Shelly's Space

Josh the Senior (Such a Handsome Guy!)

2012-01-18T15:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas (Part 3)

2011-12-29T22:05:00.000-08:00

WE had a wonderful Christmas season...it went by way to fast!! I've broken it up into 3 parts, though it isn't in any particular order. It started with Josh picking out and cutting down our tree in early December....we tell the kids this is our last trip to Thorntons, but you never know.....
At least the ground was dry......
Really now....texting?? Okay...in his defense, he was texting Richard who was meeting us there with the truck after he got off work.
Christmas morning before church.....
Here we all are after the festivities and a yummy ham dinner.....
Sadie was adorable opening presents...see the Christmas bags I decorated?
Jon is now a Cardinals fan....but he's still true to the Mariners.....
Josh opening a present...wondering what it is.....
.....tickets to see The Mythbusters in person when they come to Portland next month. He is a HUGE fan!
Jon and his girlfriend...yes I said it....Brittany...while we played games.
My beautiful girl....it was a bit of a challenge bending down to wrap presents.....
Good thing we kept some of our baby toys....they have really come in handy. Grandpa playing with Sadie:)
My favorite time snuggling with Sadie....although she was sick at the time....she was a little cuddle bug!

Christmas (Part 2)

2011-12-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

We had a grand time going to see Santa at the mall....going to Zoo lights at the Oregon Zoo....and playing games at home. Sadie was our entertainment most of the time.It was a pretty cold night and there were alot of lines at the zoo....Sadie was a trooper! She loved all the lights!
Daddy was her main man that night....she wouldn't go to anybody but daddy....that's okay...he's a pretty great guy!!
It was Uncle Jon's first time at Zoo Lights too!
We have these wooden soldiers I painted years ago....Sadie kept trying to kiss them. They were just her size:)
Sadie was Grandmas helper when we played games....

It was good to see the boys together again....bantering back and forth as usual ha ha!!

Peek a boo with Grandma...Sadie is such a cut up!

Playing blocks with Uncle Josh....these blocks have been around a LONG time....they're from Great Grandma Drew's house.

Christmas (part 1)....

2011-12-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve at "The Allens" is a tradition for many many years now...
There were lots of cousins who loved playing with Sadie...the baby of the family.
Jenny sat there and as she told me.... taking it all in. Something she has missed since getting married and leaving home. Jon and Jenny used to be the little ones....now they're the adults watching the little ones.....
Tickling Uncle Josh.....
Our beautiful neice Rene with her doggie......
Sadie LOVED the doggie.......
Lots of cousins....1st cousins.......2nd cousins....3rd cousins.....Tiffany's Aayla loving Sadie...
Cheree's Kyler playing with Sadie......
Cheree's Ethan playing with Sadie......
Beautiful cousin Cheree had fun with Sadie too......Sadie was the girl to love on Christmas Eve!!

Another Black Friday Bites the Dust.....

2011-11-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

All the talk going on about how violent Black Friday is....people pushing and shoving, spraying people with pepper spray JUST to get a good deal. What is this world coming to??

Things looked a little bleak for going out to brave the crowds this year. Melanie thought she would be gone hunting with her husband, but she made it back in time. HOORAY!! We were a little disgusted with the stores opening so early this year...MIDNIGHT....that's insane! You're darn tootin....and we were right there in the middle of the pack!

Melanie and I were busy making out our lists at the table (shoulda had a picture of that too!) and we were so wide awake we figured....Why Not?? We could go to Kohls and then come home and go to bed before we went out again.

Not exactly how it happened...but a good thought. We left around 12:30am so we would miss all the pushing and shoving...and it paid off. We got most of the things we wanted. No matter that the line wrapped around both sides of the store...we were HAPPY!! So were most of the other people. It's not a day for the faint of heart...or the grouchy ....that's why we leave husbands at home...hee hee! (besides they wouldn't look good in our matching sweaters)

Kohls, Target, Penny's, Fred Meyer, Walmart (we actually walked out with nothing from there....and a bazillion other places. We kept checking our watches...we had SO MUCH TIME!! We went until we couldn't go anymore. Our feet hurt...our brains hurt (from all the overkill) and we were TIRED.

How long did we shop you may ask??

Til 3:00 pm! Yep....nearly 14 hours!! We decided we could have quit like at noon because we were just all shopped out...but then it wouldn't have been so memorable:)

Until next year.....

One Man's Junk is Another Man's.......

2011-10-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

After living just short of 99 years Grandma Drew accumulated a few things. Not worldly things as would be measured by todays standards, but her things nevertheless.Grandma died in 2002 and some of her "things" have been floating around family member to family member. Saturday night my cousin Jane, who had aquired several boxes of Grandma's things, brought me 7 boxes to sort through. I must say....the buck stops here! I spent nearly 8 hours today sorting through only 5 of the boxes. This will be the first blog of several as I reminisce the life of Esther Drew....and other family members along the way. One entire box was full of yellowed and torn up newspaper clippings of recipes, ripped apart cook books, recipes of the month from Fred Meyer, Safeway and Albertsons.....stacks and stacks of slips of paper with typed and handwritten recipes on scraps of paper...always dated and where the recipe came from.
I managed to sort through and discard...throw out...get rid of...lots of JUNK! Yes I said it. But there were some treasures as well....so not to fret family:) Last count Richard took 4 sacks of paper to the recycle bin. There were several really old booklets...products I had never heard of. Anyone ever heard of Ryzon?? It was a baking powder back in the early 1900's. The book pictured below was copyrighted in 1917. How about "10 Cakes Husbands Like Best"....This one is old....BREADS Clever Housewives Serve. Wasn't life simple back then? I want to think I'm a clever housewife....and I guess you could say the bread I made for dinner tonight was clever. Me and Mrs. Rhodes...ha ha!
This one is very interesting....I can't do it justice. It's from 1918. It's an Official Recipe Book from the U.S. Food Administration...It says: The recipe book is offered to the women of the United States as a definite guide to food conservation. It is not a mere preachment upon the necessity for saving; it tells in detail how essential saving may be acheived" It was prepared during the war and tells what YOU can do. "Everyone MUST help if we are to win.....this is your war guide for use in YOUR home....It tells you what food we must save to provision ourselves and our allies; it tells how we can stretch our supplies so everyone will have enough..America and her Allies must not run out of wheat, meat, or fats. If we let that happen Germany will win the war. We must save sugar, use every drop of milk, and we must learn to follow directions." We are blessed to live in a day when we don't have to live like that....yet. So PREPARE yourselves family!!This Watkins booklet from 1937 and Successful Baking Recipes booklets from the 1930's as well. They are chock full of little newspaper clippings and other handwritten recipes which Grandma has pinned or taped inside...and alway...ALWAYS everything is dated!!
Grandma did not waste ONE BIT of paper! She typed or handwrote recipes on anything and everything....one recipe from 1968 came from "A Cookbook for the Leisure Years" Some were typed on the back of and sometimes the front of (right over) Boise Cascade notepads (where in going through some things Uncle Robert worked) or Fruit Valley Elementary scrap paper (where Aunt Adele worked). There were it seems hundreds of papers typed up with recipes from someone named Mary Cullen. I finally found out who she was....a Oregon Journal contributor. Grandma had newspaper clippings with her recipes ....I can't imagine she could cook all those recipes. But then again, how many things do I have in my recipe files that I have yet to prepare. There were recipes sent to Grandma from Jane and Debi....some in shorthand. I have envelpoes for you girls. On the back of one of Mary Cullins newspaper recipes there was a Safeway ad....dated Dec. 11, 1947. Ritz crackers were 30 cents....a 1 lb. bag of coffee 43 cents.....vanilla wafers 19 cents. FUN STUFF!!
Now what was I saying.......One mans junk is another mans.....JUNK....and sometimes with a few treasures to boot!! Stay tuned:)

Forget Me Not.....

2011-09-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

I throughly enjoyed President Uchtdorfs talk in the Relief Society General Meeting on Saturday! He used the forget me not flowers to uplift and help us understand who we can be. The five petals on the flower represent 5 things we should "not forget." 1. Forget Not to be patient with yourself 2. Forget Not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice. 3. Forget Not to be happy now. 4. Forget Not the "why" of the gospel. 5. Forget not that The Lord loves you. I can't wait until next spring so that I can plant some "Forget Me Nots" in my yard to always remember who I am!

Newlyweds

2011-09-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

This summer we had TWO very special weddings in our family....my brother Ron and Tami were married in August....AND...... my Aunt Adele married Merril last week end. THANK YOU to those who posted pictures on facebook, otherwise I wouldn't have any (me the picture taker of the family forgot her camera BOTH times!)Ron and Tami married on the beach at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach Oregon....it was a beautiful day! There were 3 others weddings at the same time on the same beach.
The reception was in Astoria Oregon and I must say it was a beautiful setting. All 7 of their kids were there...now that's a big family!!
Here they are with the magnificient Astoria Bridge in the background. This bridge crosses over the Columbia River to Longbeach Washington and is so tall for all the ships to get through. It is considered the "mouth" of the Columbia because it is where the Columbia meets the Pacific Ocean. Aunt Adele and Merril have known each other for years and years. They attend the same church and both are widowed. Recently Merril took to calling Aunt Adele and a romance blossomed. He is a wonderful man....very friendly and very kind. He is getting a very special lady!
Their wedding was at home and was attended by their children. A reception followed for the rest of us. It was very nice. Angelia, a grandaughter of Adele, got these very smart bride and groom hats and aprons for "The Newlyweds"
Between the two of them they also have 7 children.....here is their new family.
My cousins Jane and Neal.....Jane will be my new neighbor as she moves into Aunt Adele's house and sells her own. Lucky me to have her living so close:) Neal is the official family photographer and does a great job!
Here I am with my brothers David and Henry and cousin David. Lots of Davids in our family!
Congratulations to both sets of "NEWLYWEDS" we are so HAPPY for you!!!

First, Last and Other Things.......

2011-08-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

Josh has the distinction of being the only one of our kids who passed their driving test the first time. He is the first....but also the last. This will be a year of alot of "lasts" for us.....last year of high school....last year of seminary......the last child syndrome.Here he is Sunday making his first "solo" drive to church.
I'm glad I remembered to quickly get the camera and snap these for his scrapbook.
Saturday I looked outside and saw this cute little squirrel in the grass. He ran onto the porch....
.....and down the chair. We tend to have alot of squirrels....I get irritated with them sometimes because they dig in my flower beds to hide food and disrupt my bulbs.....but they are SO cute!!
This was my Saturday project....sewing baby towels. Pretend you didn't see this if you are having a baby....you'll have to act surprised.
I've made hundreds of these after receiving one for Jon when he was a baby over 21 years ago!. When I find towels I like I get a bunch of them....
As you can see they are REALLY BIG....but I've had people tell me their kids are still using them years later and their kids get really attached to them.
Like me.....I'm just a kid at heart:)

Heading Home............

2011-08-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well....all good things must come to an end! We left Jenny and Logans last Friday and headed to Rexburg Idaho to see my friend Ericka who moved there a few months ago....we had a wonderful visit and spent the night. Jon was able to take Josh around the college a bit since that's where we're hoping he will go next year. Sadie and I had fun while we were there....this was taken the night before we left. Each night we would go into Sadies room and she would plop down and fold her arms for prayer....this night she sat on Mommy's lap. It would only last a few seconds, but she's getting the hang of it.

We left Rexburg Saturday morning and headed to Boise so Jon could attend the wedding reception of his dear friend and former missionary companion Daniel and his beautiful bride Rachel. Rachel is finishing up school in Rexburg...Daniel goes to BYU Provo....but they will be in Rexburg for a while longer. They have big plans to take Jon out on a blind date when he gets there....and Rachel plans of feeding Jon too! That will be good since he's planning on living on Ramen noodles and mac and cheese (NOT my idea)
Jon looked up and there was a family who had lived in Missouri when Jon was there....he and Daniel used to go to their house for dinner alot. They were very friendly and have since moved to Boise...it was fun to meet them. They have a brand new 2 week old baby girl.Then of course what would going home be without some beautiful scenery pictures. We headed home from Boise Sunday morning....here we are as we began to enter the Gorge.
I LOVE when we round the corner and there standing majestically is Mt. Hood...this picture doesn't do it justice, but it's pretty nonetheless.
I'm always enthralled by these wind turbines....there are thousands of them throughout eastern Oregon and we even saw some in Idaho. I asked Josh how they worked and of course he gave me the lowdown on the whole process......they just amaze me!
Anyway.....life goes on and I've been keeping busy since we got home. School starts next week! AND ....keep your fingers crossed....Josh is taking his drive test tomorrow...it would be great if he could pass the first time. Jon says they flunk you on purpose just to get another $20. Hope not!

Summer Adventure....Part 2

2011-08-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

We had fun going swimming a few days. This was the first day......Jon had gone to Salt Lake to visit with one of his companions and attend the Salt Lake Temple...
Logan, Josh Sadie and I went the first time....Gunnison has a beautiful community park and pool just down the road.
Logan took a day off and took the boys 4 wheeling....
Jon had never been before...
Of course Sadie needed a turn too!
They were gone a good part of the day...hours and hours. They came home looking a tad dirty......
They needed showers of course!
The next day we got Jenny and Jon to join in swimming....it was fun!
Sadie looked cute in her little cover up....the girl has quite the collection of swimwear....

End of Summer Adventure Part 1

2011-08-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

Jon, Josh and I left early Saturday morning on our summer adventure. As we came over the mountains in Eastern Oregon the sun was coming up in the clouds.

We arrived in the early evening....Sadie took to her uncles right away.

Peek-A-BOO
Jenny the cook...she made us yummy orange chicken.....

Sadies mommy leaves these drawers unlocked for her to play in....a kids dream!!

