Surprise letter!

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

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

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!

What is Christmas?

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!

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!

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!