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.

GOOD TIMES WITH THE LITTLE ONES

This past month has been a great family time. It started early with Cameron's blessing. I got to go to Utah early to spend time with Katelyn and Cameron. It was a beautiful fall morning and Katelyn and I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and spend some time outside. After a short ride on her tricycle we found ourselves at a great park not far from her house. We had the whole place to ourselves. We had a great time swinging and climbing, I did pretty well for a Grandma. The playground had a great princess ( or prince if needed) tower and I got a cute picture of Katelyn looking over her kingdom. I was the only one in it, but that didn't matter. It went pretty well until I talked her into going down the spiral slide with me. It was great and we squealed and laughed until we hit the bottom and I was sitting in a puddle of water. Now just because your bottom is wet is not reason for a two year old to go home, so I just tied my jacket around my waist and played on. It was not very comfortable but the time with her was precious and I loved every minute of it.

Later that weekend Marty and Nicole blessed Cameron. Now I know that I am his Grandma, but he is a beautiful baby boy. Each time I spend time with him I fall more head over heels in
love. When he smiles he has the cutest dimples. He looked so cute in his little white tux. He was so good during the blessing. He is not all that crazy about being held while you are sitting down, so I guess if you stand and bounce him, he is pretty happy. I am very proud of Marty and Nicole and the great parents they are. They make a pretty cute family. It was fun to have all our family together. The four generation picture with Grandpa Glade, Grandpa Merl and Marty and Cameron is priceless. Aunt Jill and Uncle George made the long trip for the blessing. They are a great Aunt and Uncle and both kids love them tons.




I just got home on Sunday from going to the big three year old birthday. Katelyn's actual birthday was on Thanksgiving, but we celebrated it on Wednesday. Glade and I got the day off and ran to the airport on Tuesday evening to try to get a standby flight to Salt Lake City. Luckily we both made it even it even if we had to take two different flights. Katelyn was so excited for her party. Nicole worked so hard to make it special. I don't think I ever did a party that fancy , ever! It was done in a Candy land theme and it was darling. I can't say exactly how many hours Nicole spent on the big day, but I dare say it took most of her free time for a couple of weeks. The cake was darling, unfortunately Katelyn does not like cake all that well, but she liked the star bursts on the top. She got to decorate gingerbread cookies, play games and open a lot of gifts. She loved it all. One Thursday morning I gave her our gift. It was a "Lucky dog" and he is animated and can do tricks on command. She really loves that dog. I think she really thinks he is real and loves to talk to him and play with him, and put him to bed on his own dog pillow. Needles to say I loved watching her play with him. She is so much fun! I know years from now she will not remember this day, but I am sure I will remember it for a long time!

I love the fall, but it makes me a bit sad because winter in always looming out there. I love to see the world change to all the beautiful colors. I am definitely not in love with the dead look of winter. Snow sometimes comes slowly to Denver (I know you don't believe that, but most of the snow is in the mountains.) Last year when it did arrive it came with a vengeance and we really thought we would never see our road again. We literally got snowed in twice. Hence my need to hold winter off as long as possible.

Last weekend our long time great friends called and invited us for a wonderful day driving through the mountain passes to see the changing leaves. I love the mountains, and still after 15 years miss being so close to them. We had a great day! It was so nice to just get away. We laughed a lot and really enjoyed our time together. There is something to be said about long time friends. When you watch your families grow up and share a lot of good times it just makes for special friends.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery.

Cameron is here! He arrived on August 17th at 7:55 am. I was blessed to be there to welcome him into the world. Nicole made it all look so easy and after an all night labor for her and Marty and I sleeping on a small couch, the big day arrived. I got to go and get Katelyn and take her to meet her brother for the first time. As you can see, she just adores him. I can truly say that each new little one take hold of your heart immediately and seems like they have always been a part of your family

I feel like a whole new chapter of my life is open and I looks so forward to watching him grow and learn all about life. I intend on sharing as much of it as I possibly can. This grandma gig is the very best!

I thought I would share the out come of my latest decorating adventure. I have this gigantic wall in my kitchen that I have never liked in the 15 years I have lived here. My family in Utah got us hooked on a new store called Ti Pan and also Rodworks, and it has been a work in progress. I don't have my own designer so I have to do the best I can. I found the shelves and Jill gave me the iron work for Mothers day. Then next time I was in Utah I found the sign that I fell in love with. Jill helped me print off some pictures from my Grandpa Kershaw's farm that I just love. We put in all together and I have a fun wall that is personal to me and that I just love. I really love having my daughter living so close and we have fun trying to make our creative vision for our homes a reality. It has been fun so I thought I would share it with you.


A few weeks ago Glade and I went to Utah to get our monthly grandparent fix. We knew it would be the last visit before little Cameron will be here. We have enjoyed every minute of Katelyn's life. She has brought so much joy that we can not even express. She is definitely the center of our Universe. The picture is her at the breakfast table. I love waking up to her smile in the morning. She is having her favorite breakfast of cocoa puffs and chocolate milk. What kid would not love that. She sure has her Daddy's love of chocolate ( Grandma's too). I will be leaving on Thursday or Friday to go and help with Cameron, unless he makes and early appearance, at which I will get there as fast as a plane can get me there. I look forward to the entire event. It is not often that the mother-in -law gets to be the helper and I look at it as a once in a lifetime event for me. I love Nicole very much, but I realize I am not her Mom and I am sure she would rather have her there. Any girl would, but I will do my very best to be good stand in. I can't wait to be a Grandma again! Look next week for pictures of the big event!