The 1 year mark!

It's hard to believe that Matthew has been out on his mission for just over a year now. Some times it seems like it has gone by fast and some times it seems like it is taking forever (usually that's when I am out doing yard work). Matthew has loved serving in England and loves the people over there. He has been made a trainer of a greenie so they must love him too. I didn't realize but a missionary tradition is to burn one of your white shirts when you hit your year mark. Here he is burning his. Beth said the sister missionaries burn panty hose...I think I would burn those before I left.


This is a picture he took of himself while on his bike, isn't he handsome and I love all the green in the background

This is one of the many catherals that he has been to. There are only parts of this one left but he has sent some pictures of some beautiful old buildings. Some are just loaded with beautiful landscaped grounds with tons of flowers.

And of course boys will be boys...here he and his companion and another elder have made time on the Prep day to go to a car show. He loves the Mini Coopers and says he wants to get one when he gets home. I'm not sure he would even fit in one, he might be to tall. I guess it will be ok because he says it will just be his 2nd vehicle. He still wants a truck to drive too. I think he is dreaming.

I hope he continues to enjoy serving the Lord in England for the next year and they enjoy having him there. I also hope for my sake it goes as fast as the first year has gone. See you soon Snooky! We miss you!

Memorial/Craft Weekend

I know it's a little late... but better late than never. On Memorial weekend Beth and I took 4 of my grandkids to our little cabin in Heber. This is the first time any of us had been there for quite a while. Luckily everything was in good shape after a cold winter. Beth decided that everyone needed craft projects to do while we were there so she planned and organized crafts for all. Well everyone except me and I always have more projects going than one person could ever finish in a life time. Here is Jessah crocheting. I actually had shown her how on Mother's Day weekend and she was still at it so I decided a new stitch and some new yarn was needed. Off to Walmart we went before we left to pick up the new yarn. She is making some coasters here. I can't remember how many she got made but she was whipping them out. You are doing a great job Jessah!

And then there was Reagen and her craft. Beth brought stuff for she and the girls to make hair flowers and Reagen went crazy. Last count she had 17 made. They were turning out so cute, she should have enough of them for every outfit she wears when she gets back into school after her summer break. Jessah and Beth both got some of these made too.

Thane is into coloring so when I was at Walmart picking up Jessahs yarn I found this tiger picture that came with all the markers. he colored every little inch of it. It kept him busy when he wasn't outside hitting the baseball around...he loves sports. Good job Thane!

And here is our cute little Faithy. She wasn't to much into the crafts. Oh she colored a little, modeled the hair flowers but she also played outside in the dirt. She is so girly, girly but for some reason she love digging in the dirt. Maybe she needs someone to show her some gardening tips.

And of course a trip to the cabin with kids just wouldn't be complete without getting the little ole jeep out. Someone gave this to Matthew as a joke when he turned 16 and boy I think the grandkids have driven it about 50,000 Miles since then. Poor thing needs a new battery, it only last about 1/2 hr. even when it is fully charged. The kids do love it tho and have made a path through our driveway and into the neighbors. Good thing the neighbors don't mind.

This weekend I am going to be with the same bunch of kids and we are heading to Flagstaff for the day on Saturday for the Army Family Day. Their dad has been up there for his yearly National Guard maneuvers. They will be glad to see daddy after him being gone for 2 weeks now and he will be glad to see them. I will post those pictures when we get back.

Happy Birthday Hunter

This cute little boy that I am with had a birthday on Friday. My Grandson, Hunter turned 5 years old on Friday and is so excited to start school in July. He had a birthday party on Memorial weekend with family and friends but because I was out of town I decided to take him on his birthday to one of his favorite places...Panda Bears (as he calls it). Aunty Beth and Carrie joined us, along with cousin Reagen. He told us all about his great day going to Build a Bear with his mom and brother Connor. He wanted to make sure we knew he didn't build a bear but a dog and of course his dog had to have a puppy so apparently he got to build 2.

After we were done eating our dinner we walked across the parking lot and got us an ice cream cone at Crazy Subs. They have the best rootbeer and vanilla swirl cones there, just like eating a rootbeer float. We them took it outside to eat and open his gifts. He hates getting his picture taken but I was able to snap a few. Aunt Beth took him to see the new Kunfu Panda movie after. Hope you had a great 5th birthday H-Dawg!

Mother's Day!

What a great Mother's Day I had. This is how I spent the day...I started out having breakfast with all these cuties. I had all six of my grandchildren at the house and Beth and Carrie fixed us the best french toast with homemade syrup. It was yummy but the item that was the biggest hit was the chocolate milk. I think we went through almost a full gallon of milk. The girls couldn't keep it made fast enough.

After breakfast we started our wait...the wait for our missionary serving in the England Birmingham mission to call/skype us. The wait is a very stressing time especially for the mother (me), so while we were waiting we decided to go outside and do a photo shoot. Not often I get all six grandkids together at the same time. Our busy 13 year old Jessah doesn't get to come often so we all get excited when we do have her. We had alot of fun coming up with as many different poses as we could and of course everyone had to have his/her picture with one cousin and then another.

Finally we got the call. It was so fun talking to him. He even has an english accent. Apparently I am now a mum instead of a mom. Made me feel like the queen mum. Of course Matthew thought we talked funny too...so American he said. Humm...how things change and he has only been gone a year. He loves serving in England and loves his wonderful English friends that he has made.