Firebuilding 101

2011-08-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Word of advice: It needs to be around midnight to be most effective.....
Step 1 Use very dull axe to chip off kindeling from dry wood. Step 2 Crumple 5....that's 5 pieces of paper gathered from tent and place in firepit.....stack kindeling on top of paper and light.
Then blow on it after it gets started...this will put it out!Next....use a pocket knife to make some wood shavings in hopes of getting a flame.
If this is not effective, get a friend with a pocket knife who will make fuzz stick....this is a surefire method of producing a flame....
BUT....if that doesn't work see if your friend will make some more shavings, making sure you are not in the path of the knife.
Finally....with shavings, fuzz stick and kindeling and a source of flame (gasoline will speed this process up if you have it...but we didn't have any)...light the fire once again.
You will have a lovely warm fire ......
...... to sit around talking and giggling for a number of hours. 3 AM is a great time to wind things down and you can go to bed for a good nights rest.
IF a demo is needed.....come to girls camp next July and one of our wonderful leaders will be happy to demonstrate:)

Footprints in the Sand....Girls Camp 2011

2011-08-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

This year girls camp was titled "Footprints in the Sand" We had 107 girls plus about 30 adult leaders. Girls camp is not just about learning to build fires and tie knots....it's about drawing closer to the Spirit and strengthening testimonies of our Savior. One of the girls painted this on canvas...then cut out the words from paper. Isn't it beautiful??
Each unit makes a flag...this year we made kites. Because our theme was about footprints, each unit chose some sort of name related to footwear, thus my unit of adult leaders chose the "Sole" Sisters.Then each morning as we gather together for announcements, songs and flag and we hang up our flags to indicate we are present. The different flags were outstanding...the girls have fun decorating them.
During free time each day the girls are able to go down to the water to swim...or canoe. It's a small area, but as you can see, very pretty.
Alot of preparation goes on to give the girls fun things to do during 2 hours of free time each day....much of our free time is spent getting crafts ready.
One craft the girls made were these tiles...they could choose black or white. They chose the paper for the name (which was cut out for them on a cricut machine) and the feet and lettering were vinyl. I chose to make one for Sadie so she will always know that she is never alone. Heavenly Father and Jesus will always be there for her.....they will carry her when she just can't go on.
Camp could not happen without our WONDERFUL cooks! They kept us full of good food and were always happy!
I helped the girls with the camp store again this year....I thought this was a fun name for our store....seeing how it was a beach theme. You can't see it but this is under a big covered area where the girls hung beach balls and sandals and miniature lights. It was cute!
All over the camp you could find different sayings posted. This one was in one of the stalls in the bathroom....a true statement indeed!
In the evening while we were sitting around our campfire the YCL's....youth leaders would come around to all the camps and sing hymns for us. These girls plan everything about camp...they choose the theme for the year, the camp song for the year...all the daily themes and they learn about leadership. This night in camp we were also serenaded by 2 screech owls up in the trees. The girls had fun seeing them with their flashlights.Then there is JAMBOREE....a day full of team building experiences. Here one girl gets on this wooden contraption and the girls on the ropes help to move her through the field until they reach a finish line.
Here a group stands on a tarp....then they have to turn the tarp completely over without anyone leaving the tarp.
This is the "monkey" bridge...a favorite hang out spot for the girls in free time. For Jamboree, they worked in teams to cross their team over the bridge and back. They are timed on all these activities. There are alot of other activities....these are just a few. The team with the best time AND points on how well they worked together...wins Jamboree.
I would love to do this....but I wouldn't look too dignified....it's a HUGE slip and slide....another favorite spot this year. The weather was perfect.
The volleyball area was alot of fun too....I had some time to go canoeing and target shooting. I was excited to get a bullseye...though my arm is bruised pretty bad from it. I call it my war wound....but hey it was worth it to get the bullseye bead for my necklace!
It was hard to come home....it was a week full of fun and learning. It was a week without cell phones, computers or i pods. A week without cooking,laundry, or running all over town. It is refreshing to go to girls camp. Till next year.......

TREK 2011

2011-07-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

When pioneers moved to the West,
With courage strong they met the test.
They pushed their handcarts all day long,
And as they pushed they sang this song:
For some must push and some must pull,
As we go marching up the hill;
So merrily on our way we go
Until we reach the Valley-o
(John Daniel Thompson McAllister 1827-1910)

About every 4 Years our Stake has a Pioneer Handcart Trek to commemorate the valiant pioners who traveled from Iowa and Nebraska to the Salt Lake Valley. Between 1856 and 1860, nearly 3,000 Latter Day Saints traveled by handcart in 10 comapnies. This year The Dalles Oregon Stake joined us....there were nearly 300 youth and scores of adult leaders. There were a total of 25 handcarts that were broken down into companies of 5 handcarts each. Each company had a captain and his wife that oversaw their 5 handcarts. Each handcart had a "Ma and Pa" who were assigned youth ranging from 12-18 that made up their families.
Trek 2011 took place on the Barlow Trail up on Mt. Hood. The kids began their trek Thursday morning along the bumpy and dusty trail. They traveled 30 miles over 3 days. The weather was cold but clear the first day, warm and sunny the 2nd day and started out with rain on the last day....ending with clear skies over the valley where it ended. Everywhere else was raining EXCEPT over where the kids were traveling!
The 2nd day of the trek the companies came to a clearing where we had stations set up: Foot washing, Leather braclets, Bow and arrows, Hair washing, Tomahawk Throw , and Blindfold toss. I was on the hair washing crew. We washed about 200 heads...including boys, girls and adults.Here are Sheri and Mary Ann who were also part of the hair washing crew. The water was heated up and put into buckets by 2 wonderful men who worked very hard to keep up with us. We used portable camp showersheads to wash with.
The kids were able to take some time to relax during lunch.
On this day all the young men were called to join the Mormon Battalion (they did a service project for the forest service) and the girls were left to load their handcarts and pull them up a steep hill....just as they were left to do on the Mormon Trail. It was a day of many spiritual experiences for the kids, where they were stretched to their physical limits. They were able to realize the strengths they never knew they had. It gave them hope and courage to overcome the personal handcarts they will face in their own lives. Here is Josh with his family....this picture was taken and given to the kids in a frame for them to keep.
On this, the last day, halfway through their journey, they spent 2 hours reading their scriptures, writing in their journals and reflecting upon the pioneers and all they had learned on this journey. All 25 handcarts arrived safely in the "valley". In all they made 3 water crossings, 2 of which were on the last day. They were about 4 hours later than anticipated and when they arived they were hot, hungry and very tired....but there were smiles on their faces. Hundreds of people were there to welcome them. Trek was a year in the making and many of the youth were not so sure about going....Josh included. This was his 2nd trek. But he, along with all the others are so grateful for the experience. It made them stronger. It drew them closer to Heavenly Father and it gave them a small inkling of what the pioneers went through. I am so grateful I was able to be a small part of trek...it was a GREAT experience!!! Eating the feast that was prepared for them....
This is for Jenny...Heather and Makenzie, who Jenny babysat when she was a little girl.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime......

2011-07-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe school's been out nearly a month already!! We don't have plans for any trips this summer, BUT...we've had some fun and enjoyed being with family and friends. Tomorrow is the Pioneer Trek our church is having for the youth on Mt. Hood. I have girls camp and Josh is helping at cub day camp later this month,and Josh is going white water rafting on the Deschutes next month....so we'll be busy from here on out!
We spent time at Art and Marilyns on the 4th of July. Josh was able to spend time with cousin Holly and we all had fun playing badmitton.
We went to the Fort for the fireworks. Used to be we had all the cousins,neices,nephews aunts and uncles sprawled out with the thousands of people, but this year it was just us....Aunt Ellouise came with us. The fireworks were AMAZING!!

We have never been too big on video games at our house, but we broke down and got a used Beatles Rock Band for the boys for the summertime. We've all had fun and I love singing the Beatles songs. Richard just watches. Oh....thought I'd get in a pic with our new TV and stand:)Last week was our annual July picnic with my Dad's side of the family. It was a very very small group this year. In fact I was the oldest cousin (except Richard of course) We missed Aunts Adele and Sue and cousin Jane....and all the other missing family members.....but it was a fun day! Names from L-R
Josh, David and Sara Lum,their kids, Ryan, Shai and Carsen Lum, Richard, Neal, Me, David, and Jon. It was at cousin Tom Lum's house...he took the picture. Cousin Tim Lum was there too.
The 3 Lum brothers with Carsen....Tim, Tom and David.
The boys had their real live "Rock Band" with cousin Tom who is a singer and makes makes records with his own band....Josh loved it!! They played, what else.....Beatles songs!!
And finally....after months of searching and Richard getting a new job, we bought a car for the boys. It will make life MUCH easier....and maybe, just maybe Josh will get his drivers license so he can drive himself around!

I Love My Family!!!

2011-06-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

We were able to get our first family picture in 4 years after Jon got home from his mission:) We had such a fun time with everyone home...and if it's a sign of times to come as our family grows then I am a "Happy" Mom!
Jenny, Jon and Josh have all grown up to be wonderful kids and I love them all so much!

Happy Birthday....Mr. Happy!!

2011-06-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

Josh LOVES to have fun....and be silly!
He loves music...
dressing goofy and goofing off.....
and pretty girls.....
He loves lifting weights....
trying to beat his brothers.....
at arm wrestling.....don't give up!!
He LOVES being an uncle....
running for office....and winning!!
tinkering and inventing with his best friend Austin......

and building things with his Dad....
He has a HAPPY smile...
he dressed up in this fancy robe...he thought he looked like a judge...
....to lead the procession at graduation....
Happy Birthday son....the world is waiting for you to make a difference!!!

Week-End Wedding

2011-05-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend my cousin Neal's daughter Jeanette got married. Our little family of four were all able to attend. It was held in Beaverton Oregon. Jeanette married Bart, whom she has known for several years. Here is the bride with her Dad....I was a pretty fair weather picture taker....this is the only one of the bride and groom I took....kissing as husband and wife:) We could not have asked for better weather....here is the bride outside with her Grandma (my Aunt Adele), her Aunt Jane (my cousin) and Great Aunt Sue (my aunt)...considering rain was forecast, it was a beautiful day!
Aunt Adele asked if I was going to put this in my blog...of course!! Here she is with her friend Merrill, my step mom Rose, and Aunt Sue.Josh and Grandma Rose having a nice little visit.....
My wonderful aunts...I love them so much!!
Harrison is my cousin Neals son...Jeanette's little brother Harrison and his friend Brittany. Jon got to visit with him....they went to elementary school together when they were younger.
We had a wonderful afternoon with our family....CONGRATULATIONS to the bride and groom!!

A Sunday at Home

2011-05-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

A picture paints a thousand words.....Jenny
Logan
Jon
Sadie
Josh
Richard
And ME??? I'm happy to have everyone here, relaxing on a Sunday afternoon:)

LDS PROM

2011-04-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Lots of fun things happening around here!! Our stake was in charge of LDS Prom this year. For those of you who don't know what that is.....it is a Prom for our youth where they can come and enjoy good music and modest apparel. We had it at the Pearson Air Museum down at Fort Vancouver.This is Josh with his date....Allison. Jon actually took her older sister to Prom at the high school his senior year.
Because I was in charge of the food for prom, I was at the museum getting things ready for the kids....so lots of other people took pics for me. I have just a few so far. Here his group is being goofy! These are Priests and Laurels from our ward. This is a cute picture!
There were over 200 kids attending...we hung lights up on the balcony. There were flight simulators and games set up in other rooms....and they had professional pictures taken in another hanger with the airplanes. I had to get pictures of the food tables. We had chocolate fountains with lots and lots of fun food. Yum Yum.....Dig the planes in the hanger with us? And projectors were set up on each end of the dance floor with live video feed of the kids dancing. They love seeing themselves!
It was a wonderful event.....NOW on to preparing for the high school prom next week and Jons return home in 18 days!!

Spring Break Part 2

2011-04-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sadie Mae has been sick with an ear infection so we have been pretty much at home. She was put on medicine on Monday, but her fever has spiked very high, so we are busy trying to comfort her. She has a great disposition though, and up until today you wouldn't know she is sick....hopefully the 3rd day will be a turning point. Each night before bed Jenny and Logan have scripture stories and family prayer with Sadie.

Want some of my bananna Grandma?? Such a happy disposition!Playing on the floor with Grandma....this was her toughest day. Uncle Josh is so much fun..... Majestic Manti Temple at night on our way home from dinner. Logan giving Josh a run for his money!!!Josh and Logan are building with KNEX

181st General Conference and Temple Square

2011-04-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Salt Lake Friday night and got up bright and early to attend General Conference. We had tickets to the Saturday morning session. We were on the 2nd row of the 1st balcony...the seats were wonderful!! The talks were uplifting and inspiring. The Tabernacle Choir was warming up and I zoomed in on this picture of them. Isn't the organ beautiful!! They have the most heavenly voices...all 360 of them. There are these HUGE screens on either side of the conference center for people to see close up. I think the walls are beautiful. I met up with 3 of my friends (who were here from home too) and we went shopping while our husbands and sons attended the Priesthood session. The Gateway mall is amazing!! It started pouring down rain (just like home) so we bought these matching umbrellas. Michelle and I were headed to the Conference Center and we loooked up and this is what we saw....just had to snap some pictures. I assure you it was pouring down rain here too, though it looks clear....it wasn't. The temperature dropped 40 degrees during the night and the rain turned into this. Here are Josh and Richard in front of the Assembly Hall on Sunday morning. The Conference Center seats 21,200 people and has grass and trees on the roof. These trees were just too beautiful to pass up. Michelle and I were wanting some pics of our families so we forced (LOL) our kids in the 30 degree weather to pose for us. We ran into Rachel from our ward (she's in the red skirt) who was there from BYU Idaho with her roommates. Do we look cold??? WE WERE!!

