My Grandma

I LOVE going to Grandma's House!

I have LOVED it my whole life!

It was always so magical to go & explore around the farm.

We had "the willows" to play in, countless tree houses to perch ourselves in, our beloved playhouse to play in, the ditch to wade in, TONS of feilds to tromp around, a bunkhouse to sleep-in, Grandpa's OUTDOOR kitchen to eat all our meals in, a HUGE yard to play in, & 2 LOVING grandparents to care for us!

What's NOT to love!!!!!!!!

After my Grandpa passed away when I was in high school the mood in the house changed, slightly. It was different to not hear his cowboy boots tromping around, & the outdoor kitchen hasn't been used nearly as much as when he was around, but many things have stayed the same!

My Grandma is still there pouring out LOVE for the both of them!!! & that is the MOST important part.

My Grandma doesn't go out of her house these days, but she is still vibrant & full of energy & insists on doing the dishes "to earn her keep" after EVERY meal!

I LOVE HER!!!

One of the many wonderful things she does is sit in her chair & tie blankents for all her great-grandchildren & great great-grandchildren!What a TREASURE it is to receive these blankets from her!

I'm always so amazed that she can finish SOOOO many of them to have enough to give to my children!

{each of my children have at least 3!!! obviously Emma has more as she's been around longer, but Kye is not yet 2 & has 3 sweet blankets!!! what LOVE!!!}

I have many blankets that she's done for me over the years, but I think the ones she does for my children have greater meaning to me!

As we were visiting her this last time I got to witness her sweet hands hard at work!

It is a memory I will treasure FOREVER!

There is so much LOVE in each stitch she does!

{As she hands stitch even around the edges}

To watch her hands continue to serve made me realize that I have a LOT to live up to!

My Grandma has NEVER stopped serving!

Her hard-working hands prove that to me!

I know my Grandma HATES getting her picture taken & would HATE to know that I posted them for the whole world to see, so DON'T tell her!!!!

I had to document my Grandma making her FAMOUS BLANKETS!!!!

I love you GRANDMA!!!!!!

Thanks for all your hard work!!!

Thanks for your sweet hands that show me I have a WHOLE life ahead of me to serve!!!!

Thank You for all your WONDERFUL "Grandma Blankies"!!!!

My kids won't go to bed without at least ONE of these blankets wrapped around them!

I'm so glad they LOVE them as much as I do!!!!

To Grandmother's House we go ... Part 1

We had the chance to go to my Grandma's house a couple weekends ago. It was a FABULOUS time had by all!!! The day we were leaving, Alan found out that he was needed to work at least part of the next day, SOOOOOO since we were already planning on leaving I loaded up my kids, drove down & got my Mom & off we went. Dave, my oldest brother, agreed to stay & wait for Al the next day & bring Dad with him too. It was fun to be able to spend as much time up in Afton, Wyoming as POSSIBLE!!! All 3 of my kids LOVED exploring around the farm --- this was Kye's first time really being able to EXPLORE. Last fall when we went he was just a little tyke & pretty much just stayed inside.This playhouse is such a magical place for me!

When we were little my Grandpa, who has since passed away, built this for all the Grandkids to play in. I remember ENDLESS hours spend in this little house playing, cooking, fighting, & creating ... oh it was SOOOOO much fun!It was fun to watch my kids EXPLORE this house & do similar things that we used to do.That first day was pretty low-key ---

we visited with Great Grandmawent on "RIDES" around her houseGot out the toys to play with& colored our HEARTS out!Then it was time for bed!

I got to stay up late & visit with Mom, Grandma, & Aunt Carolyn which was a treat for me to hear them reminise & just have girl time with such FABULOUS, & inspiring women!!!!

We spent from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon there & it was such a nice time together!

I will document our other days ... SOON!

Bee STING ... #2

About a year ago we had a little incident with a bee sting but it involved Zachary & his little middle finger. It was such a sad day for me & him!!! :(

Now a year later we have another bee/wasp incident on our hands involving my daughter & her eye ...Yep, right on her eyelid she got stung ... reminiscent of when I was in first grade & got STUNG right on my eye!!! It happened yesterday as she was playing outside. I was nervous putting her to bed last night because I knew what happened to my eye that LONG time ago ---
Yep, The same thing happened to her, but at least she could still see out of her eye!
{mine was swollen SHUT!}
She didn't seem to mind too much & when she came outta school it did look better. :(
Poor Girlie!
I hope this bee stinging doesn't happen YEARLY for us!
It's so miserable to watch your kids go through things like this!

