Grandma Bobby's Blog

Surprise letter!

2010-05-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago I came home to a surprise. I received a letter from my favorite high school teacher. He was an English teacher and he wrote about how he had saved stories that 31 of his former students had written and he decided to find addresses of the students and send them back. He was able to find 18 addresses, one of which was mine. He also wrote about how surprised he was to read that one of his students had become a teacher since she had always sat in the back of the room whispering to her best friend. Yes, that was me. It was the only class that Diane and I had together that year. So because I was so surprised that anyone would save my writing I am including the story here. I don't remember writing it but it sounds like me. I have never liked being alone.

Week at the Condo

2010-03-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

No this isn't from the Condo but I love this picture so I had to throw it in. All of the boys went skiing with Audrey and James. That is not really Pat's mouth , but it is a cool picture and I am so glad they enjoy doing things together which bring us to last week at the condo... Last week was our week at the Condo. The best part about the condo for me is just being with the family. Everyone was able to go this year. It is so fun to watch our grown sons with their wives and families. What good mothers our daughter-in-laws are and what good fathers our sons are. I am always so impressed at how well everyone get along with each other.

We played games (Agricola is a new favorite), sat in the hot tub, cross country skied, played on the playground, played tennis and had a visit from a leprechaun. Our grandchildren loved the box of dress up clothes that we found in the upstairs closet. Here are some highlights of our extended weekend. (Anyone know how to get rid of this underlining?)

Look what the leprechaun brought.

You don't want to mess with Andrew...

or with Audrey!

We had beautiful princesses...

in all sorts of outfits.

Our two youngest grandchildren spent time together.

Here they all are after the leprechaun visit.

More grandchildren pictures.

Pat, Phil, and Tavish with Chelsy and the 7 youngest grandchildren. I love this picture.

Mom and Dad's Anniversary

2010-02-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

What do you give your parents for their 60th anniversary? We sure didn't know what to do. So we decided to give them us. Those of us that could traveled to Arizona to surprise them.Here are some of us on the way down.

Mom and Dad were sure surprised when we all walked in together. We went to dinner Saturday night and then had dinner at Jamie and Carols on Sunday!

Wow, 60 years of marriage is a long time! I hope we are as healthy and active as they are when we reach our 60th anniversary!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T08:03:00.000-08:00

What is Christmas?

2009-12-27T22:04:00.001-08:00

Christmas is spending time with extended family! Christmas is watching the excitement in the eyes of the children!

Christmas is Grandchildren!

Christmas is snow!

Sometimes it is cold!

Christmas is remembering the Birth and Life of our Savior as we celebrate by giving to each other! Spending time together is one of the best ways we give to each other!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Counting more blessings!

2009-11-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was especially meaningful to me because I was gathering ways that this beautiful mother of mine has made a difference in the lives of her family. Each day I would come home to e-mails from one of my children, brothers and sisters or their spouses and children. We even had some of the great-grandchildren respond. What a wonderful way to celebrate this month of giving to be reminded of the wonderful legacy I have been blessed to have from my mother and father. This summer we were able to go on a cruise with my parents and brothers and sisters and my in law brothers and sisters. It was so much fun, I wanted to post some of the pictures from our cruise. The lives of all of these adults have really been influenced by Mom and Dad! Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching us correct principles and for living the kind of lives you have.

Count Your Many Blessings!

2009-11-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

My Daughter-in-law has a wonderful blog where she records ways that she sees the hand of the Lord in her life. I love how she makes this a priority in her life. I want to share her idea and talk about how blessed we have been. I am so grateful for family. What a wonderful weekend this has been as we spent time together. Of course I was so busy watching my children and their families that I didn't take any pictures. Here is our latest family picture that we are using on our Christmas letter.Thursday most everyone was together for our Thanksgiving dinner, then after dinner Lucinda, Kyle and Lindsey came and later Pat and Julie who had dinner with her family also came over with their children. We played games throughout the evening. This picture is from a monthly Sunday dinner earlier this month. We are getting too big for our kitchen.

