Adventures in babysitting

Christie and Darren and Tom and Kristy decided to trade babysitting so they could each have a date night. We went over when it was C&D's turn to have 10 children 10 and under and it was quite a houseful. We also got to go over to T&K's Friday when they had their turn and this time I took the camera. The cousins have such a fun time together and although it was a busy night for both couples, they loved having their time for a date. Both Christie and Kristy have perfected the pizza making business now and the kids love it. Lucy got brave and held Hercules. I wish I had a picture of JD though. He got soooo excited. Hopefully this little guy will survive all the loving. The younger girls loved playing dress up and performing all night One of our favorite moments of the night was when JD and Gracie were eating ice cream. JD decided to feed Gracie and she loved it! Well, we think we have the cutest grandchildren ever. Thanks for letting us be a part of their lives~ Love you!

The Bennie Bender

They got a new machine at dad's physical therapy place and he got to be the guinea pig to try it out. They have him coming every day now and have dubbed the new machine the "Bennie bender". Dad says it gives him a work out. This is him and his name sake! Dad and I got to be the witness couple for the session Friday. I had been concerned that they may ask us to do that, thinking that we would have to turn them down. Dad has only started kneeling for prayers now a couple of time. But when they asked on Friday, dad said we would love too. He was able to get up and down pretty good. I was worried that his knees would hurt but he said he did just fine. So, that is progress. I told dad it looked like we would have a quieter weekend this week. We had Andrea's wedding one weekend, the next was a funeral for Dad's uncle in Ogden, then last weekend was Jim's adopted grandma Anderson. So, we thought a wedding and two funerals was enough. But as we were leaving the temple, Kent Day told us that Lyman Buhler had died, so Saturday was another funeral. They have all been different, but all have reminded us of the importance of eternal families and the glorious blessing of life after this. We are so blessed to have this knowledge. I wonder what I did right to be granted this blessing, when so many don't know. It does make you want to shout it from the house tops, that all may rejoice! We had the great blessing of hearing John and Laura talk in Sacrament meeting today. They both gave such great talks that spoke to my heart and mind and I so appreciate their words and testimonies. We want to congratulate TJ on winning the spelling bee. Way to go! We are proud grandparents!

Shower

Laura and Kristy had this great idea to plan a surprise shower for Liz. Laura made arrangements for us to have it at Dear Lizzie which added a fun environment. When we found out that Liz's mom was going to do a shower also, we just combined with them. It is remarkable, but we were able to keep it a secret. Her she is, rounding the corner and seeing us standing there. She got this beautiful dress from her mom This is the whole group. (We so missed Allyson--another one of those communication blunders.) The picture is deceiving because I am not really that much shorter than Kristy and Christie--and definitely not shorter than Pam. They all have big heels on I think--I am going to have to invest in some! It was a lot of fun to be there, visit, eat and see all the cute little girls things. It makes it seem so close now and we are all getting anxious to see what she will look like. (as well as knowing what her name will be--they are having a hard time agreeing) Anyway, it was fun and we so appreciate all the work that everyone did and all who came and shared in this happy occasion with us. Hope you all have a great week!

More birthdays!

Happy Birthday, Trey. He turned 6 on Friday. I got to talk with him early that morning and he was pretty excited about his day. I had to search through many folders of pictures to find a picture of him. He won't ever stay still and let me just take his picture, so I have to get him on the go. I found some with him playing with trucks--a favorite thing for him to do, the reunion one with his plate of chips for lunch and this one on the trampoline. He also loves to swim, wrestle and run and be outdoors. He is just an active and happy guy! We love you Trey! And, we have another special birthday on Thursday. Colton turns 8 years old! Colton loves playing video games, loves sleep over, loves to play with his brother and loves to be with his cousins. He loves his mom and dad and is so excited for his baby sister. Happy Birthday Colton. We are so excited for you to get baptized soon. We love you!

Happy Birthday, Kristy

It was great fun to celebrate Kristy's birthday last Sunday. We have to show off the cake Tom and the kids made for her.It was so colorful and bright. Lots of candles now Kristy--J/K--like I could talk. But it did make a lot of smoke. Anyway, we sure are glad you took a chance on Tom and are part of our family. Sure love you!

Fun Holidays

We so enjoyed being with everyone for the holidays and as always, your thoughts turn to those not here and you miss them much more. We had a great time with Kim and Daniel and family staying with us--they had to leave too soon though. Daniel was a good sport to tolerate the cold. Daniel& Kim treated us this year to a great, soon to be traditional Christmas breakfast. Ben broke my house in with the spit up (ha!) Look at that great grin and the hair on his head--it disappeared! And, little James broke in Christie and Darren's toilet by stuffing 2 toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste in the trap and flushing it. (Darren had the fun job of finding it all) He has that adorable and innocent smile going though--hard to get too upset! Tyler kept us laughing. My favorite was after the temple lights when we went to eat. Tyler was eating his French fries and told us his dad made french fries and proceeded to describe the process he used with sprite and the microwave, etc. So, when Daniel came over my curiosity got the best of me and I asked Daniel how he made them. Daniel told Tyler that he was silly, he didn't make fries like that to which Tyler matter of factly told us that "My dad's silly. He's just making a lie" Kylie was so much fun such a great helper and big sister and made us lots of pictures that we love! John & Laura had a sleepover on Christmas Eve so it was fun for us to share in their Christmas morning. (We hope to get another bedroom finished before next year!) Unfortunately we only got 2 traditional family pictures around the tree But we had a fun or should I say funny and hectic nativity. Darren was a good sport and played the donkey and Jer obliged and was Joseph. Christmas was a great day--it snowed all day and was beautiful. We had a great dinner, the kids loved playing with each other and the big boys had great fun bonding And we had great fun with our new toy It was great fun and a great memory. Sure love you all