MERRY CHRISTMAS

FAVORITES

These are a few of my favorite things right now.

A decorated Christmas tree.

A new Christmas decoration.

Nativity scenes--I didn't put up all of my nativity sets so I miss them.

Christmas cookies ready to deliver to shut-ins.

Christmas music.  I can't get enough of the music.

Christmas books.  I love reading Christmas stories.  Besides the scriptures, that is all I am reading until Christmas.  Oh, I will probably read the newspaper!

Another favorite of mine.  Isn't he cute?

What are your favorites?

Changes

Brian bought me these cute boots for our anniversary.  I am pretty excited about them.

Also, I asked my hair dresser for something a little fun so this is my new look.  Just a little different but a little sassy don't you think.

California Addendum

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Shareen has covered our activities, but thought I would add a few additional pictures and comments.

Monday was Disneyland day with everyone else in California.  Monday was also Brian's and my 49th Wedding Anniversary.  We had quite a romantic celebration.  I went to Disneyland with the Eberles and Brian stayed home.  When I mentioned this to Shannon, she said, "I guess you both got to do what you wanted."  It was a fun day even with the crowds.  It was all lighted up for Christmas so it was beautiful at night.

I had to throw in a picture of my favorite castle.

 We had mixed weather while there.  We had several days of overcast, but days of nice sunshine.  The temperature was in the low 60's so can't complain about that.  We chose a sunny day to take a walk on the beach.

We had some delicious chicken teriyaki for lunch.  It tasted really good to me as I have not seen one teriyaki place in our area .

The pelican seemed to be enjoying this beautiful day as well.


Mike was the chef for Thanksgiving dinner.  He did the dressing, turkey and gravy.  It was nice to be able to sit back and watch.  That was definitely something to be thankful for.  Doesn't it look lovely?

We went to visit Landel on Tuesday.  He isn't doing very well.  He still lives there in his home and one of his granddaughters helps out some.  Eric thinks it won't be long until he will need additional care.

Shareen and I went to see Breaking Dawn.  I wasn't expecting much as the comments in the paper were not favorable.  However, we both liked it.  I give it a B+.

Shareen and I made a very brief trip to Walmart for their 10 pm sale Thanksgiving night.  It was a mad house and we got out of there quickly, went home to bed and passed up all the midnight store openings.
We got up in the morning and I think we hit a lull when the early shoppers were gone home to bed and the lazy ones were not up yet.  Anyway, it was quite pleasant.  We were home by noon.

We are back home now, and the weather is very pleasant here.  So, we will be around until we leave for Washington State.  By the way, where did November go?   I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Oh, and of course it was great to see the pictures of beautiful baby, Audrey.  I really like that name.  Welcome to the family, Audrey.  Congratulations to David and Tiffany.

Anya's Special Day

Anya was baptized on Saturday.  We were so happy we could be there and participate.  I gave a little talk on baptism, Shareen talked on the Holy Ghost.  Anya played a little song on her guitar, and Grandpa performed the baptism and confirmation.  I wish you all could have been there. 

 Anya and Camille are decoration the sugar cookies shaped like 8's.  They were very tasty and disappeared quickly.

We are very proud of Anya for making a decision to be baptized.

Getting the Christmas Spirit

I was in Tai Pan the other day, and they are definitely ready for Christmas.  That store was decked out in every nook with the most beautiful Christmas decorations.  Every where I looked was something I would love to buy.  However, I settled on these little cupcake santas and snowmen to use for visiting teaching gifts.  I'll fill them with candy.  Oh, but it was fun to look and wish.  I keep thinking of certain items so I may have to go back.

West Virginia Glimpses

I am so slow in getting around to doing this post, but will give you a glimpse of my activities with Julia and family.

Isaac invited his Mom to join him for lunch at school.

Everything is a hat for Macey.  She is wearing her favorite princess dress.

Isaac has his game face on.

Macey is not too interested in the soccer games, but enjoys exploring.

Loraya was a force out there on the soccer field.  She even scored a goal.  Besides everything else going on at Julia's house, they were also tending a friend's dog, Lucy.  She is there with Jacob.

I got to go to the ward truck or treat and halloween party at the church.

Just the cutest little Minnie Mouse ever.

