Nick's Birthday

Nick turns 12 today. He is such a great kid and a loving grandson. He gave up a birthday party so he could just have the cash. Not a bad idea. Sometimes it's a good idea to be a little mercenary. Now he can buy what he really wants. He also gets the priesthood now and will become a deacon.

Not the best photo for either of us but it's the only one taken , so it's evidence that we were there. Matt, open your eyes and sit up straight.

Wayne and Amelia

Wayne and Colett

His sisters think is pretty cool too.

Nick poses even though he HATES to do it.

Lighting "the" candle

Does anyone ever have a party without taking a picture of blowing out the candle?

It would be un-American. Happy Birthday Nick and Happy Chinese New Year.

Isabelle gets Baptized

Wayne and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. We love to celebrate the special times in their lives. We miss Shon and his family so much but are glad that we can still celebrate with our daughters and their families.

Our Grandchildren bring us such joy!

Isabelle couldn't have been sweeter or happier than she was on her baptism day.

The Yarro family

Matt and his beautiful young daughter Isabelle. He baptized her and did it with grace despite the fact that his white jumpsuit was 3 sizes too small.

Isabelle's Birthday

I am catching up on my pictures. I didn't get these blogged with all the holiday activities that were going on. She is my special girl!!

Isabelle turned 8 years old. We had a dinner for her and

I made her a chocolate cake with melted chocolate glaze.

Now it's party time.

Wes and Amy are showing Emerson how to play airplane.

Matt and Isabelle ....who is showing off her new fur lined sweatshirt.

Grandpa Wayne holds Emerson. There is evidence on Emerson's face that he consumed his share of birthday treats.

Colett gives the birthday girl a hug.

Cake just isn't enough. We need to drizzle everything with chocolate syrup.

Amy enjoys the cake

Isabelle is ready to blow out the candles. We don't bother with sissy candles here. We use real candles.

This is a 3 part blog about my birthday week. Be sure to scroll down to read them all.

OK I really am spoiled. Wayne came home last night with king crab legs, salad and french bread. This is his tradition for me for my birthday. So I am celebrating on yet another day. This made it week long celebration. There aren't too many things better than lemon/butter dripping off of these. He also gave me 6 Bing candy bars....my favorite and hard to find in Utah. I have never had six of them at once. I will stash them in a drawer and eat one each week. He makes me feel special because he goes out of his way to make me happy, and I really am.

Thank you to my sweet baboo!!

The beginning of my birthday week started out with a lovely luncheon with my buddies at the Olive Garden. We used to be in the Relief Society presidency together and this is the first picture we have ever had all together. Once you have been in a presidency like this, you love each other forever. I admire them all so much and count myself very fortunate to have them as my friends. Later on in the week I had luncheon #2 with some other friends but I neglected to take my camera. Thanks Lisa for organizing that one. It was fun too being able to eat with more of my friends.

This blog entry is about my 3rd birthday celebration of the week. Wayne just can't believe that it keeps going on and on. My grandson Nick is not in any of the pictures because he kept leaving the room to play computer games. My son-in-law Wes is not here either because he is on shift at the fire department. AGAIN.

I forgot to make a wish but I still have one. It is that our blessed country will climb back into prosperity, that our service men and women will get to come home and that I will lose 30 pounds.

Every photo shoot has to have a goofy shot. Matt jumped in just in time to make this face.

I really do think it's funny.

E hugs his favorite aunt

My beautiful Colett. Am I slumping or is she as taller than me?

My beautiful Amy. Don't you love her killer dimples?

Amelia

Matt and Colett

Isabelle stirring the lemon glaze.

Early Wayne

Emerson grabbed Isabelle's hair as I snapped this picture.

Wayne thought we needed two desserts this year. I am perfectly happy with cake but he also wanted chocolate banana pie.

If I can't have my Mom's famous chocolate cake, then this is the next best thing. Lemon cake with lemon glaze made by Colett. I get one big candle. No, 58 candles won't fit on this little bundt cake.

These are the gifts I received for my birthday this year. I am so appreciative of them. I love presents. They don't have to be expensive and I don't need a lot, but getting them reminds me that people care and that means a whole lot.

There aren't many women who love flowers more than I do. Wayne once again came through with a beautiful bouquet.

My sister Margaret gave me this manicure set made from Dead Sea minerals. I am looking forward to using it. My cuticles are a fright. The lotion smells so yummy. I love it.

A cute bon-bon dish from Susan Welton. It's made from a vintage cordial cup and mini plate. Don't you just love it? I do.

Pretty, pretty earrings from my Mom and Dad. I hardly ever go a day without wearing earrings. I just wish I had Mom's chocolate cake to go with them.

Tricia Garside gave me this most darling berry wreath. I will think of her every time I see it.

Can you say heaven in a cup? Creme brulee from Rick and Laura Turner. This is their new tradition for me....and this is the 2nd year they have brought it to me. Can you also say yuuuuummmmmm!

Who doesn't like fun makeup? I got 2 Mac eyeshadows and a new mascara from Colett. Now

my eyes will look just her beautiful ones.

You can't have too much glitter..... and I have 18 little jars. Now you may get a valentine or a birthday card from me all glitzed up. Thank you Amy, a crafter after my own heart.

