Sisters

I can't believe that I deleted the post about my sisters!!  Thank you, Karen for apprising me of that or I might not have noticed:)  I definitely want them back on here for the book of posts that I am going to make (with Sarah's help:)  I don't want to leave them out!!

 

We got together as a family for Terri's son, Sam, who reported his mission on the 15th of this month.

It was really fun for me to get to visit with them!

 

 

 

I think I'll take the opportunity to write a few Words about my sisters.

 

My oldest sister is Terri (far right).  She is a really fun person to be around!  She always has something to talk about which is good because sometimes I just like to sit back and listen.  Terri has always been athletic.  She played sports all through high school and even into college.  She has five children and two grandchildren.  Her husband, Pete, is the Stake President of the North Las Vegas Stake. Our family has enjoyed swimming in her pool through the many years.  The kids loved to spend time at Aunt Terri's pool:)  I remember the year that Gary was in his accident.  Pete and Terri and their family came all the way up to Salt Lake during their Christmas vacation to visit with him.  They came and stayed with Gary for a few hours so that Rick and I could go have some time alone.  That was very good of them!   This past year has been rough for Terri getting through her breast cancer treatments.  She is in the "rebuilding" stage of her treatment and she makes me laugh when she says things like, "Me and my new boobs are going to Hawaii in January!"  HAHA:)  Her hair is growing back and she is glad not to have to wear a wig anymore:)  Terri works for a pediatric dentist doing secretarial work. 

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Next to the oldest is Deanna.  (To the left of Terri)  She has been someone I have looked up to and have wanted to be like all of my life.  She is so good and kind.  When I was young I loved to recieve her hand- me -downshoes (and clothes).  (She loves shoes and has a plethora in her closet!!)  She taught me to love to shop at the Salvation Army when I was young.  We called it the SA so know one would know that we had bought second hand clothes.  We found some great stuff there:)  She was a cheerleader in high school and I thought she was so beautiful.  It was fun for me as I got into high school seven years behind her and I got to wear some of the same uniforms that she had worn:)  FYI....The school kept the uniforms and so by the time I got there we had at least three skirts and five tops to choose from on any given game day!  Anyway,  Deanna lives in St. George and I see her the most of any of my sisters because we go to St. George pretty often.  She is married to Kelly and they have five boys and eight grandchildren with another on the way.   Deanna works for the Marriott Hotel in their catering department.

 

My youngest sister is Mare (short for MaryEllen..... on the left) Mare and I grew up together as we were a little over two years apart....three in school.  We shared a room all of our growing up years and I'm afraid that I wasn't a very good big sister.  She was tidy and I was NOT.  She was quiet and I was NOT.  She was nice and I was NOT!  While our personalities were very different we still had plenty of good times together.  We loved playing board games and having mud fights after a summer rain storm.  We loved to play with our good friend, Lynn, who lived just next door.  Some days we would pretend that one was a horse and one was a rider and run around the yard yelling HIYATAH!  meaning giddeup:)  We also loved riding our horse, Belle, in the desert by our house.   We would sing around the piano a lot too.  She would sing soprano and I would sing alto.  Lots of fun times!!  Mare married her childhood friend Boyd Nelson and they have two girls.  Her second child, Scarlett, came as a surprise after her oldest, Gabriella, was in high school.  So Mare has three year old Scarlett to keep her young.   She is an excellent mom and is very talented in many ways. 

 I love to visit with her when I go home to Vegas.

 

So there you have it!  A short run down of my awesome sisters!  They are all just really great people!  I am very blessed to have them in my life!

More Sisters

Last week Rick left town to go hunting in Alaska.  Well, early on he told me he would be gone the week of my birthday.  DeeAnn's birthday is the day before mine and Darrell was going to be gone as well, so I concocted a plan to go do something fun.  I did not want to be home pining for my husband when my birthday rolled around!  We invited Kathy and Darla to join us as well.  Darla's husband, Larry, was going hunting too and even though Trent wasn't going I wanted Kathy to be there too!  She's one of my dearest friends:)  We were able to secure a condo on trade in Daytona Beach, Florida so that's where we went!  We left Monday morning and came back Saturday night.  We had an enjoyable time there except for poor Kathy.  She was sick THE. WHOLE. TIME. we were there.  She could barely eat anything and when she did she truly suffered because of it.  Even a piece of bread caused her much anguish.  She was a trooper though and came with us on most of our outings. 

