November Misc...

Odds and end of November...We went with the Laings and Amanda to Hale Center Theater in Orem for Anything Goes. It was a pretty amazing show! (as always). It was fun to see the guy in it that was Nephi in the Liken the Scriptures videos we always watched with the kids. Some amazing voices in this fun show. Orem city center has their lights up and they are so pretty every year! Kristen and Ashley came for Thanksgiving! Ashley brought all her unfinished wood projects and we helped her get them done! Kristen even helped and she isn't into crafting...it was fun to see them even though it was just for a couple of days. We are glad they made the trip! We had Thanksgiving dinner at Amanda's, she always has it so festive and pretty. And of course Nate smokes the turkey and it is always delish! Another fun visit was from Dan and Ann Winiecke! We went out to dinner while they were passing through town...and came back to our little apartment to play games. Just like old times! It was so fun! They all don't look too happy because I was winning! We always love catching up with them when they come to town. After all these years I finally made tags for our denim Christmas stockings! And I get to make a new one for Kristen this year! (Joel's Kristen). She likes purple so am trying to make it to her liking. My cousin Denise has an embroidery machine so she helped me make the tags. So fun! And last but not least, cute Walter. He is flipping that can. He flips it and catches it and is so proud of himself. It is so cute! And he likes to play with the carseat...trying to do the buckles. We are very grateful for all our blessings this year. That we have a place to live, that we have family near us, that we have good friends (especially those who let us live in their basement!) that our Clovis house sold so quickly...now if we can just find a house! This apartment is going to be needed by family soon so we are feeling pressure to find something! We found the perfect house, it spoke to me in every room and I really wanted it, but we didn't get it. I have been very sad about it. BUT, we know the right thing will come. We may have to start looking at rentals if the right house doesn't come up soon. 

My birthday, 2018

The kids spoiled me this year. Joel and Kristen bought me house! A cute little trailer that lights up! My cousin Diana sent me the funniest card that I HAVE to keep! Maybe frame! Amanda and Nate got me a cookbook I wanted and an insta pot! Now I really have to cook! Dave got me the magnetic birthday board I have wanted and a tablet so I can download books! Pretty sure he is the one who left me a message in the letters Walter plays with on the fridge. It has been a lovely birthday! But the best part is the last picture...When we got home from church (it was the kids' primary program) Amanda and Nate were finishing up dinner and asked me to go change Walter. When I went in to change him, THIS outfit was on the changing table!!!  Best kind of birthday present! Due in June. Oh, and we are still house hunting...

Walter just realizing he isn't going to be the baby anymore...ha ha, really he is just tired after 3 hours of church...

November begins...

Getting ready for my annual birthday trip to Loa. These pillowcases were embroidered by my Grandma Brown. Aunt Beverly had them but they needed to be sewn together, so I finished them up for her and will be taking them back. Walter being cute, as always. And some treats I put together to take to the Aunties. Love my visits with these Aunties even when it's only for an afternoon. They both live alone and I worry about them. But they seem to do very well! Jack Frost has paid us a visit and left pretty designs on my windshield, and we went to Chili's for their delicious lava cake! That was a fun date night. So we are off to a great start for November. Now if we could just find a house...

October in a nutshell...

October was a blur so I am just going to sum it up! We of course love seeing Walter every day. He is so cute! He likes to use his keys and "lock" the door. He is such a happy boy and such a joy to watch. The apartment is so tiny that there are toys from here to there and he loves to play with our water bottles too! The day he showed up in those little boots...oh my! I loved it!! And with his teddy bear too! I think it should be a children's book of some sort. It was crazy hair day at school, and I got to visit David's class one day for books and cookies. We bought from two fundraisers on the same day...so donuts AND cookies! They were all delish. We did NOT eat them all at once ha ha. Lilly made some cute pumpkins at Activity days out of toilet paper rolls. Pretty clever. And the fall colors in the mountains are amazing! With much help from Ann Winiecke (cleaning the baseboards, doors and blinds) and Clif doing some big repairs and trimming a tree, we sold our Clovis house! We ran to the church on Halloween for some chili and corn bread, but didn't stick around because we needed to get home to sign papers! We are so grateful that it sold so quickly! And are super appreciative to Ann and Clif for doing the work we weren't there to do. They helped us sooooo much! We are still house hunting, nothing has come up yet. We have looked at bigger houses that maybe Joel and Kristen could live in the basement, but none of those have been too promising either. We are getting quite frustrated. We did put an offer on a couple of houses, but didn't get them. It is the same as always, the houses just sell too fast! Trusting in the Lord's timing on this but was hoping to be in our own home by Christmas. Don't imagine that will be happening. We will keep hunting! Goodbye October, hello November!!

36th Anniversary

36 years! Happy Anniversary! We are in our little apartment and just ate out to celebrate. The grandkids heart attacked us with treats. We are happy to be in our little apartment and have life be so simple right now. Except for house hunting which is hard. And here is a picture of Walter just being cute. Because he is! I am glad that I get to watch him each day. Nate brings him to me on his way to work after he gets the big kids off to school. Amanda is teaching at Oak Canyon and she picks him up. Oak Canyon is right down the road! She then gets home about the same time as the big kids. It is all working out nicely so far. 

Cousin Roma turns 90!

Roma Ellett Kenney had a birthday! It is a big one! So of course her boys threw her a big party! We were happy to go and help her celebrate. She is my mom's first cousin and I have enjoyed getting to know her as well as these other cousins. Roma, Cora (Durfey) Burgess, Clara Bell (Durfey) Pueblo, Maurine (Ellett) Winters and Cora's daughter...

This is Roma, Me and Jeanine Taylor 

This is Roma and her two sisters Janett and Maurine. They all lived across the street from my mom when they were growing up! I am so happy to have met them all and enjoy visiting with them whenever we can get together! Happy Birthday Roma!!

Moving! Again...

Well, Nate and Amanda bought a house in July. Joel got married in August. We could no longer stay in this huge house with just me and Dave. After all this time we are actually empty nesters! we have been house hunting but nothing has come up yet that we can afford or that we like (meaning it would take a lot of fixing up work!). Some very sweet people in our ward offered to let us live in their basement apartment while we house hunt. They only use it for family (thank goodness we are 9th cousins once removed!) and if their family should need it for some reason, we would have to get out. But they didn't see that happening. We told them it could take 6 months! They offered us rent of 500 dollars, but that felt way too cheap to us so we paid them 700, which was still such a bargain for us! We packed up all our stuff and put it in a couple of storage units so we could move into the tiny apartment. Walter was always such a good helper, he loves to use the cob webber! And of course the wonderful men in our ward helped us move stuff to storage AND to our apartment, which thankfully is still in the same ward! We are here a bit longer! More book clubs - yay! The Hansens, Linda and Ted, gave us a wonderful loaf of garlic bread the day we moved in. The opened up and extra part of the room so we could store some things in there and have a little crafting space. Walter loves the new apartment. We feel very blessed to have a place to live while we house hunt! I hate house hunting. We laughed the very first night we sat at the table, just the two of us, and Dave asked me for something out of the fridge, and I just opened the fridge from my chair and grabbed it! It really is a small apartment!