitled "Michael Vey"! For those who don't know him ...(probably EVERYONE does!!) He wrote
"THE CHRISTMAS BOX" .....
his 1st book ....... and has written SEVERAL since!!
He was a PHENOMENAL speaker! He spoke for a little over an hour and the audience was mesmerized!! He was funny, serious, emotional, intriguing and inspiring!! It was a fabulous meeting and I was so glad Tony and I went!!
Now I'm gonna dig out all my books by him (I have at least three) to reread them and I may have to purchase some more! lol

FINALLY ...... COOL AIR AGAIN!!

2011-08-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

It only took two weeks BUT FINALLY we have air conditioning again!! It won't feel cool till morning BUT at least we have it now!! He said it was so hot in here that it will take all night to get it down to where it will feel good again!!
HALLELUJAH! Cool again .... well I will be tomorrow!!

WELCOME # 27 !!

2011-08-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

After a grueling day in the sweat shop (the air conditioner is still on the fritz!!) Tony and I went over to Meridian to welcome our newest grandson. " Lehi James" was born on Sunday at 6:18 and weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces. He was smaller than Nephi.He is sure a cute little stinker. Very alert and calm!!

He has his 1st BSU cap but it kept sliding off his little head!!
What a sweet little bundle of JOY !!

UTAH WEDDING WEEKEND!~

2011-08-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Utah for Cory and Alivia's wedding! We left Friday morning and drove Art's truck as well as pulled Tony's utility trailer so we could haul the old bedroom set to Heather and Jon. We left around 9:30 AM. After getting to Heather's and unloading the furniture we drove to Bountiful where Alivia and Cory had a "PRECEPTION" ......
It was pretty cool! She didn't want to have to worry about the reception after the wedding ceremony on Saturday so she had a BIG party in the park with food and games and visiting! It was an AWESOME idea !!!
I got several shots of the wedding couple as we were helping set up for the big bash!
The park was beautiful and a great location for the kids to run and play while the grownups visited and relaxed!
Good company and good food!
What more does a
person need ??
The little ones had fun in the playground area as well as at the pavilion where Alivia had bubbles and sidewalk chalk for them to play with! What a great idea!!!
Got a picture of all the Norton gals!
Cory, Alivia and her cousin Melissa and her hubby Nate. Alivia and Melissa were close growing up!! (AND STILL ARE!)
Awhhhhhh! A sweet kiss in parting !

After we left the park, we took Mom and Dad Norton to the condo and then Tony and I drove back to Layton to stay with Heather and Jon! (After all, we have a bed to sleep in there now! LOL
It was fun to spend a little time with them. It was late so after playing with Rowan and throwing him on the new bed several times, we all called it a night and hit the sack! In the middle of the night I suddenly woke up and realized I'd left my Temple recommend at home in my bag. I told Tony and after a minute of panic, I went back to sleep!
Saturday was busy and somewhat hectic!! (and we weren't even the wedding couple! lol) We drove to the condo to pick up the folks. Dad wanted to wash up the bike that they had brought down for Diane. We drove to a place in the basement of the condo where there was a hose and Art washed the bike all up. Then we drove to a WalMart to get a seat & a stem for the bike ......they didn't have one so Art decided he would just let Jess get that because we still needed time to stop at IKEA to pick up some things for Traci. We did and then went onto Diane's for a brief visit and to drop off the bike. We still needed to go back to the condo and change into church clothes so we took off and of course got delayed because of a wreck on the freeway. I remembered (AGAIN) that I didn't have my temple recommend so I called my Bishop and he said "Just have the Temple President call me and I will vouch for you." ........ We get to the condo and make a quick change of clothes and head out again ..... Art realizes he's forgot the key card in the condo but says "lets go, we'll just tell them we are in a hurry and it's in the condo room" ............ We get to the gate in the parking lot to get out and they won't let us out unless we pay $15 because we don't have our key card! ART WASN'T HAPPY ...... He turns around (and of course there are two people behind us that have to move 1st) and we drive to the other exit but there is no one there so Art runs to the security office and they said "It's the rule!! He has to pay $15 dollars! So Art goes back upstairs to get his key and FINALLY ..... we are off!! I had white knuckles cuz he was driving like a bat outta %$#@ ! lol
We get to the Temple with 15 minutes to spare before the wedding starts! The place is PACKED!!! It was sooooo busy! I fill out the card to have them call my Bishop and then I wait ...... and wait ....... and wait...... I finally tell Tony to go ahead and go in!! I sure don't want him to miss it!!
The PATRONS tell me how busy the President is but they have called up to the wedding and told them to wait. I'm embarrassed and humiliated and tell them to go ahead and let the wedding begin. I'll stay down here with the kids. They say " NO, it will be OK" ........ I wait some more and start to
feel like one of the 10 virgins who forgot her oil!!
Finally, he says, I can go up!!! I'm of course the last one in and get the stares from everyone in the room when I enter! Arghhhhhhh!
Anyway, she was married in spite of me and it was beautiful!!
The Bountiful Temple is gorgeous!!