The IKEA Experience

2011-03-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

We have been busy doing some much needed home improvements for the past month or so. After painting Jon's bedroom (in preparation for his greatly anticipated homecoming), we also painted our bedroom and bathroom. Our room had not been painted in 22 years....so it was about time. We also needed to move some furniture around and get Josh a new dresser. He's into all the black furniture these days....SO....we headed off to IKEA last Monday night for FHE. It was our FIRST IKEA experience. I'm sure most of you have been, but I'm not into shopping unless I have to be, so we had never been there. If you have not been there, it is an interesting experience. To have an IKEA experience you follow these arrows through a huge showroom floor. There, they have displayed anything and everything you need to buy. Entire households are set up with furniture, bedrooms, closets, and even kitchens and laundry rooms!! These things are European made...appliance brands I have never heard of. BUT...you don't buy the things there. You write down the number of the item you want and then after you have walked for what seems miles, you come out into a food court. Of course, we had to have dinner, so we had Swedish meatballs and other things. Then, you go downstairs into a huge warehouse where everything is stored. We chose our item number, picked it up in the warehouse then checked out at the registers. We got home in time for Josh and Richard to put it together and now Josh is in heaven in his "matching" room. I would never have thought it was so easy to build a dresser (with instructions of course)
It seemed to go together in a snap!!
I laughed at Josh's building techniques:)
He seems very pleased:)
After cleaning out the old dresser, he went from 5 drawers down to 3...and still has room:)
Our first IKEA experience was fun and now I know what to expect next time we go there:)

What Are The Chances???

2011-03-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

What are the chances that 2 sisters living thousands of miles apart would both go to different dentists 1 day apart to get fillings and both end up with bruises....on the same side of their faces....in the same place?????? YEP....it really happened. Just call us the bruiser sisters!!!

6th Annual Esther Drew Memorial.........

2011-02-15T22:49:00.000-08:00

In January Richard and I hosted the 6th annual Esther Drew Memorial Scrabble Tournament. It was a fun day as we ate, visited and played 3 games of scrabble, with 4 tables playing similtaniously. Each game is played for 30 minutes, then we add up our scores and put them on a scorecard and switch tables. There is a handicap which helps the younger players who may not be quite as experienced at scrabble.
Aren't we a lovely bunch?? There were 17 in attendance....cousin Louann was here all the way from Alaska!
I made this for grandma back in the 70's....it was my very first embroidery. I loved it because it really reminded me of grandma....I found it a few days before the party.This is grandma's cookie jar...I have posession of it. I may have blogged it a few years ago, but here it is again. It is lined with wax paper...I filled it with snickerdoodles....the family favorite we used to make when we would stay over with her and grandpa.
Aren't these beautiful?? Tom and Carol brought them for me....wasn't that nice?

After all the scores are tallied, fun little prizes are given...this year cousin Tom won...he is a VERY GOOD Scrabble player. I gave these minature cereal boxes with a little poem about Grandma out to everyone who came. Thanks for coming everyone....see you next year!!

SIDE NOTE: I have more pictures but for the life of me I can't find how to download them from the program they are in. If I figure it out I'll post them:)

Through the Years

2011-01-30T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today is my little girls 25th birthday! Hard to believe, I know. Yesterday as I went to the baptism of a little girl Jenny was nanny for, I was overcome with tears as we sang the opening song....Baptism. It was as if I was back in time, remembering when Jenny played that song on the piano for her own brothers baptisms. As little Payton stood up front after her baptism...my mind saw Jenny, dressed in her white baptismal clothes. I know people probably wondered why I was getting so emotional, but I didn't care, I just wiped away the tears and kept my happy memories. Now, she is a mommy and has a little girl of her own that she can love and dress up in pretty dresses and ribbons.

I loved putting her hair in sponge rollers...she has such a pretty smile. 2 years old and adorable!!
Here she is at Easter time when she was 3 years old. I forgot how many cute little outfits she had and how much I loved fixing her hair and dressing her up.

This is one of my very favorites....5 years old and in kindergarden.
At 7 years old she began taking piano lessons...her passion. This was her recital dress.

1st grade and toothless!!! We are proud of the woman she has become....Strong in her faith of our Savior....strong in the love of her family....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY.....WE LOVE YOU!!

Traditions and More.......

2010-12-15T23:06:00.000-08:00

I know you have all been waiting for me to post more of my Christmas memories...
For the past 16 or so years we have a special little tree that we set up in a corner on December 1st. Around it are 24 wrapped Christmas books and each night in December(before Christmas) the kids choose a book to unwrap and we read it together. Each year I add a new book and the kids always try to find it right away. Of course, it isn't such an easy thing to do because the books are put away the rest of the year and one tends to forget which book is which after a year has gone by. When all the kids were at home they would take turns opening one....searching hard to find the newest addition. Now it is just Josh....but still he loves opening the books...and true to form he only took about a week to find this years book..... Josies Gift...a sweet story about a girl, a blue sweater, and the true meaning of Christmas. All in all we have over 60 books. Santa books, nativity stories....paperbacks and hardbacks alike are always fun to read together as a family.
I love this plate. I have it proudly displayed in my kitchen...it was made with love by my missionary when he was 8 years old.
And THIS is my husband sporting his very special sweatshirt, made especially for him by my Aunt Adele. You see cousin Jane made all the women in our family red sweatshirts like this and we have been known to wear them to our annual "Esther Drew Memorial Scrabble Tournament" in December. Apparently Richard was whining last year how HE didn't have a sweatshirt.....Santa didn't bring HIM one. The other day Aunt Adele brought a package over....apparently Santa wanted him to have one after all. Thanks Aunt Adele....you are amazing!

Christmas Memories

2010-12-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

Okay....so here's the thing. I have always admired a beautifully decorated tree that looks like it came from the cover of a decorating magazine.....you know the ones they have at the festival of the trees that they auction off for charity. Well....this is OUR tree. We go each year and cut one down at Thorntons Tree Farm. Though I have always dreamed of having a perfectly coiffed tree....this tree is full of memories and love.We've done different things...beads, tinsel, garland....This year Josh wanted to put this gold ribbon on it. Now I want to share some of our dozens of ornaments that have special meaning to us...please indulge me for a moment as I go down memory lane.
This is from the year I was expecting Josh and we traveled to Texas to spend Christmas with my sister Debi and her family. Jenny got the chicken pox while we were there...for the 2nd time and we weren't sure we would be able to fly home on time. Jenny made this for us in 1st grade....sweet and toothless.
LaDena made us this one year along with a little stocking made of felt.
My friend Melanie made us quite a few of these needlepoint ornaments our first Christmas in 1983.
I got this from my Grandma Drew many years ago...I think she told me it was made by my Great Grandmother Robb....it's 3 dimensional.
One year a sister in Relief Society made these for everyone...and she taught a class on how to make them....it's a lightbulb!
I bought this at the National Archives in Washington DC when Josh marched in the Inaugural Parade.
We bought several ornaments on our Church history trip.....this one has the Nauvoo Temple on it.
Grandma Drew was famous for her snowflakes and other creations. We have ALOT of these on our tree and love thinking of her each time we put them on...she is missed!!
I was working in Josh's class the year he did this...I put the kits together.
Jon's in the 2nd or 3rd grade here. The pretzels are getting fragile.... we haven't eaten them yet!
Aunt Adele made this very fun Santa and suprised us with it one year....many years ago.

And what would our tree be without paper ornaments given to us by the grandkids...Maralee has grown alot since this was made!
Thanks for hanging (no pun intended) in there with me...STAY TUNED as I will post some more Christmas memories soon:)

Blessings

2010-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

We never know what direction our lives will take. This is the week I should have been in Utah with my family........................ INSTEAD.........they came to me!!! And though I was not up to doing alot, we did manage to make a memory at BIZI Farms for Sadie and Jenny's first ever trip to a pumpkin patch. Uncle Josh came along too!
Mostly I sat around loving on Sadie while being pampered by my family. I picked up this little walker at a garage sale this summer and it came in very handy for feedings. Sadie is such a happy girl:)
I received lots of beautiful flowers during my hospital stay for Ventricular Tachycardia, where it was determined my heart is healthy and strong....I just have an electrical short somewhere..... I'm a mystery. I've had lots of cards, visitors and get well wishes from friends and family alike...... I feel very blessed. Yesterday I got this super cute happy face vase and minature rose bush from my niece Kristie and her family in Kentucky. It made my day!! Thanks everyone!!

The Burnt Bridge Trail

2010-10-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to a beautiful day. We had it all planned. We put on our walking shoes, packed a few snacks and filled our water bottles. We wanted to take our camera, but the battery was dead. Oh, how I wish we had the camera.

It was the day we were doing a 20 miler with Josh for scouts. He only needed this one last thing to get his hiking merit badge and there were no plans to do it with his troop. Richard researched it out and chose the Burnt Bridge Trail....8 miles across Vancouver one way and 8 miles back....then continuing on the last 4 miles to home.

Like I said....it was a beautiful day. I chose to walk the first leg with Josh. Winding through Vancouver amidst the fall foilage and evergreens, the water from the creek splashing along side us as we walked....eventually leading us to Vancouver Lake. It was a day to recognize the beauty of the earth. There was a chill in the air and the sun shone intermittently through the trees. Richard met us at various stops along the way, cheering us on. We were going to switch off, but I wanted to see all of it and not miss a thing. In the span of the walk we went under a highway and over Interstate 5. The mountains were visible in the distance. As we walked I recalled memories of the places we passed...Leverich Park where we played with Grandma and Grandpa Drew as little girls and Kiggins Bowl, where I atttended many of my high school football games. Josh talked of the future....finishing high school, college and his mission. We passed many people...joggers, bikers, people walking their dogs. We listened to music which helped us keep up the pace.

When all was said and done We each walked 10 miles with Josh.....we encouraged him along the way. Not exactly what a 16 year old would prefer to do on a Saturday, but his eye was on the goal. Walking from one end of Vancouver to the other, I felt like a pioneer....exploring the beauty and nature that Heavenly Father meant for us to enjoy.

Beautiful Pacific Northwest

2010-09-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Before school got started again, Richard and I took a little trip to the coast for the weekend. It had been too long since we had taken a trip....just the 2 of us.We decided on Lincoln City Oregon. We love all the beaches, but our very favorite place to stay is just overlooking the ocean. We can see it from our window and our hotel has stairs going down to the beach. Our first day there was beautiful!! We walked along the beach for several miles and there was the most beautiful sunset!! I didn't have my camera...but the 2nd night I did and though there were alot of clouds it was still very pretty!It was a very relaxing weekend. We played games at our little table and looked out at the view, shopped at the outlet mall, ate at our favorite restaurants, and watched movies late into the night. We drove around scouting out houses to rent and making plans for the day we will have all our kids and families with us for a reunion. Won't that be fun?
I love driving through the coast range...could anybody doubt the reason why we love living in the northwest??? Even the seagulls add beauty and splendor as they ride the wind over the water and land on the beach looking for food.

11 Year Journey

2010-09-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

I Love this kid!! So sweet and innocent. This is Joshua's first day of kindergarten way back in 1999.He LOVED playing legos and K'NEX, and climbing his tree.
Here he is 11 years later. Now he's driving and is old enough to date. It's hard to believe my baby only has 2 years of high school left. And by the way....11 years have passed and he's STILL sweet and innocent...(though maybe a little sassy at times)
Have a great Junior year Josh!!!

Girls Camp Adventure

2010-08-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

A night in the tent at Camp Nisqually sounded something like this:
POP POP POP POP....BOOM....POP POP POP.....BOOM BOOM BOOM.....SWOOSH SWOOSH (HELICOPTER DIRECTLY OVERHEAD) WHOO WHOO WHOO (OWL DIRECTLY OVERHEAD)....RRRRRR..SCREECH (CAT FIGHT)....POP POP POP....BOOM!!! Then there are the critters outside the tent rustling the grass...oh and did I mention the artillery shells and bombs and helicopters doing night maneuvers at Fort Lewis Army Base at 1:00am??? POP POP BOOM!!!Raccoons were an everyday occurrence. I did NOT see any of the rats we were told were running rampant at the camp (thank goodness), though I did get a picture of a raccoon.
We were VERY careful not to leave any food out anywhere...but on our last night we had some chocolates in a heart shaped box that we forgot to put away during campfire. When I remembered it Ericka and I ran back to our camp and this is what we found. Our raccoon friend had so very carefully opened up the kisses we had in the box (footprints found in box) and we are sure he had one BAD tummy ache that night!!
We were very busy each day, but we did get a chance to walk down to archery...I wanted to earn my bullseye bead, but after 10 shots, I didn't make it and we had to get back. I did however have a nice huge bruise on my arm that is just now about gone 2 weeks later.
Everyone asks me what my job is at camp...well....since I'm there as part of the Stake YW Presidency I begged for something to do a few years ago so I could tell people I really do work at camp. I am Ericka's assistant (she's over the unit leaders and also my tent mate and one of my closest friends) and we have tons of fun doing all the stuff for our unit (the stakies). This year I also set up the camp store each day that the 4th year girls run. Here Ericka and I are cutting up snacks and bagging them for the girls to "buy" with the points they get each day. Don't you LOVE the hats...after all we were the "Queens of Heart" Each night the stake leaders would have fun sitting by the fire talking and getting crafts ready for the next day.... and I must say we would get a bit giggly....(more like hysterical).....One day I got to our tent and there was this huge rock on my air mattress. To weed out who did it I mentioned to everyone I saw that someone had put a HUGE rock on my bed and it had popped my air mattress (it didn't really) Sis. Van Epps.... our fearless leader said "we put it on so carefully"!! HA!! I caught her. She had actually assigned Bro. Nuffer the job of finding a good rock for me....and it took 2 of us to carry it. It was all in fun! Richard sprayed it for me so I now have it outside in my rose bed out front. Camp was fun and spiritual and just a great time....in spite of all the critters and noise.

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

2010-08-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

When I saw this it made me think of Jonathan as he labors in the mission field.

