Katelyn turns 4 years old!

It does not seem possible that our little girl could be 4 years old. Our lives have not been the same since she was born. She is so sweet and a true blessing to our family.
This past weekend we got to celebrate with her family and friends. A special princess party was planned and her Mom did a beautiful job! The decorations were so cute and her cake, hand made by Mom was no less than professional looking. I have never seen so many different kinds of princess dolls and toys. The kids at her party all dressed as princesses or knights and they were all so cute. They made crowns and shields with fun decorations, played pin the kiss on the frog, searched for the kings lost gold coins, and a bean bag toss into a castle. One of the highlights was the slaying of the dragon, even though he was hard to break, with a little help from Dad, all the candy fell out to the delight of all. At the end of the day Katelyn had to try on all the dress up costumes we gave her and then she just kept adding to it. When that happens you get a princess dress, jewelry, new snow boots and a warm up jacket, a look only a true princess can pull off.

Cameron could not be left out of the special day. He looked for gold coins in his dragon costume and even made his own shield. Of course the best part was all the goodies!

Thanks for letting us be part of your special day. You are more than a princess to us. We love you! Happy Birthday Katelyn

I have been tagged!

Seven random facts about me

1. I love being a Grandma, it is the best!

2. I love Dr. Pepper, although I am not addicted I enjoy some of the nectar of the Gods every day.

3. After 32 years of cooking, I really enjoy eating out or anywhere someone else does the cooking.

4. I like all the blinds closed when it is dark and I have to have them open first thing in the morning.

5. I love the new daytime show "The Doctors" don't know why it is so interesting to me.

6. I could live without winter, had enough snow to last a lifetime. Only time it is needed is at Christmas or if I get a day to play with my Grandchildren and build snowmen together.

7. I need sunshine!


Seven random memories

1. Spending Marty's first Christmas in Iowa. Glade had to work so we spent the day at a friends house in our Branch and had dinner with them. Glade came home and we opened presents at about 6:00 pm, that never happened again!

2. Watching Jill graduate from SUU. One of my proudest moments.

3. Living through two son's missions and the absolute joy of seeing them arrive home at the airport and those precious first hugs! A very proud and happy day for a mom.

4. Seeing Kateylyn for the first time and holding her at the Tulsa Airport, been my best buddy ever since.

6. Watching Cameron come into the world and holding him when he was only minutes old. So amazing.

7. A far away memory of our wedding day. We were so young and we didn't know it, we were just in love and had no idea what was ahead, and thankful to have a partner to live through it all with me.

Seven things to look forward to

1. Being a Grandma over and over again and learning what it is like to be the "in town"Grandma.

2. One more wedding someday, and meeting a new daughter in law and adding her to the family.

3. Watching my daughter become a Mom.

4.Paying our house off.

5. Okay, me getting a new job.

6. More fun travels with family and friends. Hoping one day to see Italy.

7. Having selective memory, remembering all the good, forgetting all the bad.

Happy Birthday Jill

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILL!

On October 13, 1981 my life was blessed with a beautiful baby girl! She has blessed my life every day since. We have been a team, and best friends all her life. she is turning 27 this year and I thought I would list the 27 things I love about her!

1. Her Smile, it just makes you happy.

2. Her sense of humor, she really comes up with some funny things to say.

3. Her honesty. She will always tell you the truth.

4. Her great taste in decorating, her house is adorable.

5. Her love of teaching. She has a teaching degree of which I am most proud. She uses that talent to substitute teach, and she has great reputation for being one of the best!

6. Her choice in a husband. She brought George into our lives and he is one of our own now. Our family is forever blessed . So many things we could not do without him.

7. Watching Jill and George be happy together. They are best friends, and I love to watch them love each other. They are great examples to me.

8. Her ability to make a decision and stick with it! She always trusts herself, rarely second guesses herself. This made planning a wedding a wonderful experience.

9. Her love a reading. She always has a book she is reading and she inspires me to try to read more, a daunting task.

10. She is great cook. I wasn't sure when she left home if she would eat, but out of necessity she has become a wonderful cook. I love to eat anything she cooks!

11. Her love for the same kind of shows and movies as me. I miss watching "Gilmore Girls" with her and singing the opening song together. Thanks George for putting up with that, you never bolted from the room when we sang, you are a strong Man.

12. Her Creativity. We have had a lot of fun trying to create things. They eventually turn out, even though we have to go back to the store at least twice for supplies. I love to do projects with her.