Friday morning we took Lydia out to lunch for her Birthday. We loved listening to her talk and talk. Then we got together for our yearly Gingerbread house night. Holly started this tradition when they were first married and we have kept it up. Again I went cameraless and so I didn't get a picture until we were home. Here are our creations.

Saturday Colin, Chelsy, Audrey and I went to see New Moon. Then today we ended the weekend by being able to attend Tavish's ward where he and his family spoke about gratitude. They all did a wonderful job. In addition to Tavish and Hollys great talks the children spoke and sang, Holly played the organ for the ward beautifully and Tavish pitch-hitted leading the music. We were so proud of them all. I don't think there is anything better for a grandmother than spending time with her family. I am so grateful that they are all living close and for every moment we have together. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Half Broke Horses

2009-11-14T10:59:00.000-08:00

The other day at lunch one of my co-teachers was telling us about her sister-in-laws. She told us how one of her sister-in-laws is a fitness guru, the other one just reads. Well I guess that could describe me...I just read. As long as I can remember reading has been my very favorite past time. If you know my mother you know where I got this from. And I am not the only one in my large family that picked this up. No matter how busy I am which is usually pretty busy I don't have a problem fitting reading into my schedule. Reading is not something I fit in, it is just something I do. Right now I am halfway through "Half Broke Horses." I have decided that the books I enjoy can usually be broken into two categories: Meat and Potato books and Dessert books. Dessert books would be like "Hush, Hush" and "Twilight". These books are page turners, you can't put them down. Most of the time when I have a dessert book I just stay up all night reading and do it in one or two sittings. Plus you look forward to reading another book in the series. "Half Broke Horses" is a Meat and Potatoes book. It was slow getting started, but once you are into it it is wonderful and best of all it sticks with you. " The Secret Life of Bees" is another example of a Meat and Potato book. These books make you think and think and really fill you up. "Half Broke Horses is written by a granddaughter about the life of her grandmother. This woman's life is amazing. You get so much insight into the way rural life was during the early 1900's. If you're looking for a memorable, filling book this is the one for you.

Decorating

2009-11-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

This summer I finished painting our upstairs rooms. Unfortunately I do not have any of my fathers decorating ability. Fortunately I have very creative daughter-in-laws. A few weeks ago I invited 2 of them over, set out all of my pictures and asked them to tell me what to do. They were wonderful and did it themselves. Not only that my rooms now have themes, something I would never have thought of.

Here is our bedroom. These pictures really don't do the settings justice.

This is our guest bedroom which now is the grandchildren room. Here is a collage of grandchildren pictures with lots of space for future pictures.

Another wall in the Grandchildren room.

The reading corner in the Grandchildren room. I am so glad all of my grandchildren love books.

Here is my office which used to be a bedroom when the kids were home. The theme on these walls is family. The girl and dog are not in the family, but will be replaced with a picture Chelsy is getting ready.

My ancestor corner in the office. We are changing the frames for Mom's and Dad's pictures.

And here is our oriental bathroom. They also put up an area for my children's high school and mission pictures, an area with wedding photos and an ancestor wall for Art. For the first time ever I feel like our whole upstairs is finished. Thank you Chelsy and Julie.

Today Chris asked me if I was ever going to put pictures in the basement. Sure I will, after I consult my decorators.

2009-10-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my cousin Bill passed away after years of dealing with an inoperable brain tumor. Even though I have only seen him lately at funerals and weddings I am really going to miss him. Bill was always larger than life to me. I looked up to him and always loved talking to him. I am so glad you are finally free Bill. http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Local-cowboy-hauled-by-mules-to-final-resting/FW-Klin26USCzzrGa6SztA.cspx ( If you click on this be sure and watch the video)

Time Passes!