Claim Your Kingdom

2010-07-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the Gospel! I LOVE the Church!! I LOVE the programs of the church. They are SO inspired.
Girls Camp.....This is my 3rd year of being involved with girls camp. This year we were at a church owned camp in Nisqually WA...near Olympia, about 2 1/2 hours away. Never experienced it as a girl and never really appreciated it as my daughter was going... as much as I COULD have, having now experienced it myself. There is nowhere in the world a finer place to be. It's not just a camp. As I was on my drive home today I had the thought that if all the young women world over could have been at girls camp with our stake this year, many lives would have been changed. Many were. It's not just any camp. Not only do the girls learn and grow and stretch themselves....not only do they learn to serve and lead and overcome.....they feel the Spirit. I can't even begin to tell all the wonderful things that happened at girls camp. There were some challenges of course...with over 100 girls of various ages and personalities, but it was spiritual and FUN and refreshing to get away from the things of the world for the week. We had around 30 girls who have been planning camp since January. They are AWESOME girls! Our theme this year was "Claim Your Kingdom" The 6 units of girls were able to choose their name. All of the adult leaders (of which I'm a part) were "The Queens of Heart". We walked around camp with our little foam crowns and sang our fun little songs. Monday the leaders and Youth leaders went up to set up the camp. There was a ropes course the girls did...and some adults. We had a spiritual program Tuesday night called "The Parable of the Princesses." Friday night was the most awesome program. The girls went down a path in camp and along the way there were places they would come to that represented things in their lives that might be difficult for them. There were quotes to read and if it was something they felt was difficult for them they would pick up a lava rock. Lava rocks have holes that represented The Savior and his lightening our burdens. At the end of the path there was a projector set up (this was an evening program) with a huge picture of the Savior. The girls would cast their burdens they had collected (rocks) at the Saviors feet as they contemplated all their Savior has done for them. Then they walked out into the staging area where it was decorated with a huge white temple lit up and white luminaries lighting up the benches. All the adults were waiting for them. It was so cool! Like I said...Girls Camp is AWESOME!!! I have some stories to tell and pictures to post, but this is too long already so I'll do it soon:)

Summer.....So Far

2010-07-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

The past few months have been busy busy....June took us to Utah for the Egan Family reunion and Sadie Mae's Blessing Day.....
Youth Conference and Dance Festival with 2,ooo kids!! Josh is the couple waltzing in the very middle.
Jenny and Sadie Mae came to visit. I miss those girls SOOOOO...much!!
Sadie Mae LOVES her Uncle Josh.... We've been empty nesters all summer with Josh gone to EFY, Idaho and now he's gone back to Utah with Jenny for a few weeks.
I had a baby shower for Sadie with over 30 women in my living room! It was cozy but fun....
The annual July picnic for the Drew Family at my cousin Tom's in Oregon....Jenny and Sadie arrived just in time!
Four generation picture with our baby and Great Grandma Cameron
At my sister Elizabeths house in Seattle with Great Grandma Rose and Brother Henry.....
With Grandpa Bill in Edmonds (near Seattle).....
Richard and his sisters on the day of our nephew Todds funeral.

Good Things to Come

2010-06-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

Check out this video....it gives us hope for good things to come:)
Good Things to Come

Celebrate the Music

2010-05-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week we are having a band auction to raise money for our band program. People get donations and then we have a silent auction during our final concert of the year. It is very fun! In years past it has been VERY successful....I end up spending a bit of money myself and have got some really cool stuff:) This year I decided I wanted to make a rag quilt to auction off. I had a blast choosing the fabric. It is full of musical instruments of all kinds.
I made a matching pillowcase too!! Even though I've made alot of pillowcases, I found some really good instructions on how to make a seamless case.... on You Tube!!
I found this plastic wrapper from a bedspread we bought years ago just laying around....so I put the blanket in it and it had a handy pocket to put the pillowcase in too. I made a little card to display it with. I hope it makes some money.... And this post would not be complete without me sharing another picture of me with Sadie Mae. I'll get to hold her again in just 10 days!! I can't wait!

Being a Grandma.......

2010-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

The best things about being a grandma You can snuggle them and love them all you want....but then go to bed and sleep at night:)
You can never spoil them enough...and if you do it's not your fault!
They learn to recognize your voice even when they're itsy bitsy.

The hardest things about being a Grandma
....When you live far away and have to leave them
....You live far away and don't get to see them enough
....You live far away and they grow up without you

Happy Birthday Jonathan

2010-04-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

Today is a special day. Our boy is 20 years old!! He's had a wonderful life full of so many experiences. I remember the day well. Before he was born, we knew he was special. Of course ALL children are....
Often a quiet and sometimes somber child, he had a very sweet disposition. He loved trying new things.. soccer, baseball, karate, piano....but he always made good choices in what he did. He realized that he didn't have to do EVERYTHING to be happy. His first grade teacher asked me if he was real.... because he was so good!!He grew up to be a thoughtful friend, a respectful son, and a good listener with a wry sense of humor. He grew into being the natural born leader that he is a little at a time. One of my favorite memories of his growing up years was when we would read every night before bed....from the classics to Harry Potter, he never tired of listening to a good book. Even his senior year in high school he would come down and sit with Josh and I as I read to him.He grew up and went off to college. That helped me to get used to him being gone so that now I can be content with Monday letters and twice yearly phone calls.
He has a strong testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and that His church has been restored upon the earth. He isn't ashamed to share it with others and is giving 2 years of his life to proclaim the gospel to the people in the Missouri St. Louis Mission. 2 years of a life is but a twinkling of and eye in The Lords time. He will come home full of knowledge and lifes experiences that will be with him for a lifetime. Happy Birthday Elder....We love you!!!

JOSH EGAN......WHY NOT???

2010-04-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last month sometime Josh decided at the last minute to run for an ASB office. Activities Co-Ordinator to be exact. Now, except for the time he ran for treasurer at Burton Elementary as did both of his siblings before him (they all lost), he's new to doing something like this. It was just 1 day before the deadline and he had to get a petition of 75 students, 4 teachers and 1 administrator turned in. Before spring break there was a delegate convention. Last week the candidates were able to put up their fliers and posters. Josh's campaign manager came up with the slogan Joshua Egan....Why not??
Josh made some very cute fliers that I don't seem to be able to download....and one night I caught him as he made a poster.
He was quite casual with the whole thing and he seemed confident that he would win. Why Not???
Well....he did!!!!! He'll be inducted at the end of this month. Tonight we got pizza and while he was doing something I quickly decorated the dining room so we could celebrate before we went off to church. For someone who isn't necessarily very confident about himself, he never lacks confidence to step up and do things maybe the rest of us wouldn't do. And it's not always easy following after siblings who have stood out in their own ways......we're just so glad Josh is finding his path......his way. WHY NOT???

New Look

2010-04-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, Josh and I have taken the plunge into different looks. I finally got much needed new glasses....and Josh did too. We'll see how long he wears this pair. Even though he's had glasses since like 7th grade, he rarely wore them. I think he looks VERY handsome:)
Here is a picture of Jenny and I (see my old glasses) last week. Little Sadie will be here before we know it!!

Spring Break Adventure Part 2

2010-04-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Aunt Debi wanted me to get lots of pictures of Jenny pregnant! Here are the Mommy and Daddy before going to dinner Thursday night.Here Logan Richard and Josh are putting together the Play yard we brought them....
It's really a handy little thing. A bassinet, changing table and play pen all in one:)
We woke up Thursday and Friday to beautiful snow. It melted each day, but was SO beautiful to wake up to.
Logan gave us a tour of his latest project....the new fire station they are nearing the completion on.....
Logan giving Josh instructions on how to drive a 4 wheeler....they went out this afternoon.
Logans mom Shannon ran across the street to have Josh sign his last will and testament...luckily he did survive!
I about had a cow when Jenny hopped on and drove around the culdesac!!!

Spring Break Adventure

2010-03-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

We began our journey bright and early Tuesday morning. It was non eventful drive until we came into Boise, where we ran into a spring snowstorm. We thought it was very fun since we had very little snow at home this year.We got into West Jordan around 6:00 and Chris brought the kids to our hotel room. Josh got Serenity and Terran into a pillow fight. We had a fun visit until the kids needed to get home to bed since they had school today.

We woke up to SNOW...it followed us from Boise. While the kids were at school we took a drive into Salt Lake to Temple Square where we saw Sister Carnahan from our ward who is serving her mission on the Square. Then we drove to "This is the Place Monument". Even though the heads are cut off, Richard and Josh stood in front of the statue of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith...Westward Bound which is the same statue that is in Nauvoo. We got a picture of it when we were there.
Here is a shot of the monument...it is so beautiful...there are different statues within the monument paying tribute to the Pioneers, the Donner Party, the Indians, Trappers....and more.
We had a fun time with the kids after school. We went shopping for some new clothes, then went to Wendy's before we headed to Gunnison to see "the pregnant one"
And here she is.....It's debatable who has the larger tummy...hee hee!
Stay tuned for more adventures!!

Days Go By

2010-03-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Michelle has a blog entitled "Days Go By" and it's just the perfect title for this blog entry. When the boys were little Jon and Jared were inseperable.They must have been about 5 years old when Jareds family moved into our ward and around the corner from us.
Of course, where Jon and Jared were, usually Josh was too.
I have so many fun memories of the boys when they were young. They would spend hours and hours playing beanie babies and action figures, building things with legos and K-Nex, climbing our beloved "tree", building forts....and just having a wonderful time together. I reminded Jared of the years they would put the army men in our Christmas tree and in the train and when we took it down we would find the army men...still lodged in the branches of the tree.
They had a grand old time playing together. Jared's family moved to New Hampshire about 8 years ago.
Well, they're all grown up now and even Josh is now almost as tall as Jared. Jared is getting ready to go back to college to BYU Idaho in a few weeks. He's been out here in Vancouver for a few months. We had him over tonight for dinner and had such a fun time talking about the days gone by....We looked through some old scrapbooks with pictures of them together. Jon and Jared playing soccer, basketball and baseball together when they were little...usually whatever Jared did, Jon did. Eventually because of their being in different grades, they got put on different teams. When Jon started school, Jared and Josh would play together when Jared's mom was at work...Jared reminded me about the times the boys would get the keys to the trailer and I would let them play in there. As I recall they would be hiding from Josh (little brothers can get on the nerves) We were so happy to see Jared and hope to see him again before he leaves. It would have been great to have a picture of Jon and Jared together. Even though Jon is on his mission in Missouri, he has those same memories and I know that he remembers them fondly. We love you Jared!!

Spring Fever!!

2010-03-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

I had a very productive day today! Our mattress has seen it's better days so today we took the plunge and moved the queen bed from Jon's room into our room and got rid of our king size bed. It was a much needed move as I have been having some back problems lately. I've been wanting to have more room to scrapbook and sew, so when I saw these really nice folding tables at Costco a few weeks ago, I knew what I wanted to do....and today I had absolutely NOTHING I was responsible for...so this was the perfect day!! I had Richard and Josh go buy the table after they dropped the bed off at the Goodwill.

We're going to have to get another bed, especially when Jenny and Logan and baby Sadie come, but for now I have this great room to scrapbook in. Plus, my room is much more spacious with having gone from a king to a queen. We have some painting and re-carpeting to do upstairs when we can and today I was just itching to do it all. I kind of don't want to mess with Jon's room...he will come home a man, but for now I want to keep him close to me by being in his room. I'm eventually going to paint it and put some of his stuff back up. The yellow was from Jennys room years ago. She never got a shrine....Jon moved in as soon as she went to college. For now I will love doing projects in my little project room.

What to DO????

2010-02-19T23:49:00.000-08:00

It's just amazing how fast time is going by. Seems like school was just starting and now we're halfway through the year already!!
Besides the fun I've been having watching the Olympics.....I've been keeping myself busy with all sorts of projects. It doesn't matter that I'm doing a hundred other things as well..... I've spent any free time I can find scrapbooking the past few weeks. First of all I decided I needed to put Jon's mission letters and things into the scrapbook I figured I would do someday.....until I just kept going and ended up finishing it completely (up to this point). He's sent a few hundred pictures home already...so it is a very fun book....each year of his mission will have a separate book because this one is already full. I don't do fancy scrapbooks... I use regular notebooks with black cardstock and the clear plastic pages......................(so I don't have to think)
I caught the bug......I had so much fun learning how to upload the pictures to Walgreens, that I went through all of our pictures from the church history trip we took 2 years ago and uploaded 300 pics and am now working on a scrapbook for that......... I'm obsessed!! But seriously I'm enjoying re-living our trip and knowing that my boy is back there very close to where we were ......it makes my heart HAPPY!!
On another note.....we enjoyed a nice Valentines dinner, just the 3 of us, last Sunday. Josh begged me to get the candle-abra down so we could eat by candlelight (even though it was still light outside).
I guess that's all for now...I have a busy day tomorrow. I'm going to the church cannery in the morning and then I'll be helping check in the youth for the 7 stake dance that's part of Dance Festival tomorrow night...... EEKS!! No time for Olympics OR scrapbooking tomorrow.......
What to DO???

Adams Baptism

2010-02-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we got a call from Marilyn (Richards sister) to tell us her son in law Adam was getting baptized. Adam is married to our niece Cheree. We were so excited when we heard the news. Though not a member of our church, Adam has been a wonderful Dad and husband, who without any knowledge of the family began feeling his family needed more in there lives. Being LDS, Cheree and her family began going to church together and Adam took the missionary discussions at Darrell and Rene's house and wanted to be baptized!! We are so very happy for their entire family. They have 3 very handsome boys (top row with cousin Lindsay) who will be eternally grateful for their Dad's decision. Here is a group picture with all of our family....we drove in force to Chehalis Sunday night for the baptism. Michelle and Scott(Cheree's bro & sis) came all the way from Nevada to be with them for this special night:)
Here is Adam with Rene, who spoke at the baptism. He looked very spiffy in his white shirt and tie.... It was a wonderful evening. Congratulations Adam!!