National Popcorn Day

Today is National Popcorn Day. Not state popcorn day, but NATIONAL POPCORN DAY!! Don't you love the smell of fresh popped corn? And the taste.....yummmy! I was given a gift (twice) for caramel popcorn with nuts, white chocolate, dark chocolate and marshmallows, but have wished for the recipe. This is the closest recipe I have found although I haven't tried it yet. If you have a recipe that is tried and true let me know.

Click here: CHUNKY CARAMEL POPCORN Recipe - Land O'Lakes Recipes

Also, I LOVE theatre popcorn but know it is so bad for me. I break down and share a bag with Wayne when we do the movie thing but that's not very often. We usually only go to the movies a couple of times a year. I found this link for the flavoring that you can use at home.

Click here: Popcorn Oils and Butter Topping

The Orville Redenbacher microwave version is pretty good. It's Wayne's favorite, and mine is the microwave kettle corn. (also a Orville brand) You can get them in single serve mini bags so you don't over-do it.

GO POP A BAG TODAY!! You wouldn't want to miss a national celebration would you?

We had a late, great Fall this year. The leaves were beautiful, the weather nice and we really didn't have any bad weather until mid December. When it did come, it came in like a lion and we have had lots of snow since them. Notice the mailbox and how the snow practically comes to the top of the pole. This is after we have shoveled it many times. The snow plow didn't help as he pushed the snow up into it every day. The snow really is this deep though. We have large boulders along our sidewalk and boxwood bushes that are a couple of feet high, but you see no sign of them here. You will also notice the tall grass in the bottom picture.....well that is still there but you can barely see the tip of it. The roads are clear today, January 13th, but the driveway still has packed snow and ice since we face the north. We have been stuck twice trying to back out. Our snow pack on the mountains is finally up to "norm" which it hasn't been for several years now so we will be grateful, but if the next two months are the same I am buying a ticket to someplace warm. My older bones don't like this much and I fear falling again.

Remember what June looked like?

Cleaning Tips

I don't do "Spring Cleaning". It is too exhausting and stressful to me. I do most of my main cleaning after New Years. I took a cleaning class at Relief Society many years ago. I didn't incorporate everything that was taught that night but this is one thing that I do. The teacher said to clean one drawer (cabinet) each day. You will be tempted to do more, but don't. So, I take everything out of a drawer, scrub the drawer, clean the things that are in it and clean the outside of it. That's it for the day (this doesn't exclude the regular every day chores of course, just the things that you would normally consider "Spring Cleaning" chores. This works for the kitchen or bathroom. If you start at the beginning of the month, and if you have 30 cabinets and drawers, they will all be done by the end of the month. If you keep up this schedule, you will rarely ever have big chores to do and it feels like you hardly worked at all.

Now I need to incorporate this idea into my ironing. I don't like to iron and keep putting it off. a I have tried to buy clothes that don't need a lot, but I just can't let Wayne go to work in a shirt that came out of the dryer if the collar needs pressing and the sleeves need a crease. I 've been known to iron T-shirts at times too, but I did figure out a trick for them. Did you ever buy that wrinkle release spray that smells like fabric softener. You spray your t-shirt and then stretch it lightly and the wrinkles just melt away? I got some and it worked very well. Then I ran out and just sprayed it with plain water and stretched it and...voila...exactly the same results but without the smell. I did it this morning with a t-shirt that was very wrinkled. A little phsssst, phsssst and a little tug, tug and not a wrinkle in site. Maybe I will try ironing one item of clothing each day so it will never feel like a chore. If I do one article of clothing per day, I should be done by June.

I belong to a book club that is comprised of many amazing women. We all live in the same subdivision and just blocks from each other. After seeing the pictures, you may think that if your name isn't Laura or Susan, you can't take part, but that just isn't true. At book club when you say "Susan" or "Laura" you have to specify which one you are talking to or they may all answer. We have 3 Laura's, a Lori, a Lisa, and 2 Susans..... plus Michele, Joan, Nicole, Yolanda, Cliss and Tricia. We have diverse tastes in books but we try to read most of them even if it is not something that we would ordinarily pick. I have read several of these and have been pleasantly surprised each time. That's what I like about book club....it takes me out of my proverbial box. My tastes run to mysteries, historical fiction, biographies and old classics but I have expanded my repertoire to include some romance, contemporary fiction, young adult fiction, science fiction and histories. I have liked almost everything we have read except one (that I really should have liked) and that book was the non-fiction textbook called "The Illustrated Brief History of Time" by Steven Hawking. Even though it had a lot of fascinating things in it, I found myself drifting off too often to learn. I like to think it wasn't too intellectually above my understanding but I was just BORED to death. I may try it again in 20 years or so when I am in a "home" and can do nothing else. I will have to take a crash course in the next life if I ever hope to build my own world. Others really enjoyed it however. I love the discussions we have and how points will be brought out that I hadn't thought of or even noticed in the book before. Many times we will have totally different perspectives on the intended plot development and if we care about the characters in the book. Oh, and did I mention that we never leave without filling our tummies with yummy food? We have run the gamut of appetizers and desserts to soups, breads, fruits and veggies and have been known to prepare foods that are mentioned in the books. We can also bring our needlework or lap crafts and work on them while we talk. Thank you girls for making my 3rd Wednesday of the month a little more special than other Wednesdays. You are all the best!!!

Susan K. and Susan W.

Nicole, Laura H, Joan and Yolanda

Lori and Lisa

Lisa, Nicole and Laura H.

Laura L. , Julie, and Laura T.

Laura H. and Yolanda