2009-10-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that it is really October already! Time passes so fast. All summer I wanted to post the wonderful things that we had going on, but I never got to it. President Monson said once that you could think a thought to death... meaning that acting on the thought was what was important. Well I am the queen of thinking thoughts to death but not acting on them. So I have decided to catch up with some events that happened around here this last summer. And spending time with family has been the best part of it. One of our favorite parts of summer is going to the cabin. Each year we take a picture of all of us on the steps. Here are the past 6 summer step pictures. You will notice lots of great additions. Here we are this last August. Unfortunately Haley the newest member of the family was asleep and didn't get in the picture.
2008 brought a fun cabin trip. Thanks Mark for letting us borrow the motorcycles. We had a great time.
In 2007 we never got a whole family picture! For some reason we never did get Chelsy in the picture.
In 2006 Chris is a little blurry and we have a lot less babies. Audrey and James have sure changed.
It's 2005 in this picture. We fit on the steps a lot better in those days.
2004 is the first year we had a digital camera. Someday I will find all the prior pictures and make a Cabin step book. Somewhere I have pictures of my brothers and sisters on the Cabin steps. Thanks Grandpa Bay and Great Grandpa Bay for this wonderful memory building vacation spot. We love it.

2009-08-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

After school today I was talking to a women I work with whose Marine son had just returned from serving in Iraq. She was feeling so blessed that he returned in one piece and that he was mentally handling things after all he had seen while serving there. She told me several stories of unbelievable things he had seen, of the poverty and the violence that goes on in the daily lives of the people. One thing she passed on really stayed with me. He told her that people in the United States haven't a clue as to how blessed they are. All of the little irritations here that we have each day are nothing compared to what life is like over there.
At the Cabin our daughter-in-law was reading this book Three Cups of Tea. It is the story of a man who devotes his life to providing schools for children in Pakistan. I borrowed the book and am in the middle of reading it. It is amazing that this man who was not a wealthy man, in fact he really had nothing other than a job, yet he puts all of his efforts into saving money so he can fulfill a promise he made while staying in a village in Pakistan.
This summer I also listened to the Kite Runner about a man growing up in Afghanistan and the differences in his life as a Sunni and his servants son's life. Then he talks about how their lives change when the Taliban takes over. Both books are very interesting and really make you think about how blessed we are to live in a free country.
Tonight as school was over and I was exhausted after another busy day and I came home to a house still a mess from my painting I knew how insignificant my "irritations" are.

New Addition

2009-06-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! Summer brought with it a beautiful baby. We are so excited to have another girl in the family. We now have 12 girls and 9 boys in the family. That is remarkable because 8 years ago I was the only girl with 6 guys. I sure love the 11 new female additions. I love the 3 male additions too. How blessed we have been.

She made her appearance the day before school was out. Her parents now have 3 daughters. Her older sisters are so cute with her. I was able to spend some time with them this week while mom and baby recuperated.

The baby came a few weeks early. Dad has been busy getting their new home painted, repaired and ready to be moved into. I was impressed with how hard and how long he worked. Art and his brothers spent time helping too. Grandpa Bay is rubbing off on his grandsons.

They're Married

2009-06-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Chris and Michelle had a wonderful wedding day. Here they are walking out of the Temple after being married for time and all eternity. They were blessed to be able to have Grandpa Bay marry them. He gave amazing advice about how important it is for each partner to be unselfish in a marraige. The day was beautiful and everything went smoothly.
We had a very casual wedding luncheon at Pier 49 pizza. It was so nice having the family there to celebrate their union.

The reception was beautiful. The only glitch to the day was when the bride and groom were trying to make a quick escape and their keys got locked in the car. Colin was sent home to get another set of keys and after he got back their trunk wouldn't latch and they had to put off leaving for their honeymoon for a day. It's going to make a good story to tell in the future. It was a good thing that they had an apartment to go to to stay the night.

Here I am hugging one of my students as they came through the line.

In between Wedding and Haley!

2009-06-07T19:55:00.001-07:00

Here we are showing the family some land we purchaced near Mount Pleasant. Someday we might build a Cabin here.

My class was so excited to put on their program. I was so proud of them. The program went really well after a lot of hard work. Here are some pictures of the children before and during the program. I miss all of them already.

What will I wear?

2009-04-22T17:13:00.001-07:00

Two weeks and 3 days until Chris' wedding. At this point I have 3 dresses hanging in my closet. ( I don't like any of them, and they don't quite match the color Michelle chose.) Then I have two beautiful tops that are the perfect color and fit that I could wear together or alone if I could just find the a skirt the right color to go with them. I have ordered two skirts that should come tomorrow that I found on the internet, and I have material the right color to make one if push gets to shove. I have searched stores in Arizona and here looking for a skirt to match and haven't found anything. Today I found 3 cute pairs of shoes that I bought also the right color. Boy am I going to have a lot of returns after the Wedding. Who knows what I will end up wearing. I just want Michelle to have the wedding she pictures and I don't want my outfit to mess anything up.

