Update

This past week has been spent watching Canyon and Evan.  I came to stay with them on Tuesday as Kelly had to leave to go to her Grandmother's funeral in Mississippi. Gramps stayed home to work on the bedroom, trying to get it finished. We hung out, had fun, made brownies and just enjoyed being together.
On Friday we went to Brigham City to spend the weekend with Gramps.  We had a super good time and it was so good to see him again. On Saturday Wendy, Ashlei and Mason came to see us.  The little ones had a blast playing with each other.  What fun it is to play in Grandma's OLD house.
Our bathroom is finished. YEAH!!!!! and the bedroom is almost done.  The final coat of mud will be done tomorrow and texturing will be finished by Tuesday then a little paint will finish it off.
We came back to Clinton tonight as Canyon has school tomorrow.  We were going to have the day off, but found out that he has state testing this week and just could not take him out for one day.  We go to pick Kelly up as soon as he gets out of school.  I think the little ones are so excited to have Mommy come home.  They have been angels the entire time.  Hope that means they have had a good time with us.  I know I had fun with them.

Touched....

My heart was touched today in a way that is undescribable.  As you know Derek is Bahrain away from his family and their activities.  Kelly is so good to keep the family activities just the same as when he was home. 

Today Kelly and Evan came up to get us set up on Skype so we could talk to Derek and actually see him via our webcam.  We were able to talk with him and it sure was good to see his face, hear him laugh and know that he is still the same fun loving boy of ours.  He joked with his Dad by showing off his Ute attire and Dad came right back with BYU talk.  What fun it was to talk with him.

We went to Peach City for ice cream after lunch and Kelly had Evan tell us what happened on Monday.  Evie said they had family home evening with Daddy on the computer and then they knelt down and Daddy said the family prayer. 

I was so touched that it was all I could do to hold back the tears.  With our modern technology, it is possible for Derek and his family to continue to have family prayer every night and for those little ones to see his face and hear his voice. How thankful I am that I live at this time when we have so many resources available for us to enjoy.

Easter Celebration

We celebrated Easter on Friday with a wonderful ham dinner and all the trimmings.  The dinner was delicous and enjoyed by everyone. The little ones dyed the eggs in anticipation of the easter bunny coming that night.  Thoughts of wonder filled their little minds as to what he would leave them.

 Later that night we went to Mesa to watch the Easter pageant at the temple.  This is an event that my girls had attended before but I never had.  A desire of mine has always been to go to the pageant.  It was a very touching performance and brought tears to the eyes of all who witnessed the marvel of our Savior from his birth to his ressurection.  It is highly recommended for all to attend if at all possible.

Saturday morning we had to leave to return back to Utah.  Before we departed, the children dressed in their new Easter outfits and we had an easter egg hunt.  They are so cute.  Here are a few of the photos from our last hours at the Curry/Bierhaus home.

I love my blankie!!!

Happy Payton

Little ones all ready to find the eggs outside

Hayden found one

Payton found hers

Evan spots one

All dresses in heels to find eggs

Looking for more eggs

Canyon found lots of eggs

Hey!! Where are all my eggs

See here they are

Where are more eggs

I think we are done

Eggs are all found

We had so much fun and thank the Curry/ Bierhaus family for letting us come to visit them. We had good food, awesome beds and great chats.  Thanks for all you did to make us feel so welcomed in your home.

Counting Carbs!!!

I have diabetes and have to count my carbs for everything I eat.  Canyon was reading the label for the kids meal and this is what is in them.

Kids Meal 6 piece Nuggets

Calories  280

Fats  17

Carbonmonoxides  16

Kids Meal Cheeseburger

Calories 300

Fats 12

Carbonmonoxides 33

Better stay away from those kids meals.  They are dangerous meals to eat.

Day At The Zoo

We went to the Phoenix zoo one day.  We had a wild time trying to keep up with the little ones.  They are a wild and wooly bunch of kiddos.  Gramps was smart and stayed home and Grammy was extra tired when she got home that night.  Lots of walking and lots and lots of kid chasing.

I loved the cactus in bloom

These little monkeys nabbed on to us at the beginning of the

zoo and followed us for the entire day.  Didn't have to take

pictures of any other monkeys that day cause we had then with us.

Brook and Canyon feeding a giraffe

Evan feeding one

Zoo Helper with giraffe, Evan & Canyon

Was a great day being up close and personal with the animals.

Time with Payton

We got to spend some time with Payton.  What a happy little girl she is and so adorable.  She has cheeks that you want to kiss all the time.  After you kiss her she will put her cheek to your mouth wanting more.  She is always so happy and is content on just playing by herself.  Hayden will crawl with her and she laughs so hard she nearly falls down.  I sure did enjoy the laughter of little ones on our vacation.  It was a good trip.

Happy little Payton

Take me for a ride, Granny

Baking cookies

Hey, I like this dough. 

 Better with two hands full.

She sure is a cutie and so tiny.

Day 2 - The Birthday Party

We got to Phoenix on Sunday just in time for the Curry children's birthday party.  It was so fun and many of their friends came for the celebration.  Brea and Payton had a Princess party and Hayden had a Pirate party.  Evan took her princess dress and high heels and was Ariel.  For the feast we had hot dogs and hamburgers with the most delicious salsa to dip chips in.  The children enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream.

Brea in her Princess dress

Hayden as the pirate

Elton holding Payton in her frilly tutu

Nolan and Brook getting things ready for lunch

Hayden taking toys for a ride in the stroller

Papa made for Payton

Party Girls!!

All ready for the party in fancy glasses

Cutie Patootee Payton

Oh, I love these bubbles

It was a good day!!!

Happy Birthday little ones.

Vacation Day One

On Saturday, March 27th, we loaded into Kelly's van and headed toward Phoenix to visit with the Curry/Bierhaus family and to celebrate the birthdays of the three Curry children.

We stopped in Levan, UT to show Kelly and the children Grandpa and Grandma Francom's old home.  I did not take a picture of it as the new owner and his friends were out front.  We did stop and chatted for a little while with him.  The old barn has fallen in, but the other out buildings are still standing and being used.  What fun times we had going to see Grandpa and Grandma when they lived there.

Our next stop was in Salina.  We ate at Mom's Cafe then went over and looked at the house we lived in there.  It looks the same.  This is the house where Danielle broke her wrist and tore her knee up riding a motorcycle.  What memories we have of this home.

Down the road we went and arrived at Panquitch.  This is the house we lived in there.  It was built in the 1800's and had 2' walls throughout.  It was a fun place to live in.

Panquitch home

On the road again to Page. This is where we spent the night.  We got a room that had two beds and a roll a part bed for Evan.  She sure enjoyed the roll a part bed even when Gramps tried to fold her up in it.  The kiddos got to play at the school playground, then we went to the dam and let them walk across the bridge and them took some pictures overlooking the dam.  They really liked the bridge and looking down to the dam.  We ate then off to dreamland for us anticipating our trip on into Phoenix and the birthday party.

Our house in Page

Our little monkey girl, Evan

Canyon climbing on the bars

Gramps, Canyon, Evan and Gramms looking at Lake at Powell

Canyon, Evan and Kelly at Lake Powell

This is the note that Canyon left for the housekeeping team.

Thought it was so cute that he wanted to thank them for the beds

and the room. 

Well that was the first day.  Stay tuned for the rest of our vacation.  Very exciting.