PLEASE BEES/WASPS STAY AWAY FROM MY KIDS!!!!!

You gotta jump right in!

So after LOTOJA we came home for 3 1/2 days before we left for my Grandma's house for the weekend. I got this CRAZE one morning to RIP apart my pantry & paint it ... yah, COMPLETELY nuts-o!!! I tore into my pantry Tuesday morning, not really thinking about how much time I DIDN'T have!! Good thing I didn't think, or else I woudn't have done it, & I LOVE IT!!!!

So I cleaned it ALL out ---{yep, there was CRAP all over my kitchen! I did do a ton of de-junking my pantry too, which was nice to get rid of old food & useless appliances we don't use!}

Then my sweet Husband came home from work & sanded down the shelves for me.

The shelves had some kind of liner on them that was ripped out by the previous owners, which left sticky-yicky stuff all over the shelves for us. My husband asked me upon moving in if I wanted the shelves sanded before I put stuff on them, but at the time I just wanted to be able to unpack my kitchen, so I declined that offer. Now 5 years later I LOATHE that sticky-icky junk on the shelves, so OFF IT WENT!

THANKS BABE!Then onto the painting I went!

I could tell Alfie had NO DESIRE to paint that night, so I dived right into the project myself. Now we both know why I don't paint the house myself ... I STINK at painting, but hey --- it's ok --- it's only in the PANTRY!!!I left Thursday afternoon with my pantry in dis-array, so that paint could get a good drying after all the touch-ups. Sunday I came home to put it all back together with my sweet HUBBY'S help!!! {Gosh, I love that man!!!}It is ALL put back together with some added features such as this nifty-little-ditty that organizes STUFF so well FOR ME!& these sweet knobs that make my DAY everytime I go to grab an apron to start cooking!

I'm still looking for the PERFECT-O glass {well fake glass, but glass looking} door knob for the pantry door ... it's gonna be AWESOME once I find the right one!!!!

I also added my FAVORITE saying to the door, which I'm sure you will recognize if you read this blog often:

HAPPINESS is brought to me everytime I enter my kitchen!!! :)

I still plan to do vinyl on the walls of my pantry, but I need to talk to my vinyl lady & then have her to a cutsie little design for me so that I can add even more PIZZAZZ to my lovely cooking quarters!

This little pantry update was little expense, as I already had the paint from my bedroom, & white from some other project, for the shelves. I just spent a little money on the glass knobs --- yep, $3 whole dollars for the knobs --- SWEET, they were on SALE!!!! oh I love updates that make a difference to ME & don't cost my life savings!!!

Here's to happy FALL cooking to y'all!!!! I know I'm going to enjoy it!!!! :)

Lagan Zoo & other Shenanagians

About a week & a half ago my friend, Anna, & I took our kids up to Logan to the "free" zoo up there. {It's practically free, they just ask for donations at the front ... $2 for adults & $1 for kids ... yep, FREE compared to the HOGLE ZOO!!!} It was a cute, little zoo & NOT crowded at all!!! With lots of SHADE!!!

ahhhh ... it was ENJOYABLE for sure!We even let our kids feed the ducks/fish cause the food was only 10 cents for a HUGE handful

... yep, pretty much used EVERY dime in my purse, but it was SOOO worth it!After the zoo we walked right next door to a park that was full of CHARM & let the kids play to their hearts content!

It was a wonderfully, relaxing PERFECT time!Then we meandored over to Firehouse Pizza in Logan & enjoyed ourselves some Yumm-o PIZZA!! Mmmm ... the kids enjoyed a Peanut Butter & Honey pizza while Anna & I got our specialty personal pizzas.

This wasn't as RELAXING as it was NAP time, but it was still a fun experience!Thanks Anna for the FUN ADVENTURE!

-----

SIDE NOTE:

I had MANY, MANY, MANY promptings to STOP & get gas, but kept ignoring them for one reason or another ... kids sleeping, not one on MY side of the road etc, etc. I figured I had PLENTY of gas cause my gas light never came on ...WRONG-O!!!

Yep, we were stranded on the Left side of the freeway in Ogden.

Blessing for the day:

Daddy was working in Layton for the day instead of down in South Jordan like normal!!!

He came & rescued us!

I felt DUMB for running outta gas!

I felt even DUMBER when a cop pulled behind me like I was a criminal!