2009-03-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to see the Hale Center Theater production of All Shook Up. This is a play that was written using all of Elvis Presley's music. (Kind of like Mama Mia did with Abba's music.) I had never heard of it before and I loved it. It was so funny! If anyone has a chance to see this play I would recommend it.

From the Mouth of Babes!

2009-03-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

We affectionately call our five year old grandson Underwear Man. He is obsessed with Super heroes and he loves to dress himself up and pose for pictures like this. Yesterday I was talking to him on the phone and he was telling me all that is happening in his family this week. He then asked me if we were going to go to dinner at Patty's (his mother's aunt's) house Sunday. I told him that we were not going because they were having a party for his mother's side of the family and we were on his father's side. A _____ then got his best, patient, I am a superhero and I know a lot more than my Grandmother voice, and he said "Grandma, there aren't SIDES, they (Mom and Dad) got married and now we are all family! It is too bad children have to grow up.

Why do I worry?

2009-02-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

Today I am really grateful that we have sons. In June we are going on a cruise with all of my brothers and sisters. The last few days there have been lots of e-mails and blogging about how we are going to get to California, where we are going to stay in California and what excersions we are going to go on. This is exciting to think about, but it is making me really nervous since we have a wedding a month and a half before the trip that is in the planning stages. And not only that,I still need to teach these 22 children to be better readers and to be ready for end of year testing and on top of that to put on a First Grade program around the same time as the Wedding. I am so glad that we only have the Wedding Breakfast and invitations to worry about (and a dress to find). And why am I such a worrier anyway it doesn't do any good. And look at what a cute couple Chris and Michelle are. So I am excited about the Cruise and when it comes I will already have another daughter-in-law and school will be over. Hopefully we will also have a new granddaughter before we leave. Just think, I could be getting ready to move my whole family to Italy!

Bathing Beauty and More

2009-02-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

Here are more weekend pictures. Next time I will have to remember to take pictures of the adults too!

The kids love spending time together! It is nice to have the two older ones to help out!

It is so fun having all of these girls. Quite a different experience than we had with all of our boys and boy cousins.

What is it about being Grandma?

2009-02-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

I just watched a video my daughter in law took of their daughers dancing. (See Phil and Chelsy's blog ) Their 3 and 1 year old are so... cute. But everytime I watch it I start to cry. What is it with us Grandmas? I had no idea how much I could love these little ones. My mother has 31 grandchildren and I wonder could she feel this same way about all of them? This last weekend we went up to Bear Lake to stay at the condo with the whole family. I treasured every minute I had playing with each child. Yesterday I was thinking how much I enjoy picking up Audrey each morning for school and being able to spend time with her, and also to getting a chance to see her two little sisters each morning before school. Then yesterday after school I drove home to find Tavish's children here to greet me after school as they were picking up skis at the house. Seeing them made my day. Our youngest son is getting married this May. It is so strange to know that our time for raising children is over. I wonder if that is why I treasure all of my time with their children. I know how fast this time is going to go. And being a grandparent is different. We don't have the responsibility, just the fun with the little ones. I love being grandma and I feel so blessed to have them all living close. I know that may change at any time. (Oh and I do love all of my children and their spouses too ... especially when they give me time with their children.)

Here we are decorating hats.

Sledding and having fun at the beach!

Could that be spider man's hand protecting his sister?

Here are our three newest additions. Little Mac, Little Tiffany and Chris' Michelle who will be a wonderful Aunt and Mother.

It's funny how you don't appreciate something until you have to go without it!

2009-01-29T21:22:00.000-08:00

Top 10 reasons I love having my car back!1. I can raise the seat and see over the steering wheel.
2. It can drive through any type of weather. I always feel safe. (Thank you Subaru! Thank you new tires!)
3. The heater warms up the car really fast!
4. It is really easy to put my school bags in the back seat. (Audrey drives to school with me and is in the front seat.)
5. The seat is heated!
6. The car has a big trunk!
7. I know which side the fuel tank lid is on!
8. It is an automatic!
9. It's cute! I really like having both bumpers fixed after I ruined both of them.
10. It's easy and painless to get into.

