Life Changes...

This is our new granddaughter, Brooke.  We are so thrilled that she is part of our family.  Richard and Brooke were married on January 4th in Hawaii (that is romantic) and we were filled with joy. 

We welcome you, Brooke, with opened arms and hope that you will feel our love for you.

Brooke is from Cedaredge and met Rich when he was on leave in November.  It was a whirlwind romance and they were smitten with each other right from the beginning. An ocean seperated them, but that did not matter and when she went to see him at Christmas time they just tied the knot.

We are delighted with this union and can hardly wait to personally meet her.

Rich, you did good!!!! Brooke, you really married a good man (grammy is biases on that). 

Happy Birthday, Miss Brea...

Happy Birthday Brea!!!

You are such a special little girl and I love you very much.

You bring so much happiness and joy to our family

and I love to talk to you and hear of all you adventures.

You are filled with sweetness and sunshine.

Everyone is your friend.

You could be "Fancy Nancy" because you love to

dress up in fancy dresses and fancy shoes.

We love you so very much, precious girl.

Hope you have a wonderful 4th birthday.

Christmas Part 2

The little ones slept in on Christmas morning, which was surprising because the night before they were so anxious for the arrival of Santa.  We opened our gifts then had breakfast.  Then Canyon and Evan played with their toys until we had our Christmas dinner.  The dinner was excellent and as usual I ate more than my tummy could hold.  We stayed Christmas night with them which is always fun.

These are my gifts from Derek, Kelly, Canyon and Evan. Of course there are no pictures of the gifts that Dick got. He received some very nice tools and they made their way to his shop as soon as we got home.

I started to get a horrid headache after dinner and took a nap, then layed on the couch dozing on and off.  During the night it got worse and I just kept praying that it would go away as knew what was causing it.  I had only planned on staying until after Christmas dinner and then coming home so I did not take my medications with me.  Big mistake!!! Sunday morning I got up early, took a shower and told Dick that we needed to get home.  We got packed up and left.

We arrived home just shortly after 9, I took my meds, put on my new pj's from Canyon and Evan, crawled under the quilt Danielle gave us and slept until after 1 in the afternoon.  When I woke up the headache had subsided, but because I had missed four doses, my body was weak and shaking.  This lasted for a couple of days and by Tuesday I felt back to normal.

We took the tree down on Tuesday, got all the decorations packed and taken downstairs then took all the canning supplies and put them on their shelves downstairs.  I vacuumed all the floors then scrubbed the tile floors.

We sure did have a wonderful Christmas and thanks to everyone that helped our holiday be the best.  Thanks to all that thought of us this year and for the gifts that you so graciously gave to us.  Your thoughts were greatly appreciated.  We hope that everyone had the best Christmas ever.

Christmas Part 1

This year for Christmas we were going to spend a couple of days at Derek and Kelly's house so we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve before we left.  We got a new television for Christmas which is so nice.  The new thin flat screens are so much nicer than the big bulky ones that we currently have and the picture is so clear and bright. Thanks Santa!!

Brook made each of us a bookmark with our names on them and I got a braclet and Dad got cuff links that her and Brea made.  This was a real treat and will be used all the time.  The bookmarks will be with us constantly as we do read tons of books.

Danielle gave us a quilt that she made.  We have not had a new quilt for 34 years and are still sleeping under the quilts that were made by both our mothers when we got married. I am so excited to retire the old quilts and begin with a new one.

We got a lot of fun gifts and can hardly wait to use them.  There are not any pictures of the gifts that Dick got because he has already taken all his tools to his shop.  OH WELL!!! but he did get lots of nice tools.

Christmas Eve was spent with the Madsen family in West Valley where we all gathered at Shannon and Jordan's house for the annual Christmas Eve party.  Lots of good food and chatting.

Then it was on to Derek's where we waited the arrival of Santa and yes he did find those two little ones even though there were not any lights on the house, or a chimney for him to come down.  There is a magic key that is placed on the door for Santa to use to come in when he stopped by their house.

It was a good Christmas Eve.

Excitement.....

I am overflowing with excitement tonight.  When I pulled my Quilted Bear account up and counted the cape sales, to my surprise I have sold 86 capes (7 special orders included) which brings my running total of these adorable capes to 975...AND there are still 4 days left in this month!!!! Whoohoo!!! For this year alone there have been 426 capes sold.  EXCITEMENT!!!!!  There sure are alot of little boys and girls flying around in one of my capes.  LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!!

Can you believe that in 3 years I am nearly at my goal of 1000 capes.  Who would ever believe that I would be this close to my goal.  Thanks to Kelly and Verdell for making emblems for me this past spring and summer.  It really helped in my rushed hours to have the emblems already made.  My poor sewing machines (2) have gone non stop all this year.

A big THANKS to all who have been kind enough to purchase a cape from me.  My capes have traveled all over and 5 of then reside in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

#1 seller

#2 seller

#3/4 seller

#3/4 seller

THANKS EVERYONE FOR HELPING ME GET THIS CLOSE TO MY GOAL!!!!

Refreshing Reading.....

Every year I read a special book.  I begin my reading in August and my goal is to have it finished by Christmas Eve.  It is a most refreshing book and brings to light many prespectives of life.  I love this book and look forward to my scheduled daily reading.  I learn many new things each year as I ponder upon each word and the messages they have for me.  I wake early so I am not disturbed to read this book and to enjoy the words upon its' pages.  New phrases pop out to me each year that are different from the previous years.  I so look forward to each year and tire not of reading the same book.
This morning I finished my precious book ahead of schedule and am overjoyed by what I have learned.  I love this book with all my heart and it fills my soul with joy each time I pick it up to read a few phrases each day.  What is in my heart will go with me when I leave this existence and am with my eternal Father.  For this reason, I only read good uplifting books.  Books that I am not afraid to let my sons, daughters and grandchildren read, for I know that within the pages that I have read, these precious souls will be uplifted as I was.
I love this book and each year faithfully read it from cover to cover. My soul is refreshed for this most precious time of the year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  Let us all not forget what Christmas is truly about.

Happy Birthday Mom...

Happy Birthday Mom. 

 I love you so very much and have always felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world to have you for my mother. You taught me well on how to handle all that life dishes out.  You have always been there with me whenever I laugh or cry.  You hold my hand in yours whenever I need you the most. I always wanted nothing more than to be just like you.  I think I am succeeding for when I look in the mirror, I see your reflection looking back at me. I love you dearly and am thankful my life was molded by your hands.