Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Happy Birthday to my new beautiful daughter-in-law Lindsay!  We hope your day is super special because you deserve it!  How fun to add another birthday to our family calendar...make sure Clif spoils you today!  A package from us should be in your mailbox today.  Love you!

Little David is 5!

I cannot believe this little munchkin is 5 already!  He was just born!  And I was there on that cold January day in Provo...what a wonderful day that was and how happy I was to become a Grandma!  (Even though I am way to young to be a grandma...ha ha).  He is growing up so fast.  Such a sweet boy!  We love you and are so happy you are part of our family!  And yes, he's very fun and a little crazy too...he's smart and handsome and all the things a little boy should be!  He's just right! And he's a good big brother to Jacob too...love you David!  Have a wonderful birthday! XOXO

Clark is 25!

On January 3, Clark turned 25!  We weren't able to get him for dinner until the today, the 7th...his social calendar is quite full!  We will take him when we can...

You would think after 25 years of taking pictures...he wouldn't be surprised when I pull the camera out...ha ha!  He was like, Really?  You're going to take pictures?  So I only took one...at Arbys.  Yes, Clark picked Arbys for his birthday dinner.  It is his favorite!  (I am quite partial to it too)...Of course Joel just had a milkshake...anyway, we did have a good dinner and gave Clark some cash for his gift...that's what kids this age like best, right?  Then we came home and played some cards...and had Clark's favorite birthday cake...

 Oreo ice cream cake!  Everyone said it was good...I didn't have any, doing the no-sugar (well, mostly no sugar!) thing and all...it was fun spending some time with him.  We missed Ashley who had to work...next party...definitely planning it around Ashley's schedule!  Her new job at the hospital she works all different shifts so it's hard to coordinate...but we will do it!  Anyway, happy birthday Clark!  We love you tons!

Seems like just yesterday you looked like this...XOXO!

New Year, new projects...

It's a new year!  Time to start some new projects!  First we had to do our last puzzle that we got for Christmas.  This one was HARD!  It took us a lot longer than normal!  It is an Eric Dowdle print and it's called Utah in Winter...lots of detail and lots of blue hues...crazy shaped pieces too.  We couldn't even put the border together first like we usually do.  We started building the buildings, and then adding on...we had the puzzle almost half done before we finally got all the border pieces figured out.  It was crazy!  Whew!  We got it done though.  Joel came and helped that last few days, and when I got home from work one day, he had it finished!

 Now on to some less difficult tasks...there are a few birthdays in January I just have to make something for...so I decided to make some more of the "flirty" aprons like I made for Christmas.  They are pretty quick and easy and turn out so cute!  This cupcake one is for Donna ~ my bosom friend!  Love you cupcake!

 This one is for my new daughter-in-law and I just did it in the peacock colors, hoping she would like it since those were the colors she had for the wedding.  Love you Lindsay!

 And my sweet friend Ann who doesn't like to craft (but she does sew!), I thought I would make these cute birthday blocks decoration for her.  They are out of 2x4s and quick and easy to do.  I have a couple more sets almost done...I like them, and I hope Ann does too.  Thanks for being such a good friend Ann, love you!

There will be many more projects to work on this year...and I am off to a rocking start! 

Back to my projects!!

New Year's Day 2013 ~ Too Quiet!

New Year's Day...Dave and I drove Amanda and the boys to the airport in San Jose.  It was hard to say goodbye. I tried to get a good picture of the boys, but they were too fixated with this "helicopter" security camera... We are sure sorry for the long day of travel they have ahead of them...wish we could apparate like they do in Harry Potter!  Be there in an instant!  As we watched and waited for them to go through the security line, the boys kept yelling and waving to us..."Bye Grandpa!  Bye Grandma!  I love you!"  Other passengers in line thought it was cute.  We of course loved it!  

 We came back home after seeing them off...and the house is just too, too quiet!  We already miss them!  But thanks to Joel and his new camera, he took some cute pictures of them one day so we will look at them often in between texting, calling, and video chatting to help fill the void...thank goodness for modern technology and the ability to communicate across the country!  Here are just a few of the many cute pictures he took!

 I love this look on Jacob's face!

 And of course they had to take a break from "posed" picture taking and enjoy the park and Ashley's doggies!

 Aren't they beautiful?  Love and miss our Georgia kids!  

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year! 2012 is gone...

We sure had fun playing games while the Georgia kids were here...this was one evening playing Uno Attack...you never know how many cards that machine is going to give you!  The boys liked to push the button for us...

 You can't tell by Joel's face...but this is a very fun game, much more exciting than regular Uno...

 And New Year's Eve...we played Wii Bowling!  I helped Jacob "throw" his first ball and he was being all wiggly and holding the controller funny, but he got a strike!  His second turn he did it again!  He didn't last very long playing, but it was fun...

 David was a good player too...it was fun.  Amanda finished packing for their trip home on while we played our game.  Probably not a typical New Year's Eve in most peoples' books...but we had a good time!    And of course we had good food and treats to enjoy all evening long...

 After the boys went to bed...we watched "Newsies" ~ on of my favorite musicals ~ and the girls did their nails.  Ashley has all the gear to do gel nails and she does a good job!  She taught Amanda the skills too and they both have lovely nails now that last a long time! 

I cannot believe 2012 is OVER!  It has been a big year in a lot of ways...we have been so blessed and are so grateful that we have a new year now to look forward to and hope for more blessings and happiness in our lives.  We love our family and it has been very fun having "most" of them here for the holidays. We miss Clif and Lindsay but know they are getting settled in at their new apartment and being ready for another semester of school to begin.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!