As you can tell the Jeep is none of the above, but I am grateful that I had reliable transportation for the 6 weeks that the car was being fixed. I am so glad that I have it back.

Family!

2009-01-18T20:51:00.001-08:00

I have not been very good at keeping up with this blog. So here are some updates. We have had an interesting few months. Here we are as a family. It is amazing that we have so many girls when 7 1/2 years ago I was the only female with 6 guys. And now we have 1 more girl coming to our second sons family ( that will be three daughters for them) and another daughter-in-law will join our family in May. We are excited!

2009-01-18T20:39:00.001-08:00

Grandchildren Sleepover January

2009-01-18T18:24:00.001-08:00

The last Holiday Tradition I have tried to have is a Grandchildren sleepover. We were unable to have one this year over Christmas break because of the mess from our flood. So this year it was held in January. We had our 13 and 11 year old grandchildren who for a lot of years were the only ones that came andwho are wonderful helpers with the younger ones. Then we had a 5 year old, 4 year old, 3 year old , 2 year old, and a 1 year old who had her mom come since she was a little young. The two babies will have to wait a few years before they come.

We had pizza, made fruit loop and bead bracelets, had rootbeer floats with cookies and then watched movies while most everyone slept in sleeping bags in the living room. Our youngest son showed up with his fiance as a surprise to watch the movie with us. It was exhausting, but lots of fun. I am already looking forward to next year.

Christmas

2009-01-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

We are so lucky to have all 5 of our sons living close. Here they are on Christmas Eve. And the bonus is that we have such wonderful daughter-in-laws and grandchildren that come along with them. After a Christmas Eve dinner Grandpa read the Christmas story while the little ones acted out the Nativity.

One of the wisemen watching the baby Jesus.

Angels, shepherds and Mary and Joseph.

Christmas Day two of the Grandchildren played in the snow.

It Comes in Threes!

2009-01-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

They say trouble comes in threes, but that didn't seem to work for us in December. First of all I was driving along minding my own business in town the first week of December. I was just stopping to slow down when - bang- I was hit from behind which pushed me into the car in front of me and then pushed that car into the front of her and so on. 5 cars in all were involved. My car looked squished, but was amazingly in good shape - I thought. It has been over 6 weeks and they have still not finished fixing it. Every time they fix one thing they find another part cracked that they hadn't noticed before. Well that was number 1.

Then the week before Christmas on the first day of vacation we turned on the water to find out that it wasn't working. Then we realized we could hear a son showering downstairs. That didn't make sense if we had no water. We went downstairs to find that it wasn't the shower we were hearing. A part to the newly fixed water heater had exploded and water was pouring out into the basement. These pictures are of us trying to get as much of the water up as we could as we waited for the disaster people to come and tear things up. The next two weeks they tore out walls, tore up carpet and pad and then put it all back together. They did a good job.

Number three - The same day we had the flood I was doing some final Christmas shopping in Orem (driving Hubby's car of course since mine is being fixed) when I had just stopped at a stop light. Bang I was hit from behind by someone not paying attention. I couldn't believe it. Luckily this time their bumper was scraped and ours was okay.

So that was three, we should have been all right -right?

Well the next day we were trying to wash and dry all of the towels that we had used to soak up water and they wouldn't dry. The dryer was broken. On Christmas day Dad and son took the dryer apart and were able to fix it. We were sure nothing more could happen.

Not so - Last week we found out that we had another water problem. One of our upstairs toilets was leaking as it flushed. Yuck. Downstairs two closets were soaked and moldy. Now we have more walls torn out and a new toilet upstairs.

Hopefully we are done, but if trouble really comes in threes, that is only 5. I hope one more isn't on the way!

