Cousin Holly moved to town!

Holly Helms and her family moved from Arizona to Saratoga Springs.  They don't live very far away so we met them at the Museum of Curiosity and had a fun time.  Zander was mostly interested in eating teddy grahams ha ha.  After the museum we went to Kneaders for lunch.  Holly's kids are about the same ages as our kids and they all got along well and had a great time.  I ordered a new TV stand and Amanda was the engineer who assembled it.  We hoped it would induce labor!  And I put a couple more pictures of Zander because this is our last week tending him.  We have had him since he was 6 weeks old and he really does feel like a part of the family.  We will miss him.  He loved wearing my hat and of course playing with Ontie's dog when she was here.  Welcome Holly and family!  Farewell Zander!

Science and crafting...

Dave and I have been wanting to do our DNA test for a long time!  We finally bit the bullet and got them when there was a sale.  We have sent them in and anxiously awaiting our results!  And as far as science goes, the kids made lava lamps for fun.  They had fun putting the Alka Seltzer in and watching the lava flow.  And I had fun making my Utah craft.  I saw it at the wood store and HAD to make it since we just hiked to the Delicate Arch not long ago!  

Ellett Cousins Reunion...

How grateful I am to belong to this family tree!  I absolutely LOVE getting together with these sweet old folks and hearing their stories!  I wish more of them would have made it but we enjoyed those that came!  Jeanine suggested that we have a reunion again (it only seems to happen if we head it up!) so I reserved my church Relief Society Room and kitchen and we just had a simple potluck and visiting.  It was great!  Sisters Cora and Clara are 92 and 94 years old and just as chipper as ever!  They even drive and everything!  I love hearing them talk, they are funny and sweet!  I am still trying to update the  Ellett Family posterity list.  It will never be finished and is far from complete, but fun to see how many we have on it.  

 This isn't even all the food!

 My cohort in crime, Jeanine!

 Uncle Valoy and Aunt Elaine with cousin Chrissy who actually made it this year!

 Clara Johnson, Jeanine Taylor, LaRae Green, Freda and Ken Harris; Front: Roma Kenney, Cora Burgess, Clara Pueblo, Valoy and Elaine Brown, and Arva Dean Squire 

  And with the next generation: Chrissy Brown and Keldon Brown far left, Denise Dredge and Me far right

  Story time...and much laughter...love these people!

Baby Shower Time!

Time finally arrived for Amanda's baby shower.  That is one of the reasons Ontie came to town. We are so excited!  We held it on Saturday the 17th.  I made onesie cookies and tried my luck with royal icing and fondant.  They were a little tricky but I think they turned out pretty cute.  I found markers that you can draw on food with.  YAY!  Following the sailor theme I found this cute wall art at Hobby Lobby and HAD to have it!  I also made a blanket and got a cute sailor outfit.  Amanda got many cute gifts and it was a lovely afternoon at the La Jolla Groves restaurant in Provo.  I ordered a peach Italian soda and it was delish!  Ashley ordered a fancy dessert that was pretty good too.  The food was very good as well.  Randa and Makayela came, Amanda's sister-in-law Megan, her sweet best friends from college days, (not all of them could be here but they all sent her something) a teacher she worked with in Payson, and our sweet friend Klarissa whom we met across the street from us when we first moved here. It was a lovely shower and now we are READY for that little guy to arrive!  I loved just being with my girls. (And eating great food!) 

 

 

 Shelley, Ashley, Megan, Amanda, Makayela and Randa, Andrea, and Erin in the back, friend from Payson, me and Klarissa.  

 With my beautiful girls!

 Four of the 6 best friends from freshman days at BYU.  Love these girls!  Thank you Erin for hosting this baby shower!

Terry Olsen comes to town!

We saw some picture of Terry and Scott Olsen on facebook and they were in front of the Salt Lake Temple.  I made some comment about how they were "almost" in my neighborhood.  Next thing you know, they are knocking on our door!  What a fun surprise! It was so great to see them!  I love these people so much!  And that was before I even knew I was related to Scott!  We come through the same Farnsworth line, he is through a different wife of Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Turns out Cousins Scotty is going to be going to Brazil with his lovely wife and he will be the legal counsel for the church in Brazil!  How is that for a mission call?! They were in Salt Lake for the interviewing process (this kind of call is handled a bit different from traditional senior missionaries).  Scott served his mission there and is excited to do this!  I believe for 18 months.  They didn't stay very long but we enjoyed our visit so much.  Oh the years working with this special lady and the stories and laughter we share!  Scott was enjoying Ontie's dogs, who stayed right on the couch watching out the window for her while she was gone visiting her friend Rachelle.  The other dog was too fat to jump up on the couch, ha ha, but she still waited close by as well.  Thank you Terry and Scott for making my day and coming to see me!  Wishing you the best when you head out to Brazil.  I guess our Alaska cruise together will have to wait until you return!  SOMEDAY we ARE going to make that happen!!

Ontie comes to town!

Ontie came to town for a few days...we were so excited!  She drove all the way and brought her two doggies with her.  The kids were thrilled!  To see Ontie AND to get to play with her dogs!  We went to the zoo and had a fun day.  Zander was with us of course and cousin Henry Dibb came along too.  We rode the train, saw the giant insects (shudder!), rode the carousel and had lunch there.  David and Jacob were by Ontie on the carousel, kind of hard to see them good in the picture.  We saw some of the animals that were out and about.  We also watched the bird show which was really fun.  The kids got to go up after and have a macaw take their dollar for the donation jar.  They thought that was pretty cool.  It was a great day at the zoo!  We also ate dinner at Cafe Rio (Ontie Ashley's request) and since Menchies was right next door to Cafe Rio, we had ice cream too!  Grandpa and I were at dinner and ice cream, just not in any pictures ha ha.  And Lilly is on the trunk of the elephant in the zoo picture so you can't see her head behind David. What a fun day!  We LOVE having Ontie here to visit!