Christmas is over

What a wonderful Christmas we had.The kids and grandkids were here. They all got here about 9:00 am for a big breakfast before we open presents. We have the works.Sausage,eggs,fried potatoes, and red chili. It is one of big Ts favorite meals. When they are coming for breakfast he always asks me if were going to have red chili for our potatoes.After the dishes are done and everything is put away, we open presents. I have to say I was totally spoiled this year.I think we all got things we wanted and can use. I got a new video camera and my husband got a new garmin gps system. That will come in handy when we do some more traveling this summer.My kids amaze me with the great things that they get us. They spoil us rotten.But I love it.The day after Christmas I took the tree out and everything put away and my house back in order. Its a great feeling when it is all done.Here are a few pictures This is what the tree looked like after everyone got here and put their presents under it. Brandi, Eric, and Tyler with some of their presents. Jamie and Casey Jacob and one of his new games.
The kids playing one of their new games.
Casey playing with my new video camera.

Winter Wonderland

The snow that we have gotton in the last few days along with the cold have made everything really beautiful. The pictures I will post are right out my front door. We certainly are having a white christmas.I dont really like the cold but we cant have the snow without it.Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year.

Decorating for Christmas

Sunday, a week after we got our tree, I decided it was time to decorate.I usally dont like to put it up as early as a lot of people, but I will probably take it down the day after Christmas.I used to leave it up until after New Years but not anymore.I love Christmas and the spirit of the season but after it is over I cant wait to get everything put away and my house back in order.My husband put the tree on its stand, and my son helped me string the lights.I did the rest but thats okey.That way you can do what you want without anyone telling you what to do. Right?Well anyway, it is done and it was fun.Here are some pictures

The perfect Tree

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went out to the Bookcliffs to cut our tree.Of course its more than just hunting for a tree. The guys have their own agenda. Hunting Coyotes,Bobcat and anything else they might see. We did see a really big Bobcat It crossed the road about 300 yards in front of us.Needless to say the guys were really excited. It went into the thick brush so we never could find it again. Believe me, they tried.We saw some country that we had never been to before and of course we did find what we think is the perfect tree.We were home about noon but instead of putting up the tree I took a nap.It was a pretty good day.I put the tree up yesterday and decorated the house but I will blog about that another day. Here are a few pictures from the day in the bookcliffs.

Thanksgiving

We had a very good Thanksgiving day. The only thing that was missing was our daughter and her family. This is the first Thanksgiving in a long time that we havent had them here.They went to the big city and spent it with Caseys family. Even though we missed them it was wonderful that they got to spend it with his family.We had a great dinner,kicked back and watched a little football,(yes I like football) and we had our son here, so it was great. I did a little blackfriday shopping and Sunday we will go and cut our Christmas Tree. Its kind of a tradition.I would like to say how thankful I am for my family, my home,our health and all of the little things that we take for granted every day. I feel blessed.

Twilight

I went last night to the movie Twilight with my daughter, granddaughter, and some of their friends.I loved the movie.Usally when you have read the book first the movie never comes up to your expectations, but this one did.I really enjoyed it and cant wait for the next one to come out sometime in Feburary.Jacob, who I always liked better than Edward was cute but I think maybe I liked Edward a little better. What a bunch of handsome and beautiful vampires they were.The movie wasnt supposed to open until tonight but they had a special showing last night at eight.We were in line at 6:00 to get a good seat. The theatre was packed, and it is sold out for tonight to. Im sure this is a movie that people will want to see again.Even if you havent read the books, although I cant imagine there are to many people who havent, go see the movie. It was great entertainment.