Polar Express

2009-01-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

This is the third year we have gone on the Heber Valley Railroad Polar Express as a family. As a family tradition we used to kidnap our children after school one day in December and take them to some type of Christmas event. When they got older we started taking them to a small Italian restaurant in Provo on this surprise night. The family has gotten so big and with so many grandchildren now, we have been going on the Polar Express. Here is our 5 year old grandson looking for the first site of Santa at the North Pole.

Our newest granddaughter and her father! Of course most of us were in our P.J's.

Santa gave all of the children a bell just like in the movie! Here is Grandpa with one of our grandchildren! She was so excited to see Santa.

Look at those eyes! Have you ever seen such excitement!

Even 13 and 11 year olds can enjoy bells from Santa.

What fun it was to watch each child as they experience the magic of Christmas!

Happy Halloween

2008-10-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

I have always felt so blessed that I have been lucky enough to have had the two best careers in the world. I was lucky enough to have been able to be a stay at home mom when all of my children were young, and then to have been able to teach and have a little part in the lives of 15 years worth of first graders. Here is a picture of this years class as we went to the pumpkin patch today. Each child was able to pick out a pumpkin.

Here are the after pictures once the children used foam shapes to put faces on their pumpkins. They turned out so cute.

Chucky Cheese

2008-10-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

When our children were little my parents would take them to any restaurant they wanted for their birthdays and then to a store to let them pick out their own present. Our children loved it. So when we first got grandchildren we started the same tradition. Well...we have found that Chucky Cheese does get a little old even though we love being with our grandchildren. Last week our oldest grandchild turned 13 and he is ready to move on to bigger pastures... maybe even Sizzler!

But alas he did have the points saved from out last few years which he needed to spend. So here we are at our last visit to Chucky Cheese. (At least with Grandchild number one, there are 8 more behind him.)

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went to the zoo with son number 2 and his family. It was Boo at the Zoo day where children were able to go dressed up and to trick or treat throughout the day. We were not the only ones that thought it would be fun. It was really crowded.

Here they are with their own skunk and monkey ready to see other animals at the zoo. The pictures aren't the best since it was a really bright day.
Little skunk is on her favorite animal at the zoo. Below I was able to ride with her sister. They are both growing up so fast.

"Tell Me a Better Story"

2008-10-11T12:02:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend. I wish I would have taken pictures. Yesterday we had the whole family over to celebrate Art's, Julie's and James' birthdays. Can you believe I have a grandchild that is at least an inch taller than me. This is the first time that we noticed that he had passed me up.

With the wall down we were able to fit everyone comfortably in the same room. We had all of the adults including Audrey and James at the table and were able to fit a small table in the room for the younger children. Then we had a one year old in the high chair and the two babies just sat on laps. We figure we have room for 4 more children, the two babies when they are older and 2 more. After Colin and Chris are married we will be in for a total remodel. My favorite part of the day was playing duck duck goose with our 5, 3, two 2 and 1 year old grandchildren. They had so much fun, it was just fun watching their excitement. How blessed we are to have this family and to watch the blessing of our children as they marry wonderful spouses and start families of their own.

Saturday I attended the baptism of one of my former students. She is also the niece of one of our daughter in laws. At the baptism her bishop said something that really touched me. He talked about how he had had a lot of people talk to him lately whose faith had been shaken. He said that he said to them, "Tell me a better story, tell me your story..." And he said that he had never heard of any other way to live that is a better story or plan than following Heavenly Father's plan. That is so true! When this sweet little girl was later confirmed and I heard her father say...And I say unto you receive the Holy Ghost. Wow! I wondered if she had any clue of what a wonderful gift she had just received. We are so blessed to have the fullness of the gospel in our lives.

Last of all I would like to add my voice to those of others to encourage those people living in California to vote yes to Proposition 8. The family unit is the basis of God's plan. This is a marriage between a man and a woman. Please read these two blogs that I was so impressed with and fully agree with. I hope they don't mind my putting their addresses here as I don't know any other way to do it. http://www.burnah.blogspot.com/ , http://www.zdylanh.blogspot.com/ Our families do depend on this!

Deer Food

2008-10-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Every year around this time the deer decide they are ready to eat anything we have to offer. Until this time they usually won't eat Marigolds, but after September they stop being picky. About 3 weeks ago we woke up to find that they had eaten every flower from this flower bed. So I came home from school and sprayed the bed with our favorite but really smelly deer repellent. Then I have sprayed it every week since. Gradually the flowers have re-bloomed and they are looking better than I ever remember them looking this late in the year.

