Amy's 19th

We celebrated Amy's (gulp) 19th birthday in Orem this week. We had a great time shopping, going to dinner, attending the celtic folk band "Kirkmount" 's concert, and eating pie and opening presents.



No, I'm not kidding. This is really how excited Amy was, waiting for the concert to start!



Amy with her birthday pumpkin pie.



Sam and Amy "bustin' some moves" before karate class.



We visited cousins while there. Amy is holding Manda and Ivan's baby, Asher.



Mindy, Amy, Allyson, Sydney, Maddie, Stephanie, and Jessica in Sean and Stephanie's backyard.

Pumpkins!

I told Grandpa Jeff I'd be "right up" to bed, but then I read Ally's blog and realized I should post some pictures of their pumpkins we carved last night. I haven't quite figured out my new camera so the pictures aren't as good as they should be, but you can get the idea...



"Tyler" carved a dragon, then stamped a star and a Mickey.



Ally designed her own original Jack-o-Lantern face...



Julie's pumpkin has vampire teeth...



And Maddie's kitty is definitely not done justice in this blurry photo...

Dad's took a little longer. Photo later...

All pretty cool, huh? Happy Halloween!

Talented Gal

My niece, Sarah, has highly entertaining children and posts a "quote of the week" from one of the three on her blog. We got to see their family for a few minutes while visiting in Utah last weekend...and I'M going to steal her quote this week! (I'm sure there will be plenty more...I hope she doesn't mind.)

Sarah was doing 4-year-old Ben's Spiderman make-up for a party they were supposed to attend in half an hour. She was just whipping it out and I said, "Wow, Ben. Your mom is SO talented."
Ben's answer- "Yeah! ...AND she's good at...DOIN' STUFF!"



I think I'll have to agree...Not only did she make a great Spiderman costume...


She created a pretty groovy Fred, Velma, and Scooby Doo and an "amazthing glittery Thea Therpent!" What a fun family!

Happy Anniversary!

We've been gone all weekend, so I'm late in wishing David and Loretta a happy 12th anniversary. I am so proud of all their accomplishments and growth in those twelve years. I'm so glad to have Loretta and the girls in our family. It certainly wouldn't be the same without them. I love you guys! Happy anniversary!

A New Start

Maddie and Julie had their first junior high school orchestra concert last night. We were all prepared for squeaky violins as all the students in Julie's group have only been playing for seven weeks. To our surprise and delight, the beginning orchestra sounded great! They played four songs in unison, and they were wonderful! Maddie's intermediate group played well too and had a fun time with their last number, "Dragon Slayer." They borrowed some percussionists from the band and made their song sound really dramatic with gongs. I thought they sounded almost as good as the advanced group!

The principal wouldn't let the orchestra teacher, Mr. Schultheis, put this quote on the programs for the concert, as it mentioned God. But I really like it, so I'm posting it here:

"Bach gave us God's Word,
Mozart gave us God's laughter,
Beethoven gave us God's fire,
God gave us music that we might pray without words."
**Quote from outside an old opera house***

I never appreciated classical music until Amy joined orchestra. Now I love it! I'm so glad Maddie and Julie decided on orchestra for their sixth grade elective. I feel like I'm starting a great adventure all over again!

I am a Witch - Well, no Surprise There, Right?

You Are a Witch (or Warlock)

You are deviously brilliant and a perfect manipulator. You somehow always end up getting what you want - without anyone knowing you're working behind the scenes. Crafty and cunning, you can work your way out of any jam. And it's easy for you to get people to do what you want, whether you're working for good or evil. Your greatest power: Mind control Your greatest weakness: Making people your puppets You play well with: Ghosts

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Who Needs Toys?

It's not like Gramma Linda and Grampa Jeff don't have the coolest toys ever at their house. It's not like Gramma Linda can go to Walmart or Babies 'R' Us without finding some new fun thing for the babies to play with. It's not like the toy bins are not constantly filled with the latest and greatest of play things. No, it's not that. It's just...who needs them when there's an empty box around to play with???


Tyler, kicking back...


Little cousins can fit in together...


...till one of them gets a better idea!


Every time Maddie said, "Tyler, look at me and smile," this is what she got...


Even a "big girl" can have fun in an empty box. Ally-looking comfy...

Sydney and her Papa

Jeff was marking jobs to bid in Construction Notebook. Sydney decided she needed to help.


She thinks he should go for THIS one!

Guilty Confessions

Shhhh...Don't tell anyone...but...I'M LISTENING TO A CHRISTMAS CD THIS MORNING! I do like this new "Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Song..."


I'm going to listen to Josh Groban's new "Noel" next...I hope I can finish them before anyone comes over and catches me...

I absolutely love this time of year. I LOVE Halloween-not the creepy, scary, gross part of it, of course, but the fun part - little kids in princess and puppy dog costumes, parties at school, Trunk-or-Treat at the church, making stew in a pumpkin for dinner, handing out candy, all the excitement.


Tyler in his first Halloween costume, 2005. You can't get any cuter or any more fun than this!

And, even more than Halloween, I LOVE Thanksgiving! Family, food, fun, and relaxation with none of the stress of the other two holidays this season. I love cooking the food (one of the few times a year I can actually say that.) I love having whoever can be here with us(I think that's supposed to be "whomever," but WHOM speaks like that???) I love playing games after dinner and usually trying to take the family picture for Christmas cards. I especially love it if we have extended family here. That makes it really fun.


The Duncans were here for Thanksgiving last year and we enjoyed visiting with them all together for the last time before Elisabeth got married and Stephen left on his mission.