Esther Drew Memorial Scrabble Tournament

2010-01-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month we had the 5th annual Esther Drew Memorial Scrabble Tournament. For those of you who didn't know Grandma Drew, she passed away shortly before her 99th birthday, and she was an avid Scrabble player. She liked Yahtzee and Boggle as well, and would always get us to play a game or 2 when we would go to visit her. SO....in her honor, whether we're very good players or or not, the family gathers to remember her around her birthday time.
We have some very competitive people in our family....and of course some very smart ones too. In the end whoever is hosting for the year (this year it was Cousin David and his wife Sara)... usually does something fun for prizes. Cousin Tom was the Grand prize winner this year (he's an MIT graduate...no wonder). Cousin David (center with his son Carson) and my step Mom Rose and brother David were winners as well. Rose is holding the picture of Grandma Drew that we display each year to honor her.There was a little friendly competition going on between Josh and Aunt Sue. Josh was using his I POD dictionary and Aunt Sue was wondering if that was allowed....in the end no hard feelings:)
Cousin Jane regaled us with stories of her recent trip to China. What an experience!!! She has a friend who teaches there and she was able to go along with her and even teach a lesson or 2 herself.
There were about 18 of us there.....here's cousin Neal showing us his scorecard (he beat me) And last of all....I am the posessor of Grandmas Coffee can. Grandma would bake her infamous Snickerdoodle cookies and place them in this can which would be lined with wax paper. So each year I make snickerdoodles (and sometimes peanut butter...another favorite she would make for us) and fill the can to share with my family as we remember how much Grandma touched our lives.

Christmas and more........

2009-12-27T18:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was pretty quiet. We missed Grandpa Drew and Grandpa Cameron and Christmas wasn't be the same without them. Our usual Christmas Eve at the Allens was postponed due to Marilyns being in the hospital with the swine flu. We felt so bad for her....SO, we spent a quiet evening with Grandma Cameron (my mom) watching Christmas videos and eating pizza. With Jenny and Jon both gone, Josh is indulged in just a bit more these days. The older ones say he is "spoiled"....as well it should be since he's stuck with us!!(hee hee)

I LOVE my new nativity!! Last year Audrey from work gave me the shepherd and animals from a set she had extra of...and this year she and my boss Carollee gave me the rest of the set for Christmas!! I put it in the entryway for everyone to see:)

Every year on the first of December, I set up a little tree in the corner of the living room with 25 wrapped books. Then, each day of December we count down by opening a book and reading it each night. The kids would always take turns, but the past few years, Josh gets to do it every day. I add a new book (or 2) every year. We have over 50 Christmas books that we love to read!

We went to Thorntons to get our tree....Josh is the lucky one to cut it down by himself now.

We talked for about 45 minutes to our favorite missionary....he's doing great!! Said he's gained like 15 pounds and when asked how many ties he has, he told me he has 2 more than the tie rack we sent him for Christmas (that holds 24 ties...hence 26 ties are in his collection). He was having a "white" Christmas, but nothing like Arctic Blast 2008 which we had LAST Christmas here at home!! He's loving the work and just hearing his voice made my heart HAPPY!! Though, he did say I was probably the only mom who hung up on her missionary when he called.....(when I was trying to take the phone off of loudspeaker because he couldn't hear us I accidentally hung it up...OUCH!!)

One of Josh's presents was this memory box I made for him from his cub scout days...

I'm supposed to look like I'm exercising with my new wii fit board. Instead I look like I'm cheering....either way, I was very excited to get it!!

Josh is STILL giving it his best shot....and one of these days he WILL beat his Dad at arm wrestling. Keep trying Josh....you'll be there in no time!!

I couldn't resist this picture of Mom and I with our sock feet! We are so in style!!

MY brother Ron and his kids (Ashley was there too...but left before this picture) and girlfriend Tami came for Christmas dinner.......It was a very nice day. .....I'm so thankful for my family.

Traditions

2009-12-05T01:23:00.000-08:00

(Disclaimer...dates on pictures are WRONG!!)
Most families have traditions....ours is no different. Granted, as we get older we end up adapting our traditions a bit, but we are creatures of habit and we like doing the same things over and over, year after year.When all the kids lived at home they each took piano lessons. After dinner I would say..."whoever plays piano doesn't have to clear the table!!" So...they fought over who would play and I would hear beautiful music while the others cleared the table. Since Josh really doesn't play anymore, when Jenny and Logan came home for Thanksgiving last week, I told her if she played the piano she didn't need to help clear the table. Hence....this tradition lives on:)
Grandma and Grandpa Cameron always come over for special occasions and even though Grandpa isn't with us anymore, Grandma was here for our special Thanksgiving dinner.
We're a funny family.....When we gather together for holidays we have this "thing" about taking pictures of us all gathered around the table before we eat our food...except of course, I'm usually NOT in the picture because I'm taking it. A tradition we will look back on fondly and wonder WHY we've gained so much weight (do you see all the food we're about to eat???)
And then of course....my ongoing tradition with my longest and dearest friend Melanie....we don ourselves in matching sweaters and get up before dawn the day after Thanksgiving. One of our traditions is that we get someone to take our picture while we're shopping. We usually find one of our friends to take it...or we've been known to ask complete strangers too. They're happy to do it because everyone thinks we're so much fun to dress alike. Actually, one reason we do it is so we can find each other in the crowds:) This tradition has gone on for 23 years.
Each year we have always tried to do some fun things with the kids during the Christmas season....whether it's going to see the light displays at PIR... going on a night tour of Fort Vancouver or touring the Victorian mansion in Portland.....we kept the tradition alive this year by attending the tree lighting in downtown Vancouver. We had never done this before...so it was a treat!! Jenny, Logan, Josh and I had fun out in the "cold" waiting for Santa to arrive:)On the kids last night at home we went to Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo. It was BEAUTIFUL!! Jenny sang there during her high school choir years, but the rest of us had never gone. I'm so glad we did it together this year. We even rode the Zoo train to see the over 1 million lights displayed. We'll have to go again when Jon gets home from his mission:)

So you see.....I love the traditions we've created over the years!! We may be getting older.... but I will never tire of the traditions that bring us together as a family:)

End of the Season

2009-11-18T00:47:00.000-08:00

Another marching band season is finished....we had a great year!! This was one of the best show's we've had (I think I say that every year). Enjoy some pictures of our season....and then follow the link to watch our show...(my sister has been bugging me about this) You can watch several of our performances to see how the show progressed. Go to www.ehsboosters.com and click on one of the video links. The championship finals one has a great view from above, though it starts a bit into the show. You can watch it full screen by clicking the little flag looking box under the video. The other videos are closer up. I am in AWE of these kids to be able to play music and march like this...it's incredible. Josh worked so hard this year!! Way to go Josh!!
Lining up for preliminary competition.
Bollywood.... cast of many colors (don't you love the Taj Mahal?)
The band all ready to start...most are behind the curtains.
Weaving in and out of the arches:)
Josh warming up in the tents with a cup of hot chocolate at Championships. It was a very wet day!!
On Halloween Day some of the kids dressed up between performances....Josh included. Date on pic is wrong....it really was Halloween!
Warming up the same day. By the way we came in 2nd at Championships!! Like I said ....a great year!!

"Bollywood"

2009-10-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

We are in the throws of Marching Band season!! It's quickly coming to a close though. This is honestly the best show our band has had in the 6 years Jon and Josh have been in band. The music is great and there's a little bit of everything going on in the show. Josh is in the middle ....
Here he is enjoying himself at one of our football games.......
This year I've been helping out with the merchandise table, along with my friends Michelle and Diane. We roomed together on the DC trip. We like to be silly! Notice the green board in the back of them...it has prices of our merchandise.....
Well....I couldn't take it. I took the poster home and made it into a REAL poster. Granted I went a little crazy, but it was fun to do. This weekend is The McKenzie Classic....the competition our band puts on every year..... where we raise the most money for our band. I'm really looking forward to it. 2 weeks and it will all be over.....championships at Oregon State University. For now, I'm loving every minute!! GO EVERGREEN!!!!!!!

Ode to a Handyman

2009-09-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

What can I say....except that my man is SO smart!! There is very little that he cannot do. He can build houses, fix cars, put in water lines, soder pipes...you name it he does it. Granted there are some things he just can't do, but most things he can. Every major appliance in our house has gone out one time or another in our
26 years of marriage....and he puts on his thinking cap and fixes them. Just this past week our Dyson vacuum started making this horrendous noise. I tried to figure it out. Couldn't do it. So, I tell my handyman when he gets home and VOILA....he takes it apart and finds a little roller that guides the belt has fallen out. THEN....a few days later, I'm doing laundry and feel water on my feet. The washing machine is leaking. Having only the manual, which doesn't have a schematic of the thing....he gets on the internet and finds it. Then he proceeds to eliminate what it could be until he finds the defective part. Part ordered....machine repaired. JUST LIKE THAT!! He never learned things like this from his Dad....but he is very quick to teach our boys...they work beside him so they can learn. I hope that you are as blessed as I am to have your own "handyman"....

Going Back

2009-09-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a day for going back.....for all of us. Joshua started his Sophmore year.....WOW!! Time is flying by so fast! When did he grow up? He loved his first day back, although this morning on our white board he wrote the word "school" and then drew a circle around it with a slash mark through it. I'm glad he enjoyed being back to school. Josh went back to BAND CAMP in August and he is LOVING it! The show this year is titled "Bollywood"....it is wonderful!! The kids are doing a GREAT job and I can't wait for all the props and everything to be finished. It is SO MUCH work....he told me that today's practice after school was one of the toughest practices he's ever had. When you see the show you will know why....it is AWESOME!!

Not only did Josh go back....but Richard went back to work after a month off because of his surgery. I know he's glad to get back to normal, but he will miss being home.
And last of all....I went back to work myself. I'm working at a different location this year, same job, same teacher, just a different school.
Going back is actually moving forward, because let's face it.....life is too short to stay the same. We move on...we go back...we learn, we grow, we progress. It's the way life is!!

Week-end Get Away

2009-08-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

The summer is nearly ended and with so much going on in our lives......we needed to get away. Richard is starting to feel like his old self again. We decided to go to Longbeach for the weekend. On the way to the beach we stopped in Astoria OR at the Maritime Museum. Did you know that where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean it is known as "The graveyard of the Pacific"?? Over 2,000 ships have sank and over 700 men have died because of the dangerous conditions that exist on the bar.
We toured the Coast Guard vessel "Columbia" which has been decommissioned. Here is Josh laying in one of the 17 bunks used by the crew. Very tight space.
When we got to Longbeach on Friday afternoon....it was RAINING of all things!! It was long enough for Josh to do his favorite thing....DIG!!
Today it was nice enough he got to DIG some more. He played in the water and built big piles of sand to stand on when the waves came in.
At one point we counted 13 horses along the surf. We had a wonderful afternoon flying the kite and playing frisbee. Later in the day we rented a surrey, a double sided bike that looked like a cart. (camera died so no pics) Josh and I peddled all over the trail next to the boardwalk, and we met Richard for ice cream cones. He waited for us while we were riding. Josh and I raced go carts, the 3 of us played minature golf, we had clam chowder, Josh and I went on the bumper cars and bumper boats.....and if that's not all we ended up the day digging MORE on the beach while we watched the most beautiful sunset!!! THEN....we went swimming in the pool and lounged in the biggest outdoor hot tub you have ever seen.....and we just finished watching Wall E and eating popcorn. I think I'll sleep GOOD tonight:)

My Dad 1933-2009

2009-08-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

The past 3 weeks have been filled with family time as we gathered around Dad during his last bit of time on earth. During my 52 years I have always had both of my parents with me, so it will be an adjustment period for sure. After 13 days with Dad in the hospital, I left to go to another hospital with Richard as he had back surgery in Portland the same day Dad passed away. Richard is now slowly recovering and I'm getting rested up for school to start in a few weeks. For now, here is my picture tribute to my Dad....David John Drew.
Senior picture from Vancouver High School 1951
Amateur radio operator since 1956.... W7DPW ..... The airwaves won't be the same without him!! He spent much of his life communicating with others around the world.
Four generation picture with Grandma Drew, Jenny and I in 1986
With Jon just before he went to college.
Dad in his favorite spot in the house besides his radio room....HIS CHAIR.
With Jenny on one of her visits home after she got married.
Dad loved to take drives....here he is at Mt. St. Helens Josh's last picture with Grandpa and Tink just before he went into the hospitalOur last family picture with Dad....even though he was very sick he was still joking around with us when he had the energy....teasing me about eating his food, thumping us with his finger (something he did when we were little), asking us what the meaning of zero was and teaching us trivia about the Great Lakes (really!).........
LOVE YOU DAD....WE WILL MISS YOU!!!

Love Quilt

2009-07-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Adele called me one day a few weeks ago and asked if I had any fabric scraps she could use in a quilt she was making for my Dad. He's going through radiation treatments and thought a quilt might help keep him warm when he gets chilled.In fact she got fabric from several family members so we would all be represented and showing our love to Dad, though her own fabric collection rivals even the best of fabric stores. She has ALOT of beautiful fabrics.....and she is always making something. She has a wonderful way with fabric....wall hangings, quilts, pillows (in fact I shared a pillow she made when Jon graduated on this very blog.) She worked tirelessly on this quilt and it was finished in amazing time!! Here are some of the squares....some of the fabrics are of state flowers and birds from around the country. In this close up, the Washington State bird...the goldfinch and Washington apples are represented. It was so much fun looking at all the squares she made and remembering the things she made with them. Aunt Adele is known to frequent as many quilt shows as she can around the Northwest....and my cousin Jane goes with her. Like mother, like daughter:)Anyway, here she is holding it up to show the back...she had the quilt machine quilted and presented it to Dad last week. I got a picture of Dad with his quilt, but am waiting for my brother David to email it to me (it was their camera). I'll post it when I can.