So today I decided to take some pictures. And while I was taking pictures I took some of our vegetable garden. Last year A.N. built this square foot garden area and put a fence around it. It looks really good, but we have too short of a season and we have not had a lot of vegetables. Now we have lots of zucchini but it will only grow 4 or 5 inches long and they are about as big around as my finger. In August we got 5 or 6 large zucchinis but that was before the days got shorter. We have only had a few tomatoes ripen even though the plants are full of tomatoes. I am waiting until I hear there will be a freeze and then I will pick them and let them ripen inside. We have had quite a few carrots which have been fun for the grandchildren to pick.
Did you notice who was watching me take pictures. I didn't notice at first. The deer watching me looked like it was a young one maybe born this year. After all the other deer left she (or he) just stood there watching me. And notice they are eating the grass not the flowers. Thank heavens for deer repellent.

Words of wisdom from a friend!

2008-10-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

2008-09-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

Last month we had a wall torn down in our Kitchen so we would have more room when everyone came over to dinner. When we put the extensions on the table we were so squished. So now we don't have a hall anymore. Saturday I painted the ceiling so the hall and kitchen ceilings would match.
Now we have room when these beautiful young ladies,

and these two quickly growing up almost teens,
and these cute little ones come over.
Of course we also have room for their moms and dads and uncles and for great grandma and great grandpa.
Grandpa is sitting right where the wall used to be. After I painted the ceiling it looked so white and clean. I love painting because it makes such a difference so quickly.
Saturday night I went to the Relief Society broadcast. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk. Sunday we had a similar theme at our church women's meeting. The lesson was on how we are all daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us. President Uchtdorf also spoke about how we are all valued women of Heavenly Father. As I look at my bright white paint I know that in time it will fade and gradually lose it brilliant color. Someone (probably a grandchild) will squirt ketchup up on it and I won't notice for months. Then in a few years I will realize that it really needs to be painted again. I think that is how it is with our feeling of self worth. I wish the ceiling would always look just like it looks now. I also wish I could always remember what I have always known that I am daughter of a Heavenly Father that loves me. Why do we as women compare our selves to others and many times find fault with ourselves. I'm looking forward to getting a copy of Elder Uchtdorf's talk so I can again remember his wonderful message.

I'm caught up at last!!! cont.

2008-09-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the second part of the post below. I have no idea how to change the order.After we went on trek we came home and I watched two of my Grandchildren for a week while their parents went on a trip. Here they are above with other grandchildren playing along to the stick song. As soon as they left I was back at school and since I hadn't been to school all summer to get ready I have spent the last 4 weeks playing daily catch up. We even fit one more vacation in over Labor day when we went to the Cabin with all of our children and grandchildren. Here are the guys in the river with the children.

Today I am so excited because I am finally caught up at school with everything I needed to do before school started and I am even prepared for the next two weeks. Wow! Now I can take a breath. But we sure had a fun summer!!!

I'm caught up at last!!!

2008-09-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

This summer was quite the summer. We began by going to France with my hubby's sister and her husband. We toured for a week and then we rented a villa in a village called PeyPin D'Aigues. You pronounce it pay pan dage (with the hard sound of g). It was so much fun. We took day trips around sounthern France. If you look close you can see Grandpa waving from our private deck.
After we came home we had a few days before we went to Bear Lake for our annual family reunion. Here is a picture of some of the guys hanging out together. That's my Dad on top of my Husband.
After the family reunion we left to go on a pioneer trek as a Ma and Pa to the group below. We walked 28 miles up and down hills over 4 days. Here we are clean and ready to go.
Here I am preparing supper after several days of trekking. No one told me I how dirty I was.

2008-09-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well here goes... I have been intrigued with blogs and how to make one for a long time. I also love looking at other people's blogs. I just don't like writing and didn't think I would ever do this. But I figure I will be the only one that ever reads this blog I might as well look at it as a journal. I love working on the computer so this will be a learning experience for me.