"Great" Grandpa!

We had a "great" visit with my Dad!

He is such a "great" grandpa!

He went to the temple this morning with his granddaughter, Amanda:

He loved posing with his granddaughter, MaryAnn!

He is also a "great" great grandpa!

Here he is posing with six of his greats. The oldest is four!

Thanks, Dad! We had a "great" time with you!!!!

Fun With Grandkids!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Me!

Thanks for all the wonderful Christmases Mom and Dad!

Love to my wonderful brother and sisters!

Thanks for the special Christmas trip, Sweetheart!

The six best kids ever!!!!

My 2010 Calendar--every month features my precious grandchildren!!

Have a very, very Merry Christmas!!

Festive!

I was looking around my house yesterday and feeling so happy to see all of the festive decorations. Then I remembered something my friend told me recently. She had her house all decorated shortly after Thanksgiving. She said it had not taken very long because the previous year she had photographed everything, so it was just a matter of checking the pictures and setting things in place. With digital cameras that is easy to do these days, so I decided to take a walk around my house with my camera. Here are just a few of the things I like:

We received this beautiful poinsettia as a gift. I love having them around at Christmastime!

I bought this fresh wreath at Costco and then added some embellishments I got at Michaels. I like how it turned out!

My display window!

Got these gold trees for my living room this year:

And of course the Christmas tree!

I bought these for the sisters I visit teach and kept one for myself:

Still doing some crocheting. I made these bells with holly for the tree in my bedroom:

And I have my snowman families in the family room and spilling over into the kitchen!

Merry Christmoose!

Silent Night!

Who doesn't love singing "Silent Night" at Christmas time? I know I've already sung it several times in various places this season. It always brings a warm, loving feeling! I'm sure you will feel as I did when I read this paragraph from an article in LDS Living magazine about the LDS Church's development in Eastern Europe. I was especially interested when I saw the countries of Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine mentioned as we have family connections now to each of those countries. I don't think I will ever sing "Silent Night" again without thinking of this experience that was shared!

"Breaking Down Barriers"
"Elder Neuenschwander worked tirelessly to bring missionaries into several European countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Marilyn Fowler entered Bulgaria in September 1990 to teach English with her husband. English-teaching missionaries were soon followed by full-time proselytizing missionaries who entered the country that November. Ten days after their arrival, six converts were baptized in the first Bulgarian baptismal service.

Says Marilyn Fowler:
"One of the nicest memories I have from my time in Bulgaria is of our first Christmas party. We sang 'Silent Night'--a song none of them had ever heard. People were smiling and laughing. They stayed long after the program was over. The four of us, the senior missionaries, we just sat and cried. We realized that never in their lives had they ever had such an experience. It's such a little thing, but it was brand new to them."

This Christmas be thankful for the "little things" such as singing "Silent Night" that make

this season so special and sacred!

Christmas Day 1988!

Here we go again!

Lots of great memories!!

Major Coup or Big Dud?

I was at Target today in the check out line. The lady in front of me was buying four of these:

She was going on and on to the clerk about how she was so lucky to find some; they've been selling on Ebay for millions of dollars; her Facebook friend just phoned her and said they had some at our Target; her daughter just loves, loves, loves them; was she really limited to being able to buy only four at a time? Well, being the up-to-date Grandma that I try to be, I asked the lady what they were? She was quite a salesman! She went on and on to me about how fun they are. Hmmmmmm, I thought. I want my grandkids to have fun.

I then did my checkout and promptly did a u-turn with my shopping cart to the toy department. There was the lady! She was buying four more and was going to go to a different check out clerk. She gave me another sales pitch. I fell for it. I then went to the check out to make my purchase. A lady came up behind me in line. When she saw what I was purchasing, she said: Oh my goodness! Do they have some of those here??? What aisle are they on? She promptly made a u-turn with her cart and headed for the toy section.

So now I own four of these things. Any takers? Or should I sell them on Ebay? I think I will keep them for now and try them out on the grandkids that will be here for Christmas.

(I've been afraid to try them out myself--they look a lot like the mice we've been finding in our garage!)

A Unique Trip To A Favorite Spot!

We just got back from a trip to Sea Ranch on the northern California coast. We've been going there for over 30 years! Some things about the trip were just as we expected:

Lots of beautiful scenery:

Long walks along the ocean bluffs:

Spectacular splashes against the rocks by the waves:



Lots of deer:


Dan taking pictures from precarious locations:


And of course, lots of resting:


But there were a few things that were different this time!

For one thing it rained quite a bit:


But that didn't bother us!





And it was Christmas time! So we brought a Christmas tree to make it more festive:


I worked on the Christmas cards:

We listened to lots of Christmas music on the sound system they have at the home:


And we brought a portable DVD player and watched some Christmas movies!



Merry Christmas from Sea Ranch!