13. She is not a chocoholic. I really admire that in her. As a child she really didn't get into chocolate and I never pushed her to, I wish I could be more like that!

14. She loves Dr. Pepper too!

15. She is organized. Heaven knows she has tried to help me be better organized, some of it has rubbed off, although not enough.

16. She loves a Broadway play. One of my favorite memories is going to see Les Mes with her in New York. We both love that play so much we went to see it again in Colorado.

17. She is a good listener. I can bounce most anything off of her and she always helps me make sense of things.

18. Her dedication to her church callings. Even as a young women, she always did her part and more, and did it very well. This makes those who work with her love her for her hard work and dependability. She is an excellent Young Women secretary.

19. She is a great housekeeper! I have never seen her house dirty. She take such pride in her home and it is always clean.

20. She loves to eat out. She is always fun to go to lunch with, and we try to do it often. We don't really care where we go, it is just fun to us.

21. Her love to travel. She loves to see new places. She loves to really see a place when she is there . She went to Italy and France with George and one day I would love to go to Italy with them.

22. She loves living in Colorado and for that I am grateful. Having her five minutes away makes my life rich and full.

23. Her love for children. She is wonderful with them. It is a big part of who she is and one day she will make the best Mother ever!

24. She appreciates her blessings. She recognizes the things she is blessed with and lives to receive all the blessings she should have.

25. Her love for animals. She has had many interesting pets over the years, like a fog when she lived in the dorms at school. And Jack her very large dog who dug holes in the back yard and everyday she would fill them in so her Dad would not get mad. And now Milo.

26. Her testimony of the Gospel. Her dedication to reading the scriptures and following the Prophet. There is much to be admired there.

27 AND FINALLY, BECAUSE SHE IS JILL! MY ONLY DAUGHTER, MY BEST FRIEND AND A PERSON I WOULD MOST LIKE TO BE LIKE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I LOVE YOU

baking with Grandma

When I was a kid growing up, my Mom used to make us clean and do baking every Saturday. This was not an activity I loved at all. I could not stand to make cookies, I just did not have a patience for it at all. Come to think of it, I didn't have a lot of patience for lots of the things I had to do as a child. We would make cakes and cookies to store in the freezer, so we would have them for the coming week. No store bought goodies for us! I think I volunteered for the cakes most of the time because I really hated dropping the cookies on the baking sheet, it just took to much time. My Mothers love for baking must have rubbed off on me and I spent many hours making the same treats for my kids, but it was still work. Now that I am a Grandma, one a my very favorite activities is baking with Katelyn, and now Cameron. I made an apron for Katelyn and we have been sharing this fun activity since she was old enough to stand on a stool and help. Now little Cameron wants in on the act. He is not really into the measuring and spinning the bowl like Katelyn, but he none the less loves squeezing up on the stool and being part of the whole thing. I guess his official duty at this point is the taster. He loves the whip cream and the frosting. He can't say a lot of words but you definitely know when he needs a reload on the frosting. Cooking with Katelyn is just a joy. She loves to count the cups of sugar and flour and dump all the ingredients in the bowl (she does an excellent job too). The best part is when she shows Daddy the cake we made and loves the big smile on his face. Daddy loves his cake!

I am not sure how to describe what happens to you when you become a grandparent, some kind of transformation happens. The things you were just to busy to enjoy, now bring you so much joy. I love to watch them play, grow and change. I love to watch my children be parents, and see them do so much better job than I ever did. Whatever it is, you just cant beat having them all on your lap. As Grandpa Glade said, "it just doesn't get any better than this" and I have to agree.

Kicking back for the summer!

This has been a great summer. Being home and not working has allowed me to spend so much time with my family, I love it!'

A couple of weeks ago I headed off to Utah for a couple of days. My intent was to help Nicole out with the kids so she could get some packing done, but it turns out she really had what she could do at that point done, so it ended up being a fun two day retreat. Cameron is starting to walk and I found a pair of cute flip flops that actually fit him. He could even walk OK in them. He did not seem to mind them, but all to quickly they would twist off, but it made for a cute look anyway!


Katelyn wants to start dancing classes this fall to I thought I would try my had at making a tutu. It would have been much better if I had thought to Google some instructions but I always forget how handy things can be on the Internet. I tried my own version and it didn't turn out so well, but Katelyn didn't care. She loved to dress up in it and do a dance for me. I am headed back to help with the move tomorrow and I have a better version for her.