 

Here we are at the Daytona Beach Pier with the full moon shining over the water behind us.

It was truly a beautiful sight to behold!

 

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

We got there after it closed so we couldn't climb it.

 A huge disapointment!

 

On our way back we found a lookout point over the ocean. 

DeeAnn found a shell in the sand!

 

DeeDee's birthday dinner.

Crab Legs:)

 

The next day we drove to St. Augustine, an old Spanish town, where Ponce de Leon came exploring!

Here's DeeDee and Darla taking a picture with him.

 

The girls drinking from "The Fountain of Youth"!

That's why they're so young and beautiful looking:)

 

Darla making friends with one of the many peacocks on the property.

 

A group shot! (No Kath....she was sleeping in the car:(

Next we went to St. Augustine lighthouse.

219 steps to the top.  Here's DeeAnn taking a breather on her way to the top!

 

 

Me at the top of the lighthouse!  What a beautiful view from up there!

 

We had my birthday dinner at Pizzalleys.  Great Italian Food!!

 

 

We also had a little gelato for dessert:)

 

Kathy and Darla picked up some large shells to take home.

 

On Saturday before our flight left we drove into Orlando and went to the temple. 

 It sure was beautiful!

 

While we were in Daytona we also did a little shopping and of course, had some beach and pool time. We also found a chocolate factory right there in Daytona called Angell and Phelps!  We had to stop there and take a tour and meet the owner. 

Of course we brought home some fudge and chocolate as well:)

 

One day as we were taking pictures I said to DeeAnn why don't you get in and I'll take a picture of you and your sisters.  She grabbed me in a hug and said, "YOU are one of my sisters, too!" 

I'm glad to know that I'm part of the bunch!

Early Birthday

 

I had a birthday this past week.  Because Rick was going to be out of town he wanted to celebrate a little early.  On the 13th we had reservations at The Five Alls Restaurant for 5:30 and as we walked in I saw Brach standing there holding Rafe.  I thought to myself, "Wow!  Are Kendra and Brach eating here tonight too??   Then I saw Skylar and Sarah and I knew that they were there for me!  We three couples had a fun night eating good food and memories of mom:) 

It was a very pleasant surprise!  I feel really bad that I didn't think to take any pictures!

 

After dinner we drove to The Armstrong Mansion and stayed the night there.  The rooms there are named after the different months of the year.  We stayed in the June Bride:)  It was a beautiful room!

 

 

The next morning after a delicious breakfast in the dining room we did a little birthday shopping.  My (or should I say our) big purchase were new snorkel and fins sets.  We've had our sets for 21 years now and we knew it was time to replace them. (Skylar and Sarah are going to inherit them:) We are planning a big trip for our 25th anniversary in January so we want to be ready!!  Next, we went to The Shane company and Rick bought me a new bracelet.  It is just like the one that Skylar bought Sarah a few months ago.  It's beautiful and I haven't taken it off since:)  After that we stopped over to Jordan Landing and perused a little bit.  We got a quick lunch at Costa Vida and headed to the airport where I caught a plane to Vegas.  I left that afternoon to visit family and to hear my nephew report his mission.  Rick left for Alaska Monday morning and I left for Orlando with his sisters.  So now it has officially been eight days since I have seen my husband.  He won't be home until tomorrow night:(  This is the longest we have ever been seperated during our almost 25 years of marriage.

I. Don't. Like. It!

Utah State Fair

Last week Rick and I went to the Utah State Fair.  We enjoyed looking at many of the livestock and a lot of FFAers taking care of their animals.  Here are just a few of the four legged (and some two legged) creatures....

 

 

 

We  also enjoyed seeing the award winning fruits and vegetables.

Here are some gigantic pumpkins!

 

 

Of course, we had to get some fair food.

Rick with his BBQ.......

 

 

and funnel cake for dessert!

 

 

One of the things I love about the fair are the cooking classes. 

Here we are waiting for the Wilton cupcake class to begin.

 

 

I learned to make this.....

 

 

...and this!

 

 

Afterwards, we hopped  over to the logging show.

 

 

We ended the afternoon with another cooking demonstration.  The lady (I can't remember her name)  who makes the cheese bread for the Brazilian restaurants in SLC taught a class on making Brazilian Stew.  I liked the samples.  I won the door prize at this show.  A package of her frozen cheesballs.  I kinda wished I would have won the door prize for the cupcake show.  They winner got to take home that pumpkin cake!  Either way...I like winning stuff!!