Beautiful Rain

Yesterday we got up and went into breakfast, and as we were heading home it started to rain.I dont know about anyone else but I love the rain.My idea of a beautiful rainy Sunday is to snuggle up on a sofa with a good book, so while Hank went out on his porch and watched football that is exactly what I did. What a lazy wonderful day.When I looked out this morning there was some fog just hanging over the valley.It was beautiful but I hope its not a sign of things to come. Although I loved yesterday and this morning I am not looking forward to this winter when we have fog all the time, but Im sure I will survive. Here are a couple pictures when the sun was just about to go down and it was still raining

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Hanks new porch

Our old porch was about to fall down so Hank decided to build a new one on to the front of our house. When he first told me what he wanted to do, I just could not picture it. We went back and forth on what we wanted to do, argued a little and finally I just threw up my hands and said do what you want. See, he wanted to make it alot bigger and put glass sliding doors all around it so we could see out from every angle. I thought the glass sliding doors would look dorky, but then what do I know. Well he went ahead with his plans and it turned out beautiful. I love it, but he keeps reminding me its his to do with what he wants since I didnt even want it. We bought a new small sofa and nice rugs, a couple of end tables, and last but not least a new plasma tv.We dont see eye to eye on what to watch so I used to have to go into the bedroom to watch what I wanted, but not anymore. I was afraid with the tv on in the living room and his on the porch, as loud as we both like the sound we would drown each other out. Now Im not saying we are both going deaf but we do put the sound up louder than the normal person.So, we bought Hank wireless earphones.It is so nice. Every night he asks me, what are you watching and if he doesnt like it he goes to his porch.Hes all set now. He can watch tv, the traffic go by, the snow as its falling and I can be nice and cozy in the house with my tv.

Wedding and Reception

The wedding was at noon on Saturday the 18th and the reception that night from 6:00 to 8:00pm.After the wedding, pictures were taken at the Temple and then the family and a few friends went to Erics ward house for a luncheon.There was a couple of hours before the reception so we came home for a little while. There was really a very good turnout and we all had a great time. Both of my brothers and their wives were their and that was great because I dont get to see them that often.Sunday I went over and watched them open their presents. They really got alot of nice things.Now that the wedding is over, what in the world will I talk about? Thats all I`ve blogged about for so long, but since Brandi is my first grandchild and the only girl,I think it deserved all the time I gave it.Here are a few pictures.

Decorating the Church.

Friday was the day to decorate the church so I met Jamie and Brandi at 11:30 for lunch. We knew it would be a long day and knew we would be at the church for the rest of the day, and of coarse we were.We didnt get through until after 8:00 but the church looked amazing so it was worth it. we had alot of help from one of Jamies friends and some of Brandis friends. It would have taken us alot longer without them. Jamies friend was a lifesaver.Everyone was stressed out and tired but we still found the time to have a little fun. The wedding was beautiful, the church looked wonderful and I will blog about the wedding later.

Wedding Shower

The day after the scrapbook expo we went to Ogden to Brandis soon to be sister-in-laws for a wedding shower for brandi.It was really nice and Brandi got some really nice things. We played a game that had questions about what Eric would say and I have to say Brandi knows Eric pretty well. Both of Brandis grandmas were there,her great grandma and four of her Aunts and quite a few from Erics side. We had a fun time and the best dessert. In fact it was so good I ask for the recipe.Nothing shy about me. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Scrapbook Expo

After being up until 1:30 in the morning we were still up and out to the expo center by 5:30 friday morning. They dont start selling tickets until 8:00 am but we like to be there early so we arent so far back in line. All of the tv stations are there to interview people and its just alot of fun. This year channel 4 interviewed Sheryl and Jamie. I dont know if any of you saw it but they had alot of fun. We take lawn chairs so we dont have to stand in line or set on the floor. We see some of the same ladys in line twice a year and have made a lot of friends that you look forward to seeing.We always try to get tables in the same area every time because some friends meet us there but they dont like to get there as early as we do. So if we are out shopping when they get there they know where our tables are.There is usally about 10 or 12 of us at our table but this time some couldnt come so there was only 6 of us. There were 2 other big tables of ladys that we know from Vernal right next to us so it was a lot of fun.

We always go to the Olive Garden for dinner. We just leave our stuff there at the expo. We go and have dinner and then come back and stay until midnight. The next day was my birthday so the girls had some of the waiters sing happy birthday to me and then Shelley bought pumpkin cheesecake and we all shared it.We went back and did some scrapbooking and before you knew it, it was time to go home to bed. What a fun time we always have and really look forward to this twice a year.