Burley Idaho

2009-07-20T02:03:00.000-07:00

The Egan family reunion was July 10-12. The Vancouver Egans are very diligent in attending. Over 100 in all attended this year.
Christopher, Katherine and the kids arrived Friday night. Here Katherine and Kadelyn are sitting outside our hotel while we all visit and the kids play in the sand.
Uncle Josh had a fun time with his neices and nephew.
Melanie and Tom and Kelly as we ate lunch on the drive to Burley. I think I drove Tom crazy with my picture taking....but this is a wonderful picture of them!!
Chris showed Josh just who the stronger brother is....
and Maralee and Terran got in on the fun too!!
The sun was in Erma's face as she took this so it's a little lopsided, but here we are with our sweet family that was there. Serenity Lynn and Terran really don't look this way normally....they were being silly.
Not sure I can say that about Maralee. Isn't she cute this way???We went to Wendy's before the kids headed back to Utah, and Serenity got a little sad and didn't want us to leave. Here we are snuggling...I told her we needed to be brave and we hid our tears well. In the usual tradition on our last night, the Egan's played games until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. We had a wonderful weekend. Next year the reunion will be in Salt Lake, as it's the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express....and of course Howard Egan, the one who's name we all celebrate was not only a Pony Express rider, but a bodyguard to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and one of the original 144 pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley. See You there!!!

Lazy Days of Summer

2009-07-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, they haven't exactly been lazy, but it IS summer and I'm SUPPOSED to be taking it easy:) I always seem to find things to do to keep busy. It has been nice though. I slept in until 9:00 this morning!! I woke up at 7:30, but went back to sleep....because I can (as Jenny would say). I have lots of projects to do......cleaning....yardwork.... scrapbooking....playing games with my family. I took Josh to get a much needed haircut yesterday and I must say he is dashing!! Much better look....short hair. I hope I can convince him to keep it this way, but one never knows:) Anyway, just thought I would let you all know I'm enjoying my summer:)

Happy 15th Birthday to Our One of a Kind Son!!!

2009-06-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!!!You have always been such a joy......
You find so much pleasure in everything.......
From your beloved tree.....
to stacking boxes....
crawling into the box your electric car came in made us laugh!!
You spent an entire summer in your tree building rooms with your friends......
On the first day of school in 3rd grade with Jenny and Jon posing on the porch:)
Building with Legos.....
.....and KNEX created a passion within you for learning how everything works. You love to watch Mythbusters and Survival Man and absolutely anything having to do with How things Work:)
Now you are 15 and you wore this silly hat just for me:)You love to dress up, speak in a British accent, and eat off of fancy dishes.....You're one of a kind and WE LOVE YOU!!

I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go.........

2009-05-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is so cool!! I figured out how to download Jon....I mean Elder Egan.....singing in General Conference in April.
This is my favorite song they sang, probably because it was just weeks before he left for his mission, and the words fit his life so perfectly. He appears at about 3:50 upper right and 4:33 bottom left part of screen. (There is a picture in the Ensign that was taken during this part and appears on page 65 of this months issue....Jon's in that too!!)
He said it was the greatest experience of his life!

Family....Ties that Bind

2009-05-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

There is always so much to do and see when we're in Utah. We managed to squeeze in some time for family before our plane took off after taking Jon to the MTC.We were able to see some of the grandkids after they got out of school. We went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. It was a nice sunny day and the kids filled us in on their busy lives. Here we are with Chris and the kids....Serenity the youngest...very energetic and happy little girl. She was recently on TV being interviewed at her school. MaraLee (in back) l....she sang a solo for us that she is singing in the school choir. Kadelyn, the oldest likes to write and is a good example to her older siblings....and Terran...is his Daddy's boy, loves to make silly faces, and also sings in the school choir.
My cousin Tara lives very close to the MTC....her husband works for BYU. I hadn't seen her since she's had children.....5 adorable girls and finally a little boy:) The two oldest girls were still in school. We had fun catching up on all the years that have passed so quickly! Though we are cousins, Tara told me she always thought of me as an aunt....I am 20 years older than her (WOW I feel old!!)
And finally my uncle Ron....Tara's dad. We had a very short visit, but it was great to see him. Aunt Pam had a meeting to go to, but it was great to see Uncle Ron. They have 3 girls... Michelle, Heather and Tara and 2 sons....Ron and John. He's had some health problems the past several years, but he looks great! When we were little girls, and he was single and carefree, he told Debi and I that he would pay us for our grades....A's getting the most money. I love to remind him he owes me ALOT of money since he never paid up. I've been out of school for 35 years now....that's ALOT of interest!!!

MTC Trivia

2009-05-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

Some things we learned about the Provo MTC this week.
Provo MTC is one of 17 such training centers worldwide....Provo being the largest.
There are also training centers in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and United Kingon to name a few.
Up to 3,800 missionaries can be trained there at any given time.
20,000 will be trained this year.
4,000 letters and 500 packages are delivered in the mail center EACH day.
There are 3 cafeterias that serve 8,000-10,000 meals EACH day
2.6 million meals each year.....2.5 tons of breakfast cereal.....40 tons of potatoes
They feed approx. 3,000 missionaries in a 2 hour window.....each missionary is given 40 minutes to eat.
There are 330 missions worldwide serving in 165 countries.
50 languages are taught including English and ASL (American Sign Language)
4,000,000 copies of the Book of Mormon are placed each year
125 million Books of Mormon have been printed since it was first published in 1830
There are 52,000 members serving full time missions at this time.
MY son....Elder Egan is part of this wonderful effort to spread the gospel throughout the world....he is doing as the followers of Christ did when He was on the earth. He has left ALL worldly things behind and has cast in his net. He is a modern day Fisher of Men:)

The MTC (Missionary Training Center)

2009-04-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

It was a great day!!We drove to Orem and had breakfast at the I-Hop with our missionary. Chris and his girlfriend Mary, LaDena, Jenny and Logan all joined us. The restaurant was packed with families taking thie sons and daughters to the MTC. Breakfast is free for all missionaries on the day they enter the MTC.

There were people directing the traffic once we arrived and Elder Egan unloaded his luggage where he was directed to a place to drop it off while Richard parked the car.
Then we all walked over to where the new missionaries entered to get their badges and sign in. We went through a door to the right that said "families of new missionaries".
The mom's got to put the badges on our missionaries. I was a bit teary eyed trying to do it:)
The little orange circle is what all new missionaries keep on their badges for awhile....it means "new missionary." The MTC is packed with missionaries (I'll give some MTC trivia we learned another day)...and they don't want to loose them:)
We were able to take pictures in the lobby, but as we went for an orientation type thing, all cameras and phones were to be turned off, since it was in a dedicated chapel where we met. While everyone filed in to sit down, they played some of the little video ads that are run on TV to advertise the church. Then there were some speakers and we sang "Called to Serve"..... a real tear jerker:) After a closing prayer we said our goodbyes and families went one way....and the missionaries went the other way. It was very sweet to see all the little brothers and sisters of the missionaries crying....mom's were crying....dad's were crying. My missionary gave us all hugs and off he went. We cried a little, but we were so happy for him to have this experience that we tried to be strong.
I saved my tears for outside ......I couldn't resist being silly in front of the MTC sign and Jenny caught me on camera. I'm sad of course, but very happy Jon is doing exactly what he wanted to do since he was 16 and went on a mini mission to Hermiston Oregon. Now it's the real thing and he is prepared. We love you Elder Egan!!!

Elder Egan Part 3

2009-04-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day with Elder Egan. We spent time in the Manti Temple, which is just beautiful!!I just love how majestic it is....and the grounds so manicured.
Jenny came with us. Logan was working.........

Jon gave me another 5 pictures today....I think he owes me one because we only took 4:) We went out for Chinese food tonight which was very yummy. Tomorrow is packed with alot of things to do...... going to the MTC (missionary training center) where we will leave our young Elder in very capable hands. He is very excited:)

Elder Egan....... Part 1

2009-04-27T20:29:00.001-07:00

Sunday was a wonderful day!!! Jon spoke at church on "Finding joy on the journey". He did great.... We had alot of family and friends come to hear him and then afterward we had a luncheon at our house. I'm really mad at myself because as happens when you are hosting something like that, it's hard to remember the pictures....hence NO PICTURES!!! Aunt Adele, Darrell and Rene and their family, Linda and Holly, Art and Marilyn, Erma, Alvaretta, David and Myrna, Mom, Aunt Ellouise, Lauren and Carol McCann, Ron and the boys, and Janan Ellis (who Richard and Jon home taught) all came. We had to leave a houseful of people to get to the Stake Center for his setting apart. It was beautiful. Mom and some of the aunts were there with us. We took pictures afterward....I did remember the camera for that!!
It was a beautiful day outside.
Josh tells Jon he will be bigger than him when he gets home:) Scroll down for part 2 of the journey.

Elder Egan Part 2

2009-04-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

We got into Salt Lake at 9:30 this morning:) It really hit me that Jon is now an Elder and he has begun his mission when, at the airport in Portland a man in line at the gate called "Elder....where are you going?"Here we are as we walk to the shuttle to pick up our rental car. I couldn't resist this picture.
Jon wanted to walk up to the Christus statue at the Salt Lake visitors center. We have taken pictures in front of it with our family every time we come to Salt Lake. Jon (oops...Elder Egan) gave me 5 pictures of him and this was # 4. He's so funny about pictures!!!
Everywhere we went on Temple Square, Jon was asked if he was headed to the MTC. It's such a small world....we met a Sister missionary that just served for 3 months in Vancouver in our Stake. She was from someplace like Russia (we can't remember where). She offered to take our picture together.
We had also asked if Sister Carnahan from our ward who is serving on Temple Square was there today. We were in the right place at the right time, as Sister Carnahan and her companion (from Brazil) came running down the sidewalk. She is on the right in blue.

I Love to See the Temple.....................

2009-04-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

I'm going there some day. To feel The Holy Spirit, To listen and to pray. For the Temple is a house of God, A place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young....it is my sacred duty.We have sung that song so many times before and today.... Jon went to the temple. It was a very special day. Here we are afterward in the atrium....same place we took pictures with Jenny 2 years ago when she went. Jon was very happy to be in the temple.....can you tell?? Here we are with Art and Marilyn and Alvaretta. Elaine came too, but had to get home quickly as she was headed to Idaho in the morning. We have been having fun preparing for "The Mission" I'll write more later:)

What to Post???

2009-04-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, even Richard was telling me today he is sick of pulling up my blog with his surgery pictures! There is lots going on here, but I haven't really been in the mood to blog. But.....for the sake of saying something new, here goes.In February Josh performed an ensemble in the local Solo and Ensemble competition. It was his first time on the high school level. He plays french horn during concert band season. (mellophone during marching season)
It was very fun....a little nerve racking for sure, but fun none the less. Here is his group. The girl standing next to him is in our ward.
This is the best group picture. Josh was hamming it up in all the others. Silly boy!!
And of course, I've been busy buying clothes for Jon for his mission. I took this picture and sent it to him so he could see what he was getting. He will be home on Saturday and then we will rush around getting everything done before we leave on the 27th. I will definitley keep everyone up to date on all of our activities during the next few weeks.

The Long Awaited Day Arrives!!!!

2009-03-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

After years of waiting.......and wondering if we would have to wait yet again, Richard got a thumbs up for his back surgery. He was running a nearly 103 degree temperature up until the last minute, thanks to taking care of me for 4 days while I was sick, but there were many prayers and a Priesthood Blessing and everything went as expected:) We arrived at the hospital at 6am and they took him right back to pre-op.
Myrna, David, Marilyn and Alvaretta arrived a few hours later to wait with me. They are super teriffic sisters:) We had a nice visit and walked to the gift shop where the girls bought him some cards and candy.
The surgery went well....The damage was worse than the Dr. thought, but it was repaired just fine. It is SO AMAZING what they can do nowadays and that he could come home the very same day. We arrived home a little after 1:00pm simple as that. He is feeling great....no more leg pain. Grandma Rose made us a delicious pot roast dinner, Sister Sim made an enchalida dish for tomorrow. We had a nice visit with Aunt Adele when she came over with a book she had bought in Ireland for him to look at while recovering. Art and Marilyn came over with a strawberry milkshake and stayed to visit. There were lots of phone calls checking on him and now he can go to bed and have a good nights sleep for a change:) It was a great day!!

Trip to Utah

2009-03-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

I've been home a week already and am just now blogging:) Though it wasn't the easiest trip it was good to be with family. As I drove to Gunnison I loved the snow that had fallen the night before. The mountains along the way were different than the ones we have at home, but majestic just the same.
Chris and Katherine and the kids arrived at the house early Saturday morning. They are growing so fast! Kadelyn is inching up on me.
LaDena and Natalie met us at the cemetery. They all had a long drive before the 9:30am graveside service. We all came back to the house and had a nice visit before they all headed home.
I couldn't resist taking this picture of "toothless Terran"....he looks so cute!
This is Jennys dear friend Katie. She is a real gem!! I bugged her because I wanted to see her house so I could picture where she lived. She was a HUGE help to Jenny through her trial....we spent some time with her and her husband on Saturday night watching a movie. Katie is going to school to become a nurse. She will be a very compassionate nurse:)
It was a beautiful drive to Salt Lake on Sunday morning...I took alot of pictures while driving. Jenny thinks it's a boring drive, and maybe I would too if I drove it alot, but to me it was beautiful!!