Macey loves her books.  Whenever anyone sits down on the couch, she is right there with a book.  It is so fun to have her climb up on your lap and get to snuggle a bit with her.

Julia mentioned the snow on Saturday.  I was a little worried about my flight being cancelled or delayed, but it all turned out okay.

Looks pretty doesn't it?   The fall leaves have to give way to snow.

Thanks to Loraya, Isaac and Macey for a fun time in West Virginia.  Okay, it was also nice to spend time with Julia and see Jacob for a bit.

Just a glimpse of our trip.

I spent a few days in Seattle with my good friends, Dorene and Debby.  It was funny when one evening we were all checking out our IPads.  Seattle looked so green and beautiful.  It was nice to see green again.

Becky and I were at Tiffany's baby shower.

We drove thru Rexburg and had dinner with Brian and his friend, Melissa.  I can't say if it is serious but I guess it is a work in progress.  Brian and I were both very impressed with her.  She is very sweet, pleasant, and fun to be with.  I think Brian R. is on the right track.  She is from Columbia, but her family has lived in the States since she was eight years old.

Does this bring back some good memories?

Yes, we did enjoy our shakes.

Beautiful Bear Lake!   It was very quiet there.  All the tourists are gone.  The leaves are starting to turn and it was beautiful.

The Peach City has a new look, but luckily the milk shakes are still the best.

 We enjoyed seeing our Washington family even if it was rather short.  Brian was able to see Paul and Joe's football game.  Too bad, we couldn't have been to the game where Paul scored two touch downs. Brian was impressed with Paul, and said if the QB could get the ball to him, he could catch it.  Good for you, Paul.

What Excitement!

It has been a good, long while since I have done a blog.  Could it be that I don't have anything to blog about?  We were all at the reunion and I didn't have any pictures that you didn't have, and yours were probably better than mine.

My time this last week has been getting new bedding.  It started when Sherry was here.  We looked at bedding everywhere.  I brought home and returned three or four different bedspreads, pillows and drapes. I have been busy buying and returning.  The clerks probably dreaded seeing me coming.  I finally settled on the one below.  I don't think the pictures do it justice, but I am happy with it.  What do you think?   

 I love the colorful pillow in the middle.  What I need to complete the room is a nice chair for the corner with some of the colors that are in that pillow.

I found this cute lamp today at Lowe's.


Anyway, that is the excitement in my life.


However, we leave for Washington on Sunday afternoon so I look forward to that trip.

Our Weekend

Thursday night Brian and I went to the Tuahacan Ampitheatre to see their production of Grease.  We were a bit disappointed with it.  It was just okay.  But it is always fun to get out and see a production there.  You can't beat the setting.  The music was nice, but it just seemed to be lacking some zip for lack of a better word.

Dave and Luke were down here this weekend for a baseball tournament in Cedar City.  They stayed here with us.  They had two games Friday and two on Saturday.  They won two and lost two.  They were close games except for one of their wins which they won big.  But the other three games were low scoring games and runs were at a premium.  We enjoyed watching baseball again.  We have lots of good memories watching our other grandkids playing in their various sports.  It is good to know we still have some others coming along.

Luke made some good plays at second base and played well.

Celebrations!

We celebrated Pioneer Day small-town style.  Washington City had a parade this morning that started at 9:00 am and was over by 9:20 am.  

 We had the best seats on the street.

A different way for royalty to ride.  She had on jeans and a t-shirt.

Many of the entries were from the ward Primary kids.  It was really a parade for the kids.  The part they liked was the people that threw out candy.

After the parade they had games and booths set up in the park.  Here a kid waits to be dunked in the tank.

To round out the festivities, we heard a little country music.

 Here we back up to the 3rd of July as the cake is lighted up for Luke's 14th birthday.

I do believe he was able to blow out all candles.

And, last but not least,  you get a view of my one and only purchase online at the Nordstrom anniversary sale.


We enjoyed the little Pioneer Day celebration here.  We thought about going up to Salt Lake to the big Days of '47 Parade on Monday, but decided it might be too big of a hassle.  But I have to say I am pretty proud of where we came from.  As I have read some family histories lately, I feel humbled that we have had many courageous and faithful ancestors.  They were pioneers who sacrificed much for the gospel.  We owe them a debt of gratitude.