And, best of all. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas, my favorite holiday of the year. I can't think of a thing I DON'T love about Christmas. Most of all I love celebrating the birth of my Savior and feeling the emphasis on His love in this season. I love reading the story of His birth, thinking about His life, contemplating His atonement, and pondering how I can better follow His example. I should do these things more all year, but I especially take the time at Christmas...

And, guilty confession #2, (shhh...don't tell anyone...) I don't even mind having Christmas items in the stores already! I love that part of Christmas too. I love having the house all decorated - putting out the Holiday Barbies, setting up the Christmas village, putting lights up outside, getting out the Christmas dishes, setting up the Nativity sets, buying and wrapping gifts, decorating the tree, making cookies, fashioning gingerbread houses, making and delivering treats for the neighbors, being Secret Santas and doing the "Twelve Days of Christmas," - all the fun stuff that also comes with the season. Can you tell? I just absolutely LOVE Christmas...


Last year, Christmas morning, early...

Guilty confession #3 - I have already started Christmas shopping...for the "little" girls and the babies...Still hoping to make a couple of presents for this year too...

So, although I am "confessing," I make no apologies. I LOVE this time of year. I'm glad to have a chance to sit back, count my blessings, and once again give thanks for how really, truly blessed I am.

I Hope Julie is Happy

I just wanted to point out to my sweet granddaughter that I DID in fact make a post every day for a week, starting last Tuesday. I even made TWO posts on Monday. Unfortunately I missed yesterday, which was the day she congratulated those who had posted on that day. :( I do know how you feel, Julie. I LOVE seeing new posts when I check people's blogs.



I need to take more pictures of my BIG granddaughters by themselves! (Allyson and I have decided we can't in truth call them "the little girls" anymore. They are growing up too fast for this old grandma.) This is the latest I have of Julie "alone." This is her first grade teacher who came to see Julie as the Wicked Witch in her fifth grade play.

A New Look

Hmmm. Those who know how much I ADORE (ABHOR?) change will be shocked to see my new template. It may not last, but I decided to go for a more fallish look, a la Loretta. (I even created a new word like she did. Do you like the adjective "fallish?")


To complete the fallish look, a lovely couple last Halloween.


And some cool pumpkins at last year's "Trunk or Treat."

Sydney and the Giant Peach

Allyson walked by the counter Friday and Sydney helped herself to a peach.


We fished out all the pieces of peel as she ate and finally made her stop when she'd eaten half the peach all the way down to the seed.


She may be only ten months old, but she knows what she likes.

Ward Halloween Party

Last night was our annual Ward Chili Cook-Off, Halloween Carnival, and Dessert Auction to benefit the Cub Scouts. Dad bid on and won several desserts and also won Gloria M's ward-famous flan cake in the paper airplane flying contest. The activity was a big success and a lot of fun as usual.

Gypsy Grandma D., Superman Nathaniel, Goth Julie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ally, Medieval Lady Maddie, and Sydnnie Mouse at the party.

Sydnnie Mouse was much too busy to pose for a photo...

Nathaniel came over from Kingman to go to the party...

A couple of people actually guessed that Ally was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Must have been that cool stake Uncle Brian carved for her...

I'm not sure where Julie was when we were doing individual pix, but this one shows the cool Goth she was...as opposed to the Raven she started out to be...

Maddie borrowed our friend Mandy's beautiful costume to become a beautiful Lady...

The cool volcano cake Ally made and Dad won at the auction...

I had to put this one on for Amy. Doesn't our friend Willie make a great Jack Sparrow?

It's the Little Things...

For 25 years, I sewed on the Kenmore sewing machine Jeff got me just after we got married. It was a good machine and I got a LOT of use out of it. The last couple of years I had it were very frustrating though, as it lasted EXACTLY as long as its 25 year warranty said it would...and not a year longer...

When the time came that I could no longer put off getting a replacement, I decided on a little machine from the local quilt shop. It was on sale, in my price range (I couldn't spend a FORTUNE on a machine, because I don't get to sew all that much any more,) AND it has a great machine applique stitch for quilts.


I absolutely LOVE my little machine. It is easy to use, the applique stitch is perfect and almost looks hand done, and it works flawlessly. It also has metal gears like my old Kenmore, something that even the new Kenmores don't have any more.

But you want to know what I love best about my new machine? It's the littlest thing, and every time I use it it just makes me HAPPY!

I LOVE the automatic needle threader!!! Each time I thread my machine and use it to put the thread through the needle I just appreciate it so much!

Sometimes, it just takes a little thing to make me happy...

Scrapbook Corner

I started to write my post this morning and ended up spending three hours organizing and editing pictures on my computer. (Hmmmm...I thought Friday was supposed to be housecleaning day...This was much more fun and satisfying.) So, finally, here I go.

Some, (including my husband, who ought to already know!!) might have wondered why we scrapbooked in my bedroom last weekend at our scrapbook "retreat" as shown above. Jeff asked me twice when he got home, "But why did you do it in the BEDROOM?"

These two pictures are the opposite corner of the room from where Ally is sitting.

If you had all these supplies upstairs, wouldn't you think it was easier to scoot the bed over and bring up a table and some chairs than to run up and down stairs all weekend long getting things you needed?

We did!

Beach Trip

This may not look like everyone's ideal of a "tropical beach," but this is where we took Jeff's mom for her 75th birthday. It is one of three "pocket beaches" (translate: tiny) in a row in Malibu, California.

El Matador, Pescador, and La Piedra...

...are great winter beaches, full of tidepools, and covered with shells and rocks.

I've never seen so many mussels in one place...

...and the rocks were COVERED with sea stars (aka: starfish) the first day, but not the second! Interesting...

Some adventurous souls even braved the chilly water...

...and Dad tried out his new skim board.

"And a good time was had by all."
Grandma Mary Anne S. with her three children- Mike, Joy, and Jeff, 9-28-07