And Alivia was RADIANT !

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Irwin!!
After the pictures were done we went to Chuck A Rama for a wedding dinner but Alivia and Cory took off to start their new life together!!
After dinner several of us went to Robin and Debs to visit. We then took the folks to the condo and we headed back to Heather's. It was about 9:15 when we arrived. Rowan was happy to see us!
Tony installed 4 lights for Heather and Jon and Rowan held the flashlight to help grampa see! (check out where he is shining!! lol)

Sunday, we went to Sacrament with Heather and Jon and then left immediately afterward to drive to the condo to pick up Art and Lynn. We then drove back to Layton, grabbed a quick lunch and then went to Heather's to load the trailer again and we were off!!
Around 5:30Pm Colby called us to inform us that Lehi James had finally arrived!! We were 3 hours out still and hoped to stop and see him when we arrived!
We finally pulled into Boise about 8:30 and went directly to the Baby Place. The nurse told us that we would have to wait because Baby hadn't eaten yet and they were trying to get him to do so. She didn't know how long it would be so we drove to Kuna to drop off the things we had picked up for Traci.We didn't make it back to see the baby yet but we got a picture of Proud Papa and new son!! We're going over tonight after I get off work!
CAN"T WAIT to welcome # 27! ~
It was a beautiful sunset and a wonderful ending to a beautiful weekend!!

THIS IS HOW HOT IT IS! ~

2011-08-03T20:10:00.001-07:00

The air conditioner is still out at work.....
To give you an idea of just how hot it is ...... This piece of chocolate was in my desk drawer.
I opened it up and it is totally melted!!
I threw it away cuz I'm such a good dieter ..... LOL but also cuz it was such a melted mess!!

So we got a chunk of ice out of the freezer and stuck it on a plate in front of the fan.......

It melted really fast and didn't really help a whole lot!
Hope this dang thing gets fixed SOON!

CAN YOU SAY HOT ???

2011-08-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Man.......
do I wish I could go home !!!

Our air conditioner here at work, went out last Monday. The man came in to fix it but didn't have it done till 3PM.
I GO HOME AT 4:30!!!
It was a hot day! Way past 80 on the thermometer. It was nice again on Tuesday morning when I got to work!
Last Friday, it went out again and this morning when I came to work ...........................
Well, you know!!! We had a guy come in AGAIN and this time he has to order a part and it could take a few days!
IN THE MEANTIME WE WILL BE DRIPPING HOT!!
Wish we could close up shop!!
YEAH, RIGHT!!!!

POPCORN AND A MOVIE !!~

2011-07-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

Tony and I took it easy today! We did a little work in the yard and garden and then chilled the remainder of the day!
IT WAS GREAT!!
Did a little grocery shopping and then we went to a movie at the Dollar Theater!

THOR IS HOT! lol
FUN day and we both needed to relax after this past week!