The kids had a blast talking to Uncle Matthew. We didn't want him to forget the chaos it is when we are all together. He even tried to get his dog's attention but there was just to much noice and to much was going on here and Lily didn't catch on. He got to stay on the line for about 45 minutes. We didn't want to let him go but there are rules we had to follow. We are just thankful for the time we got.

My next stop was to the home of the "grill master" He treated me to the most wonderful, juicy steak. He knows exactly how I like it....rare. I had a wonderful day and was treated like a queen.

To end the day I went to visit my own Mother. She is the best but I forgot to take my camera snap a picture of her. Thanks Mom for all you have done for me and my family. We all love you.

Happy Mum's Day to all!

Quilting Weekend

April was a very busy month for me at work so I was so glad to know I had a quilting weekend coming up at the end of the month. Crystal is heading back to school in June so we decided our "Funny Bunny" quilting group needed one more get a way before she left, so we packed up all our sewing gear and headed north to the pine trees. The nights were still a bit chilly but we built a nice fire every night and snuggled up in our quilts to stay warm and toasty.


Crystal was working on this beautiful double wedding ring quilt. She was using batiks, I loved the colors she used. Hopefully she gets it finished before she needs to start studying.

Debbiesue was working on the Photo quilt for her parents 60th wedding anniversary. She is treating them to a Alaskan cruise and will present this quilt to them on the cruise boat. I wish I could be there to see it all. She had some of the cutest old pictures she was using. Congrats to them!

Bunny was putting together this quilt for one of her neices...lucky neice. Bunny was also our hostess as we went to her cabin this time. Thanks Bunny! (Sorry the picture is sideways, I don't know what I did.)

Me, well I worked on several smaller things. I needed to get my little May quilt ready to hang as it was May 1st when we headed home. I also worked on some quilt blocks for a quilt for my missionary son. I want to have it done to send to him for his birthday in August.

As I drove up to meet the rest who had left a couple of hours before I was able to leave I was so tempted to keep going to my own cabin in Heber. I hadn't been there since Oct. I resisted the temptation but on Sat. afternoon I announce that I was taking a break from sewing and head to Heber to check on things there. Everyone decided to take a break and come along. It turned out to be a good thing that we went up and checked because I found that I have a water leak that will need to be fixed before I can spend much time up there this summer. At least I know that I need to take a repairman (aka-a son) up with me the next time I go.

After a wonderful relaxing weekend quilting with friends I was ready to head back to work for another busy week. Crystal, we will miss you while you are at school. Hopefully you will find a little time we can meet up and catch up.

Birthday Girl!

Today is this cute girl's 10th birthday. It is hard to believe that Reagen, my granddaughter is already that old already. It seems like just yesterday that she was born. When she was born she was a tiny little baby and now she has grown into this tall beautiful girl.

Speaking of babies, she also loves them and has already promised to babysit her newest little cousin, Avery, when she gets a few years older. She enjoys getting a little practice now.

Here are a few other cute guys she got to hang out with this weekend, Hunter and Connor. She loves trying to keep up with Connor too.

Here she is with little sister, Faith and friend Sedona.

Happy Birthday Reagen, we all love you!

Drive-In Movie

When was the last time you have been to the drive-in movies? For me it has been...well lets just say a very very long time. Last weekend I was watching my 3 grandkids for the night so Beth and I decided to take them to see the movie "Rio" at the drive in. We picked up some treats, got the kids jammies on, grabbed some blankets and pillows and headed to the movies. We arrived and started to get settled in before the movie started. Here are Thane and Reagen trying to decide just where to get settled in.
Each of the kids had picked out a snack to share with everyone and Grandma brought the popcorn. Everyone got their own little container for all their goodies.

Then it was time for the movie to begin. I tried to take a picture of the movie screen but couldn't get a picture to turn out. Beth and Faith decided to spread a blanket on the ground and sit outside to enjoy the outdoor weather.

Reagen and Thane settled in inside the back of the car. Now that we were all settled in the movie started and we were enjoying watching Rio. It was a real cute movie but about an hour into the movie everything on the screen showed upside down. Took me a minute before I figured out this wasn't a part of the movie. The sound now was also a bunch of mumble jumble that couldn't be understood. Then it was announce that they were having some technical problems and they would have it fixed and going as soon as possible, so we waited...and waited. About a half hour later they announced they were still working on it and then 15 minutes later it was announced that since it was time for the 2nd feature to start they would not be showing the end of Rio. They would gladly give us tickets to come back another time.

The kids were disappointed that they wouldn't see the end of the show. So as Beth went to retreive tickets to return, I got the car all packed back up and got the kids buckled and ready to leave. As Beth returned with the tickets and the rest of us were ready to leave, all of a sudden Rio returned to the screen. Humm...now what to do? We didn't want to unpack it all again so after backing into our space in the beginning we decided to leave everyone in their seats and just turn the car around and watch the end of the movie. The kids were glad to at least watch the out come of the movie. I am sure we missed some between the time it orginally stopped and where it picked up again but at least we found out what happened to Rio. The kids, Beth and I all had a great evening even with the technical difficulties. It did make a late night tho with the delay, here is how we brought the kids home, all sound asleep.

Fun night at the movies and now we have tickets to go back again. YEA! See you at the movies!