Jill and I had a fun day exploring a new home furnishings store my friend Jo told me about. It was called the "Real Deal". Apparently they have them all over, with tons in Utah. Check it out if you are interested, they have a web site. Anyway we went and looked around. Of course we find the clearance table and get our best finds. Jill got a cute iron shelf for her family room, and I found some cute hangings to dress up my new kitchen. It needed some personality. The pictures aren't to easy to see. A photographer I am not.

I am off to Utah tomorrow so I will have lots of new pic's from the move and time with the family.

Family fun on the 4th of July

As I think back over the years, I am pretty sure we have not had a lot of July 4th celebrations in Colorado since Marty left home for school. Most of our holidays even after we moved here were spent with family and friends in Utah. I guess that makes this year very special and different. Jill invited Marty and family to come spend it with us, and to our great happiness they made the long ride and made our weekend so much fun.
It was so much fun just hanging out and playing with the kids. Grandpa even got into the fun using toys to make him look like Shrek! Cameron loves dogs! He really loves Milo. He is not afraid of them in the least. Milo was is really great with kids, and a pretty good sport with Cam's not so soft pats and being chased around the room. Nothing quite as cute as a little guy and a dog. Katelyn loves him too, and calls him her best friend Milo!

We promised it would be a fun filled weekend, so when Marty and Nicole slept in we decided to take to kids to a neighborhood parade. Seemed like a good idea to walk, because we did not want to wake them for the car keys so we could use the car seats. It would have been a good idea if it had not been about 94 degrees! We missed most of the parade but managed to arrive in time to spend a bit of time with family friends, and have a refreshing Popsicle. Later that day we enjoyed a great lunch, thanks to George and his great grilling skills, even though it was to hot to be outside, it was still fun. Of course the day was polished off with a great fireworks display. I love sitting on the lawn and watching them, even better when the whole family is together. A little slice of heaven!

Thanks to Marty and Nicole and kids for making the long trip, that had to be not too much fun. Tyler for making the effort to jump on a plane and share the day with us. Jill and George for pulling it all together and helping with food and fun, and Grandpa Glade for sharing all the fun with us this year.

Even though events like these are far to few, having all the family together makes me a very happy Mom and Grandma. I love all the mess, cooking, playing, snuggling and kisses. These are times I will always treasure

Having fun with the grandchildren

Now that I don't work, I can get away and spend time with my Grandchildren. I always leave early, but Grandpa Glade joins us as soon as possible. This summer I took advantage of the time I am not working and had some great play days with them. My Mom and I decided to take the kids to the park in Kaysville, it has ducks the kids could feed. Katelyn was happy that they had a fence to keep the ducks from getting too close to her, and she was pretty good at throwing the bread over it. Cameron was really checking them out, but remained safe in my arms. Katelyn loved to play on the playground, and I was thankful that my nephew Corey was there to help out. It is not so easy to play and hold a little guy at the same time. Cameron did enjoy the slide, but would really rather just crawl, not such a easy thing at a playground!

Later in the week Grandpa came to town. I loved the pictures of the games they played. Katelyn loves to use my camera to take pictures, so she got Grandpa to to play "funny faces" with her. The two of them are pretty good at it.
Grandpa got Katelyn to lay by him and they looked for shapes in ceiling. Not a game I would think of, but she loved it and Grandpa got some cuddle time out of it.

It was Nicole's birthday on Friday, and since we were at Lindsey's wedding, we celebrated on Saturday. We had a nice picnic at the splash park and playing with the kids in the water was pretty fun. It was a good one for Grandmas because they always splashed in the same places making it easier to keep from getting soaked. It was so hot, that I really did not mind getting wet when Cameron and I played in the water. There is still a bit of a kid on all Grandmas!
Thanks Nicole and Marty for letting me hang with you for a week, I sure do love your children!

Time has sure passed, so here goes

It has been so long since I have blogged that I fear I can't remember what I am doing.
Last weekend we had a family celebration of Glade and Tyler's birthday. Tyler flew in for the the big day.
I still am not sure what I was thinking when the Doctor offered to start me in labor on Glade's birthday. Seemed like a good thing then, but you should never ask a nine month pregnant woman a question like that, she would always take you up on it. Over the years is has calmed down a bit, and now I just find myself making two cakes because Glade can't eat wheat products, and the rest of us don't care for "non gluten" cake. Now I am left finishing the last of the chocolate cake and Glade is working on finishing his. Such a problem.