 

A night in Settlement Canyon

Kendra has been excited to have a night up at Settlement Canyon so earlier in the month we went up for a family night.  We invinted the Bakers to join us!  We each brought our own dinner.  I brought some homemade chili from home and we made scones in the dutch oven for a Navajo Taco treat.  Kendra was excited to make a foil dinner so that's what she did.  Unfortunately, Brach had to catch up on some homework so he didn't make it:(  She did bring adorable Rafe and we  all enjoyed holding him!  The Bakers grilled some hamburgers over the fire.  Some made s'mores for dessert.

 

After dinner we had a little family night on the Proclamation to the Family.  In our recent Stake conference President Collings asked us to sit down with our families and talk about it.  So we did.  I am amazed at how much that proclamation has been needed in the world since it was written.  Our society is decaying fast and it is sorely needed as a guide for today's families.

 

It was a great night in the canyon!  I was hoping to see some fall color but I think the weather still needed to cool off to turn the leaves.  It should be beautiful by now:)  We will definitely go back in the next couple of weeksw to get the full fall foliage:)

 

Alaska Fishing

 

Here are some pictures of the big fishing trip.  They left on Monday and got to fish for five days straight!!  A fisherman's dream!! :-)

 

From left to right:  Brad, Ben (Darla and Larry's son), Doug Boman (Brach's dad), Skylar, and Brach

with their big catch of the day.

 

Skylar waiting for the big one!

 

 

Doug with two large silver salmon

 

Rick and Bill Lawrence (his friend that is in the stake presidency with him).

They went fishing on the Berg River and caught mostly Silver Salmon with a few Sockeye.

 

Skylar with his 'chicken'...a baby halibut about 15 lbs.

 

Brach's huge 125 lb halibut.  Look at that smile!!

This boy loves to fish:-)

 

My cute sons with their catch!

 

My handsome guy with his 'Silver'.

 

Fishing the Berg River

 

Skylar lost his wedding ring right in this exact spot.

He borrowed a metal detector but still couldn't find it:(

Sarah was expecially sad.....

 

The guys getting ready to leave.  This is the only picture I have of Gary.  He had a great time too.

He doesn't care for fishing on the river so he was on the boat each day. 

Sometimes with another group.

 

They had some trouble getting home.  They were supposed to fly into Juneau from Gustavus (The place where the lodge is) but the weather was bad and the little plane couldn't get out to them.  It is just a fifteen minute flight.  So as it was getting late they decided to take the two hour boat ride to Juneau instead.  Well, it was a treacherous ride for all of them.  Big swells and it was night and very dark.  The two hour ride took them three and a half hours.  They were awfully glad to get to the shore.  Long story short.  They missed their flight and had to be rerouted more than once to get them all home.  They originally were going to be home by 10 AM but didn't get home until 11:30 last night.  I was very relieved and happy to have them home.  So were the other wives.

Another fishing year past and our freezers are full of fish!

Swiss Days 2013

We left St. George on Thursday and got home just a little while before my parents arrived.  They make an annual Fall trip to Grantsville to stay for a few days.  It is tradition for them to go to Swiss Days in Midway with me. Usually Rick comes along but he was still in Alaska so...no Rick.

 

 

Here's  my dad enjoying some pie and ice cream!

 

We all had lunch while we were there.  Half the fun is eating all the fun foods that are offered!

Here's my mom with her 'Swiss Taco'....well really it's a navajo taco but for the occasion it's  called the Swiss Taco:)

 

 

Here's Kendra showing off some of her good finds.  The snowman is hers.  It's really cute and lights up.  The gunny sack pumpkin is something I got for Sarah to put in her new house! 

 

Rafe enjoyed some of grandma's snow cone!

 

One last picture as we are ready to leave.  It was a really HOT day.  My mom bought that hat to keep the sun off of her head.  My mom and Kendra went to the tie booth and bought six ties each.  We also picked up some wrapping paper.  There was a lot of cute stuff but I refrained from buying too much.  Truly I have enough fall and Christmas decor but it sure was fun to look. 

Oh yeah,  I purchased a darling BOM quiet book for Rafe. 

It was expensive but I think it will be a treasure for ALL of my grandkids!

I love Swiss Days!!  It is one of my most favorite days of the year.