Peace

2009-03-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

As I was saying my prayers Monday night before leaving for Utah, I had such an overwhelming feeling come over me assuring me that all would be well with my little girl and her baby. The Spirit confirmed to me that having the baby now is a tender mercy in her life. It was a feeling of peace and it enveloped my entire body.
Less than an hour later we got the call that her water had broken, and I wasn't sure I would get there in time.............
Little Timothy was just that....very little. It was a sweet experience to be with Logan and Jenny as they held him and said their goodbyes.
I bought this figurine for Jenny last November....it is titled "Guardian". I contemplated whether I should give it to her now or not, since I had been saving it to give her at just the right time. It is very fitting and though she held Timothy in the palm of her hands, this represents her feelings of motherhood and how much she loved this little one. She was and is his guardian.....and he is her angel.

Random......Dishpan Hands!!

2009-02-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

I know this is really random.........considering I never finished blogging about the DC trip. Things have just been crazy at our house since we got home the day after the Inauguration and except for my missionary blog, I haven't had the energy to blog.
I've been taking care of Mom since Bob died....helping with everything that needs to be done after the death of a husband. We found her a new place to live and have been packing her up in preparation to move this week. Mom called me into the back room the other day and told me she wanted to give me something. I couldn't imagine what it would be as I took the boxes down from a shelf. It turned out they were some dishes they had bought which I had never seen. Mom knows how much I enjoy pretty dishes during different holidays and things and wanted me to have them. That night, I spent hours re-arranging my cupboard in the kitchen to fit them in. This is my cupboard. I really love it...it has a light inside. All the dishes were stacked on the bottom shelf for storage, but with these new dishes I wanted to display the pretty blue goblets she gave me as well, so I just went crazy rearranging by "color" on the different shelves.I thought it would be fun to display the glasses with the dishes on the same shelf instead of all on the same one like before.

Here are the ones she gave me. The blue goblets are BEAUTIFUL but huge.....they take up alot of room. Not all of the dishes are here because Josh wanted to used them to eat on tonight. He loves setting a pretty table:)
This is the Noritake china I got when I was married to Paul. Bill and Sidney Belle bought us most of it. We use these at Easter and other special holidays. The pretty dessert glasses were a wedding present. Today I am much more practical, and would never buy them, unless of course I found them at the Goodwill or DI.....and probably not even then!!These are my Christmas dishes. I LOVE Christmas!! I bought the dishes at the Dollar Tree....the glasses came from Dairy Queen about 15 years ago and the pretty goblets were from Arbys. I kick myself for only getting four of them!!
Now these are NOT in the china cupboard...but are in another one. These are our everyday dishes. Most people want clothes for Christmas, but I wanted new dishes one year, so Richard got me these. I found the cute placemats at the Goodwill....they're reversable:) The boys love eating cereal out of the huge bowls.
AND finally (are you still with me??)....these are some clear glass dishes that Sidney Belle gave me. They were Paul's when he died. I kind of resisted her giving them to me, but boy am I glad she did. We use these ALOT!! They are multipurpose dishes. In our family we have alot of "Special" dinners. I just put a co-ordinating tablecloth for whatever holiday we're celebrating and these dishes ALWAYS match!! We just used them for our Valentines Day dinner and in a few weeks we'll use them for St. Patricks day.
So now you have a history of my dishes......and so will our kids. If they end up with any of them they will know where they came from:) Is it any wonder I have "Dishpan" Hands!!

MISSION CALL!!!

2009-02-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

The call came.....the time was set.......
3:45 our time ......we gathered around the phone and waited for the phone to ring. While Jon gathered with his friends in Rexburg, Jenny and Logan gathered in Gunnison and we gathered in Vancouver with Grandma Cameron, Aunt Debi, Josh, and Nadya, grandma's caregiver. Dear Elder Egan, you are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Missouri St. Louis Mission.Lucky for us we had a map of Missouri, having gone on a church history tour last July. We didn't go to St. Louis, but found it quickly on the map.
The mission takes in Missouri and parts of Illinois. He is to report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah on April 29, just 5 days after his 19th birthday. It will be a busy few weeks before he leaves, coming home from Rexburg on April 11th.Jon is going to be an awesome missionary!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!

2009-01-30T23:11:00.000-08:00

Life has been in a whirl since Grandpa Cameron passed away and I nearly missed blogging my favorite girl's birthday SO..... I grabbed a few random pictures to share a few memories. Time is speeding by....She turned one so long ago....
then before I knew it she was cleaning the bathroom...she had such a way with doing her chores. I remember taking this picture of her singing with her rubber gloves on like it was yesterday:)
....and spending months learning to dance latin style for the dance festival. Now she is married in her own brand new home (lucky girl) and a baby on the way. Like I said....time is speeding by:)
HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY JENNY!!!

Homecoming

2009-01-21T19:11:00.000-08:00

I wish I had taken my camera out for our arrival home today. As we walked past the security gates into the main terminal at the airport we were greeted by friends and family , television cameras and more. I got teary eyed as we heard the cheers for our kids. Josh was pulled over right away and interviewed by a local radio station KEX 1190, so he missed the television cameras. After the months of preparation, the trip has come to an end. Before I tell about "Inauguration Day" here are some pictures of our time in DC. This is as close as we could get to the Lincoln Memorial. It's hard to believe, but there were tons of people in front of us...so many we could easily have been lost in the crowd and separated.
This is how the mall looked on Sunday morning...not many people. Just 4 hours later it was nearly PACKED with people....250,000 people from this end to the front of the Lincoln memorial on the other end. You can see the huge television screens. Obama's motorcade going to the Arlington National Cemetery...we got out of our busses and took pictures. Notice the officers are standing at attention.
The Washington monument also before the concert started and people came in droves. The Lincoln Memorial is where the concert was, and it is on the other side of the monument.
As we waited on Monday morning in the very frigid outdoors to get into the National Archives, Josh and some others passed the time by playing a game .
Some of our chaperones, braving the cold waiting to enter The Archives.
This does NOT do justice to how many porta potties there were. They say there were 5,000, but it looked more like a million. They were EVERYWHERE!!!!

Day 3 and the Declaration of Independence

2009-01-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

Another wonderful day!!
As I write it is nearly 10PM and the kids are out in the hotel parking lot practicing, so I have to hurry before they get done.

It was very cold as we waited in line to get into The National Archives, but well worth it:) We saw The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights to name a few. The Constitution was worn and fading. I so thought of Jon and wished he was here, because all of those things mean so much to him.

We spent a few hours walking to the memorials......The Lincoln Memorial was closed to walking up to because of concert yesterday, but we did get pictures. We saw the Vietnam Memorial, The world War 2 Memorial (which was absolutely beautiful and moving). As we walked the memorials, loudspeakers were re playing the concert from yesterday, and Denzel Washington gave a very moving speech, and my friend Michelle and I were crying as we felt the patriotism of our country. We didn't make it to the Jefferson Memorial because of our time restrictions, and we were sad at that, BUT we decided NOT to complain about it since after all, we are here to march for The President of the United States.

This evening we went to a Midevil Dinner....a BLAST!!! The kids really got into it.

I forgot to mention as we drove in on Tuesday night the first thing we saw was The Washingtonb Temple. It was so beautiful!!!!

Gotta go, the kids are done. Josh is on an end....his horn is silver with a big bell.

Love you all......

Day 2

2009-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm unable to post pictures from this computer....BUMMER!!!
Our Day in Review:
Cool Things about today:

1. Arlington National Cemetery - we saw the Kennedy Gravesites

2. Smithsonian Mall was INCREDIBLE!! We were all able to wander at our own leisure.
I think my group went into 4 museums....we got to see Dorothy's red slippers, gowns of the past first ladies, planes and spaceships, The Hope Diamond....to name a few.

3. There was a HUGE concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial...there were 1/2 a million people...There a huge screens set up all over the Mall as it's called where you could watch it. It was HARD not to get caught up into the whole thing.

4. We saw Obama's motorcade as it went by to Arlington National Cemetery. Our busses were stopped and like 30 police cars, motorcycles, and secret service cars were in between his limo. We were able to get out of our busses and stand along the sidewalk and take pictures.

Which brings me to the UnCool thing about today:

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the Guard was closed because Obama was going there.

Great Day....Very exciting......Awesome experience!!!

We've Arrived!!

2009-01-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it was a VERY long day. We flew from Portland to SanFrancisco where we had a long layover. Everywhere we went people were congratulating us and wishing us luck in the parade. Josh had a pretty hard time of it with his anxiety, but we got through it. On the second leg of our flight, we met an angel lady named Helen, who visited with Josh and she got the airlines to take Josh up in the cockpit and meet the captain before the flight. There was a delay while they took fuel off the plane, apparently it was too full.
We arrived in DC just before 10:00. We are now in our hotel, where they fed us pizza and got everyone settled.
Tomorrow is a busy day!!

We're Off.......

2009-01-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

Stay Tuned.....
I'll try to blog while in Washington DC:) If not, see you when we get back:)
Okay, so I need to change the date...and I'm posting 5 hours before we actually leave, but you get the drift!!

Parade and Proclamation

2009-01-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

Seventy Six Trombones led the big parade.............
Well, maybe it was not TOO big, and there were only SOME trombones........today the city had a very short parade with OUR marching band as a send off to the Inuagural Parade. Grandma and Grandpa Cameron came. Richard was on the street cheering the kids on. I waited in the park with G&G for the band to arrive.
The kids started off from an elementary school down the road from this city park. They were escorted by a veterans colorguard and some vietnam veterans on their motorcycles. They marched into the park playing their song "Washington My Home" our state song.
There were dignitaries, speeches, free Krispy Kream donuts and an official proclamation declaring next Tuesday, Jan. 20th, Evergreen High School Marching Band and Colorguard Day. This is our director Mr. Kuske, thanking the city for the outpouring of support they have given us.
Cousin Jane was very sweet to come and support Joshua and the band. It had been a beautiful day, but by now it was getting quite chilly. We were all getting cold.....a small sacrifice:) The kids got back onto busses, and we headed back to the school, loaded up the equipment and our luggage (it's being driven by truck to save money).... then the kids ate pizza and MORE Krispy Creams!! We're flying out bright and early Saturday morning.
I'm so glad Josh will have this experience AND that I will experience it with him!!!

2009-01-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone, New years has passed........

While I have been very flakey about posting, I have loved reading everyones blogs even though I haven't had any motivation for posting. Call me LAZY!!!

Our Christmas was very nice...it was a most beautiful white Christmas, snowing a good part of the day. We spent time with both sets of Grandparents on Christmas Day as well as our Christmas Eve tradition with Art and Marilyns family.
I was whining about not having a snowman so Jon and Josh built me one...isn't he cute????

The boys ended up in a snowball fight and dragged me into it in the process.

AND....this icicle was 40 inches long that was hanging on Art and Marilyns house.
AMAZING!!!

You may be wondering why my blog is patriotic. Just getting ready for Josh and my trip to the Presidential Inauguration as he marches in the parade with The Evergreen High School Marching Band. We leave in 11 days!!!

The "White" Before Christmas.........

2008-12-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

I was going to tell about our harrowing ride home from Rexburg last weekend, but that was so long ago. Let's just say that it was a white knuckle drive with overturned cars and closed passes and blizzard like conditions. We are home safe and sound and we brought the weather home with us.It's basically been snowing since last week here, though Vancouver didn't get much the first time around. We did miss 2 days of school, but only because they didn't want to chance people sliding off the road. Yesterday we couldn't escape it. Yesterday it was fun snow....today it is ICE.. Here, Josh broke off a chunk and is holding it.It snowed all day....mostly a very fine snow, but it was very windy. It caused the snow to come up onto our porch, which looked very pretty.
Here it is on our porch railing...I thought it was so beautiful mixed in with the garland I have wrapped around it.
This morning church was cancelled because it was solid ice outside. Isn't this bush pretty with the ice formed on it's branches???
We have icicle lights on our house....look at the REAL icicles formed on the gutters inbetween them.
This is in our back yard. The snow drifted on the back roof and here it is hanging frozen OVER the gutter. It's in midair....really cool!!
Not much shopping is happening here. Not good for the economy....but we are enjoying the white "before" Christmas.

Jenny The Graduate

2008-12-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

It was with much perserverence that Jenny attained her Bachelor of Science in History last Friday night. She worked very hard, went through fun times and trials, her marriage to Logan and now....the payoff.

Richard, Josh and I drove to Rexburg and met up with Jenny, Logan and Jessell last Thursday. We had a fun time visiting, picking up Jon at his dorm and eating Jack in the Box from the drive through. The weather was very windy and cold. Before graduation on Friday we took everyone to Applebees for lunch.

Commencement was Friday night. Jenny was on the very front row and could almost touch the speakers...President Clark of BYUI....and President Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of the Church, who was the keynote speaker. The talks were WONDERFUL!!

There were nearly 1100 graduates. Here she is as they filed out after commencement. Since she was on the first row, she was the last to leave. The graduates then broke into their different colleges...she was in The College of Language and Letters, where she received her diploma cover (the diploma is mailed to them).
Here she is with Jessell....her lifelong friend who had flown to Salt Lake and drove with them to Rexburg. CONGRATULATIONS JENNIFER THE GRADUATE!!!!!!

p.s.......stay tuned for the story of the harrowing drive back home:)

More Excitment Than I Can Take............

2008-12-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

Rarely do I get so wound up....but this has been a red letter week:) My heart is racing and I'm very giddy with happiness. With so many things in the world going wrong, it's good to get some good news.

FIRST: Yesterday Joshua participated in a DECA mini conference at school. All of the marketing classes took a written test and did a role play where they were judged. Jon also participated in this last year. Josh was hoping to win an award, but I knew that being a Freshman, the chances were slim. Today were the awards and he didn't go because he didn't want to miss any classes (it was during school). People were coming up to him all day congratulating him, and he wasn't sure why. WELL.....he won 1st place in the role play with a score of 99/100. He placed 2nd overall from all the classes. Now he will go on to the area conference with hopes of going to state from there. He was so excited with his ribbons and awards. It just makes me happy to know he is finding his way in high school and having experiences that will help raise his self esteem.