Yep, it's ILLEGAL to run outta gas ... I COULDV'E been ticketed ... LUCKILY I wasn't!!!!

Was so HAPPY once Hubby finally arrived!!!

We made it home safe & sound ... ahh!!

Guess I've learned my lesson ... gas lights are NOT reliable gidgets in cars!!!!

7 YEARS & LOTOJA

7 YEARS!!!!

Wowsie, in many ways I cannot believe that it's been that long!

We have been through A LOT together, but I really wouldn't trade ANY of it!

I love my Alfie & I'm so thankful that 7 Years ago we were sealed together for ETERNITY!

I love you, Bexy!

Now onto how we spent our ROMANTIC anniversary weekend ...

oh wait, it wasn't romantic at all!!!

We spent it with 4 other people, in the car, driving from here to Jackson Hole, Wyoming ALL DAY LONG!

:)

It was fun!

I was kinda a brat cause I was TIRED!

Yep, he STILL loves me!!!! :)

Looking back it was a really fun weekend together!

Here's how it went:

Blake decided to have Dave cut his hair ... not sure THAT was a good idea!Here's the 2-man relay team that competed in LOTOJA:

{my brother-in-law Blake & of course Alfie}

Here's the LOVE-BIRDS celebrating at o' dark-thirty in the morning!& let's GOOOOOOO!!!

{7:05am was TAKE-off}We ALL got a little looney spending that much time in the car!{we don't REALLY clame this one!} Here's the LOVE-BIRDS waiting in Afton, Wyoming for the next EXCHANGE!We got to see Alfie ride this leg ... well at least PART of it!Then it was the LAST leg of the race ... Blake did this one.They FINISHED before the cut-off!!!
{About 7:35pm}

Then we stopped off at this LOVELY place in Jackson Hole before heading back to Afton to sleep ...

BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

It took WAA-AAAY too long to get seated, order, get our WATERS, get our 2 SIMPLE pizzas {that ended up being doughey}, & get our ticket to go ... LAME-O & very disappointing!

{at least we got it all 1/2 off!!!}

The next morning we got up without the alarm of KIDS, enjoyed a nice walk with my siblings, enjoyed talking to Grandma & Carolyn, packed up, & drove home.It WAS fun to spend the WHOLE weekend with my ONE TRUE LOVE!

He puts up with a lot from me & I'm so thankful EVERYDAY to have him!!

It was fun to watch him do something he's never done before!

It's always fun to be with family!

Thanks to my WONDERFUL sister & her family for watching our KIDD-O's for the weekend!

Here's to MANY, MANY, MANY more YEARS together!!!

Love you, HONEY!!!!

I NEED TO BLOG!!!!

B-U-T

I've been SOOOO BUSY!

Here's what we've been up to in a 'Nutshell"

-- Had FHE with the Madsen's

{we do this monthly, but most of the time I'm too lame to document it

here I did for once}--We made it the $2 Tuesday at Thanksgiving Pointe despite the fact that Emma's in school.

{& boy did we have a good time in the children's garden!}--We had a GNO where we were CRAFTY & enjoyed YUMMY chocolate fondue with ALL the fixins'!--We said FARWELL to the Ferguson's for 3 months

{aka Afton, Juilie, & Dennis --- Yes, my kids remind me all the time that Afton lives in IRELAND ... what a LUCKY GIRL!!!--We broke this thumb sucking habit ... ALTHOUGH I wish MANY of times that he still did this!

{he SCREAMS ... A LOT!!! I have a constant headache since this habit was broken ... not sure it was worth it!!!!! :( }{don't know WHY?? this picture loaded upside down??!!??}

We have gotten to spend many LATE night out again since Emma's been off track!

{we've also had MANY l-a-z-y mornings ... ahhhhh}We had a lABOR dAY campout at the Fergy's house where we slept out in our tent.

It was a glorious time with Yumm-o food to enjoy!
We had a lABOR dAY bbq with the Madsen's complete with ALL the works for our burgers ... YUMM-o once again!We've done Lotoja, celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary, delved into the panrty to revamp my kitchen, gone to the zoo in Logan, played at Grandma Wilkes', had adventures to the park, practiced riding bikes, ran many training miles {less than 2 weeks until St. George Marathon ... eeeeeeek!!!} & much more!
I will document LOTOJA in depth later ... if I ever have time, but until then
Know that we are ALIVE & well!!!
:)