SECOND: We got word today that the Evergreen Marching Band has been chosen out of 1400 bands to march in the Inagural Parade in Washington DC!!!!!!!!!! We have been planning this since last year. Even though I didn't vote for the President elect, this is a most exciting (and a bit scary) event. I will be chaperoning and we will be seeing ALOT of sights. The media from all over Washington and Oregon have been calling our band director for the past month wanting exclusive rights to our story should we be selected. Papparazi here we come!!!

THIRD: Jenny is graduating from college next week and we will be bring Jon home from Rexburg.

Like I said.....a great week:)

22nd Annual Shopping Day.............

2008-11-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

Boo Hoo!! I can't believe another day after Thanksgiving shopping day with Melanie is all done!! I wait all year for it and I get sad before it ever starts, knowing it will end all too soon:(
(See November 2006 post for more details)
Melanie and I had new matching sweaters again this year. The picture we took before we left the house (@3:50am) didn't look too good, so I'm not posting it. She had someone take one of us while we waited in line at GI Joes, but it's on her camera phone and she doesn't know how to send it to my computer.
We couldn't believe how CRAZY we were to get up so early this year. But, we decided to get going while the going was good, and with 2 1/2 hours sleep we rolled out of our beds and headed down the road. 12 hours later, we said our goodbyes. We have been shopping like this for 22 of the 35 years we've been friends.
It's always fun to run into so many people I don't always see throughout the year as they too are crazy like we are.
We were much more conservative this year than in years past, buying more necessities than anything else, but we had a grand time. Donuts and juice at Fred Meyer's, breakfast at Jack in the Box and lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.....the important stuff you know!
May you all have a wonderful beginning to the holidays. Around here, Josh is keeping us on our toes....he begged us to get our outside lights up before Thanksgiving and is now pushing me to get the inside done. My life would be very boring without him:)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

2008-11-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

I will eat my share of turkey on Thursday, but honestly....aren't turkeys beautiful!!
I'm thankful for all my many blessings........for everything I have comes from Heavenly Father. It would take my entire blog to list all the things I am thankful for, but you can relate because I know you are thankful too:)

WHAT???????

2008-11-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

I know this is a strange picture to post....... but I'm sure some of you can relate to it!!
I don't know if it's that I turned another year older on Saturday BUT........
I was teaching a primary class of 11-12 year old girls for a friend of mine on Sunday and I noticed they all had black shoes on. I casually mentioned that we all had black shoes on and I lifted up my feet as I said it, only to be MORTIFIED that I DIDN"T have 2 black shoes....I had ONE BLACK rounded toe and ONE BLUE square toed shoe on!!! This picture does not do the situtation justice (click on it to enlarge and get a better view). The girls and I had a good laugh and as we walked to sharing time I walked between the girls so they could hide my feet:)
I am so silly!!!!

The Seasons of Life

2008-11-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

The seasons continually pass by. Another fall is here. The air is moist and crisp and has the smell of burning logs on the fire. Time is just speeding by, but I still enjoy the seasons. That is....the seasons of life. The kids are growing and leaving home. Our house is down to 3...but life is still very full. I get tired, but I wouldn't trade my life for anything!! Every day is filled with something new.
The weekend after my trip to see "The College Guy", Jenny surprised her Dad and Josh with a visit. I knew about it, but she came earlier in the morning and surprised me too!
Our time together was short. We had Friday and most of Sunday to catch up on things. Saturday I was heavily involved with the marching band competition our school was hosting, so Jenny spent the day with friends.
On our only free Saturday of the month Josh wanted to go to get a pumpkin. I figured he was in high school now, so we could just go to the store to get it. Instead, he wanted to go to Bizi Farms, where we've gone to get pumpkins a few times before. I told him he could invite a friend, but he said he was fine just going with me.
I thought what a lucky mom I am, that my 14 year old son would want to spend time going to a pumpkin patch with me. It's not just a place to get pumpkins. He spent time climbing and crawling on the huge haystack they have there. We had fun time trying to catapult pumpkins into big barrels. Josh got one in, but it split as it hit the side. There are prizes if it goes in.
We had a great time in the corn maze, which took about 45 minutes to get through. I had never been through one before. There's always a first time for everything.....and right now, we are throughly enjoying this season of our lives.

Visit to see "The College Guy"

2008-10-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a great time visiting Jon. Ericka and I were a tamed down version of Thelma and Louise. It seemed like the 12 hour drive just flew by. We had fun chatting all the way. I got to go to 2 classes with him on Friday...we watched an extra credit movie in Psycology titled "Happiness" and I met his professor in Pre-Law. He was a funny old man. He even gave me the quiz the kids were taking. I was huffing a puffing everywhere we went. I feel so out of shape!! I ran into my old friend Stephanie Crain AGAIN....I've seen her every year I've gone to Mothers week. She lives in New Hampshire. I got to check out the dorm room, which was very clean and tour the building to see where laundry and stoves were.
I took Jon alot of groceries and a big pumpkin filled with candy. I asked him to sit here so I could get a picture of him in his room. I took him and Josh (his roomie) to the store. I was able to give him a haircut too!!Saturday we did some shopping and went to the mother/son banquet with Ericka and William. It was delicious.

Here's our group Sat. night after the Natalie McMaster concert we went to after dinner. She is a fiddler and plays Irish type music. It was wonderful!! Ericka's daughter Brooke (where we stayed) came along for the concert. Brooke babysat for Jenny and Jon when they were little. She lives in Parker just outside of Rexburg and we stayed at her house.
These are Brooke's 2 adorable kids Savannah and Hudson. They liked playing a chase game with me. Sunday I went to church with Jon and he got set apart for 2 callings he's recieved. After church we went to Brooke's where I had put Cafe Rio on for dinner. Then we played games until Jon and William went back to campus.
This is Biscuit....Brookes dog. He lives outside on their property and we couldn't even go outside without being jumped on. We were quite a sight to see as we tried to get to the house from the car and visa versa. He is cute...but watch out!! We woke up Monday morning to a little snow. It was actually very cold our entire stay. The wind blew like crazy and it snowed every day. It just never stuck. I was in my thermal's every day. The temperature highs were like 34 and lows into the 20's....but with the wind chill it was very cold!!
On our way home there was more snow near Pocotello. It was beautiful. We passed through the mountains with no snow at all. It was toasty when we got home (like in the 50's) I was so glad I went....I LOVE YOU JON!!!

I'M OFF.............

2008-10-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

Between work, marching band, and church, I've had no time to blog.......
BUT NOW.....I'm off to see "The College Guy"

See you soon:)

It's About Time......

2008-09-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a little left out since everyone has new blogs....so I decided I better get busy blogging. Sorry I have no insightful words or symbollic messages. Just a few pictures and maybe a word or two about the college guy:)First I wanted you all to see how well my roses and flowers in the front yard are doing since we cut the tree down. This is the first year that my roses have done so well all summer long. When we had the tree they had alot of shade and while they grew, this year they are thriving! I wanted you to see them before the frost starts setting in.
The hanging baskets I got for mothers day are huge!! Usually they are just about dead by now but with the sun....they are keeping me happy:)
These roses had not had very many blossoms in years...aren't they beautiful????
Now onto the high schooler. Josh is the total opposite of the college guy (my new nickname for Jon). Josh has a fearless personality when it comes to being himself....he's very spirited here at the only football game they won't be in uniform....he's sporting a hand me down shirt and hat from the "older" ones.
This was taken last week at the bands first performance of the season at the football game. He is 2nd from the right (very front...mellophones)
Looks like he enjoyed the evening.
Now a few words about the college guy. He seems to be liking school. He's working hard and having some fun too. I will be going to see him for mothers week the 2nd week of October. I can't wait....but until then I will be busy with marching band competitions.

The College GUY

2008-09-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thought I would give an update of the college guy...Classes started on Monday and he's been keeping his nose to the grindstone with homework. Richard got him all settled into his dorm last Thursday.He's on the 3rd floor so there are alot of stairs to climb.
He seems to have alot of room...he could have had more food if I had sent it.
His clothes fit perfectly in the closet and there are 6 drawers....he's using most of them for food.
He's been getting alot of use out of the microwave. He's been eating soup and those little mac and cheese bowls we got him. He says it's easier to eat in the dorm at night when he's studying.
This is his desk area and the sink. His desk has 2 shelves above it.

This is Jon with Josh (his roomate) and his parents. They've gone to school since grade school together. Jon tells me they've been keeping the room pretty clean.
Richard took Jon out to dinner to a steak house and they ate so much that Jon crashed on the bed too full to do anything. (I'm mainly showing this picture because it shows his bed)
I've talked to Jon almost every day. He seems to like all his classes. He said there is ALOT of reading. He's attended some of the activities and went to his new ward. He met with the Bishop to get to know him. So, I think he'll survive without me....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDS

2008-09-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Even when they grow up we still call them our kids.......here are some random pictures from the past...LaDena, Jeramy, and Chris all have birthdays this week.
Not long after we were married we wanted to have a party for them and since they lived so far away we had it before they went back to Utah. Jeramy is in the middle (his birthday is today)...but he should have been on the end by the #11. Chris was 10 that year.
Jeramy was such a good big brother. He was always so sweet with Jenny.
He lives in St. George with his wife Cheryl. They travel the world and see the sights.Christopher lives in West Jordan. He has 4 kids and last year joined the army reserves....he doesn't always look this serious:) His birthday is next Tuesday.This is a picture of LaDena (her birthday is tomorrow) and her cousin Rene (back in the 80's sometime) who had her birthday yesterday.....LaDena and Rob have been married almost 17 years (WOW!!) and live in Sandy and have 4 kids. She is a very active mom in her kids lives.

The Two Freshmen

2008-09-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

I never thought about the boys both being Freshman at the same time!! Josh starts High School and Jon is off to college in the morning. Jenny and Jon were Freshmen at the same time too!!Jon's day was spent visitng friends and getting ready. We picked up the rental car at 9:00pm and it was loaded in no time. Jon reminded me how when Jenny went the car was weighted down and took hours to load. It took all of about 10 minutes to put Jon's stuff in the car (even with all that food)
Josh got to shave for the first time tonight. He's had a bit of a mustache for some time and we thought going to high school was the perfect time.
We decided that Jon would take the hair clippers and either do it himself or get a girl to do it for him. He thought he would try his hand at it tonight too!! I did his neck but he did the rest. Pretty good for his first time:)
Of course for our hymn tonight we let him pick (we always sing a hymn before our family scripture reading)...He picked a tear jerker...."God Be With You Til We Meet Again"....I couldn't sing it til like the 3rd verse.....he did it on purpose cause he knew I would cry:)
Josh got to get his band uniform tonight....so you see, I'm not really missing anything, I'm gaining another 4 years with another special child....isn't he cute????

Getting Things Ready......

2008-08-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

I have been a bit weepy all week.....getting Jon ready for college. Today was a downright cryfest for me. I cried all during sacrament meeting....especially the songs. The talks were wonderful which kept my mind occupied, but as soon as the singing started again, so did my tears. I know Jon thinks I'm a nutsy mom, but I can't help it!! As he sat next to me singing in his deep bass voice, it hit me knowing next week I won't be hearing it. I blame Richard really....on the way to church he said something about us losing our pew since next week there will only be 3 of us. It's not like I haven't gone through this before with Jenny, and I know it will happen again in 4 years with Josh, but it is how it is.It's been fun buying food for Jon. He'll have a meal ticket since he's in a non cooking dorm....but he'll have a microwave and microfridge, so we stocked him up for those in between meals and the days he doesn't want to eat out. We got alot of canned good like ravioli and soups and stews. They even make cute little microwavable mac and cheese bowls. He tried different foods to make sure he would like them and we bought them when he did.
Then, like when Jenny went to college, there is the stuff like towels, laundry and dish soap, hand soap, contact lense solution....you name it we got it. I stocked him up for the entire year on deodorant and shampoo and body wash. I filled the plastic drawers with pencils, pens, paper clips and post it notes. Jon and I filled pill bottles with quarters for the laundry. He's got all school supplies and bedding he will ever need:)And finally....how could he live without his cereal???? He told me he won't need a meal ticket if he just has his cereal:) He's going to put it in his suitcase under his bed (in case you were wondering where he will put it all:)
I am so excited for Jon to start his life's adventure, knowing that in January he will begin the process of putting in his mission papers. But for now, I have all the memories of his childhood flashing before me and I cry tears of happiness of years past:)

The Eagle and The Elder

2008-08-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the big day is finally over!! We had Jon's court of honor tonight. It was a very nice evening. So many family and friends joined us. I took a few pictures, then my friend Kim took the ones of the actual ceremony. I was so busy afterward that I didn't get pictures of those who attended. The evening came to a wonderful close with Jon becoming an Elder!! Richard ordained him and gave him a wonderful blessing. It was such a special night!! Here he is with his friend Jeff Cook who gave him the Eagle Pledge. Jeff recieved his mission call and will be serving in Las Vegas Nevada Mission.
Here he is givng me my pin.
President Nord (right)has had a large role in helping mold Jon into the fine young man he is. He was the speaker tonight. He told some great stories on Jon (like when Jon lost 2 pair of glasses in the same summer. He was so glad when Jon got contacts!! Brother Hullinger (Left)worked with Jon for many years in scouting as well and is now in the Bishopric.
Brother Sears (left) has got to be one of the greatest YM Presidents ever. He works so well with the boys in the Ward....not only is he a great scout leader, but a spiritual leader as well. And Bishop Meuller (right) works well with Jon in Priests Quorum.
This is a sweet one of Josh. Kim shot this one. Jon's college roommate for the first semester is standing in the Eagles Nest reciting the Eagle pledge. His name is Josh also.I snapped this one of the table. I completely didn't get a picture of the food table OR the cake!! Oh well..... everything looked niceThis is what the stage looked like. The power point video I did was played on the upper wall on the left.