Halloween Party 2013

On Friday night we had our 24th Halloween Costume Party!  That is a lot of years to be hosting this party but we always have a good time.  We met together at the first and got our annual picture.  Five out of the eight couples came in costume which made it fun.  Here is a picture of our whole group!  We were missing Hal and Janis this year who couldn't make it because of work:(

 

Rick and I dressed as a Cowboy and an Indian

I wish I could have found some long black braids to go with my costume!

 

Darla and Larry came as a hunter and a moose!

Those glasses are supposed to help Larry 'spot' his moose a little easier:)

 

Here's a closeup of Darla.  I LOVED her costume! 

Check out her eyelashes!

Brent and Lar came as the large and small plates of brass:)

 

 

Darrell  and DeeAnn came as deer hunters. 

Yes, those are REAL guns!!

 

Trent ande Kathy came as a couple of Hawaiian tourists!

Kathy's mumu was hilarious!

We enjoyed an evening of good food...(an array of appetizers and four different soups plus a delicious blackberry dessert from Karen.)  Dinner was fun because we got a lot of good visiting in!    I don't know what happened at the game portion of our night but frankly I thought they were kind of lame.  We played pictionary and reverse charades and I don't think we'll be doing that again anytime soon!  It was interesting to see that the party was over by 10:00.  I mean....my house was empty at 10:00!!  That has never happened before.  I think we are not as young as we were 24 years ago and the late hours are not as friendly to us.  In any case we might have to adjust what we do in the future.  I have been thinking that maybe we will end this tradition after next years 25th party.  Rick and I are thinking to do something special for next year........we'll see!

Rafe turns ONE!!

Yesterday Rafe had his 1st birthday! 

Isn't he so adorable?

 

 

Brach and Kendra hosted a party at their home in Stansbury.  Kendra wanted to have a baseball theme for their little slugger.  She served up some chicken salad and chips.

This is a look at the dessert table. 

 

She had made these twinkie "corn dogs".......

 

....and some chocolate covered oreos "baseballs"

 

Rafe's "birthday cake"

 

The Boman boys

 

Kendra's high school friend, Jacee, brought her little daughter, Jacobi, over for the party.

There's Burke and Leesa in the background!

Leesa came dressed for the occasion.  She is truly a "baseball mom with all of her boys!

 

Brach helping Rafe open his presents.

 

Rafe digging into his cuppie!

 

Having fun on one of his presents!!

 

Giving cousin Noah a ride!

 

We sure love this little guy!  He brings us sooo much joy!

Happy birthday Rafers!!

Happy Birthday Ricky

Rick celebrated his 49th birthday this past week! 

We spent a few days in sunny St. George to celebrate.

 

On his birthday (Thursday) we got to:

 

 have a nice breakfast at the Black Bear Cafe,

swam in the nicely heated pool,

golfed nine holes in some gorgeous weather,

did some hiking at Pioneer Park,

had a fabulous dinner at the Gun Barrel Steakhouse,

 soaked in the Jacuzzi under the night sky (and a beautiful moon),

and cozied up as we watched a fun movie back at the house!

 

 

The birthday boy at the beautiful Red Hills Course.

 

Enjoying his birthday dessert....apple pie ala mode!!

Happy Birthday my sweets!!  Next year is the BIG ONE!!

Taryn's Baby Shower

Mark and Taryn Baker had a baby born for them this past week.  Emry Leigh Baker was born on Thursday and weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  She has a beautiful black head of hair and is doing very well.  Emry will be coming home from the hospital today!

 

Yesterday afternoon was her baby shower.  It was held here in my home and we had a wonderful time!  I have been working for a few weeks to do a few extras for the shower decor.  It has been a lot of work....they always are..... but it is so satisfying to have a new mommy (or bride to be) excited and happy for her special party!  We were so hoping that the Dr. would release Emry from the hospital so that we could all see her but....nope, she needed to be there one more day:(

 

Julie Dee made this awesome cake for the dessert table centerpiece.

She is so very talented!

 

Kendra made the chocolate covered pretzels! 

They looked so festive with the orange ande brown!

 

Here's a look at the dessert table.  Kallie made the cupcakes and they were delish!

How about that cute emry leigh swag!

 

I found these cute acorn donut holes on etsy and they were so easy to make!

 

 

A peek at one of the table settings.  We also used the dining room. 

We had just enough seats for everyone.

Kallie made the pumpkin filled flower centerpiece. 

 

Here's the wishing tree to write a wish for Emry.

Notice that cute pillow with Emry's name.

I made that!!

 

A fun collage.  There's a picture of Emry on the bench!

There's my second pillow.  This one was a little more work because it was all words.

It says, "Sugar and spice and everything nice that's what little girls are made of."

Hannah Allen helped me sew the perimenter of the pillows because my sewing machine is down.

 

The mantle

Again, Kallie with the flowers.

I made the onesie swag with appliqued pumpkins and acorn.

Isn't that close up of Emry sweet.  It was the only displayed picture with her eyes open!

 

The gift table

(oops, I should of ironed that)

 

The buffet....the soups were amazing!

 

 

Pictures of some of the guests.....

 

 Robyn and Sandi

 

Taryn and her mom Devyn

 

Tracy, Kallie, and Ambry

 

Julie, Kendra, Jenni, Allie, and Hannah

 

 

Taryn and her cute new puff quilt from Aunt Deeann

 

......and last but not least my favorite little guy!

RAFE

The party was a success and Taryn recieved a lot of cute girlie clothes, blankets, headbands, baby towels and washcloths, burp cloths etc....  She was very grateful and excited for everything.
After the shower Rick, Kendra, Rafe and I were able to go to the hospital to see little Emry.  She is so darling.  Congrats to the whole Baker family!!  This little baby will bring such joy into their lives!  We all love her so much already!  I'm thankful that Emry's birth mother had the courage to give this little baby a chance of a life with a mother and a father that will love her forever!

Josh Groban Concert

For our Mother's and Father's Day presents this year Skylar and Sarah gave Rick and I and Clyde and Sharon tickets to the Josh Groban Concert.  We have waited since the middle of May for the date of the concert to get here.  Friday night was it.  We doubled with Clyde and Sharon and started with dinner at Tepanyaki, a family favorite. 

Neither of them had been there and I think they enjoyed the experience:) 

 

 

Clyde and Sharon and their two youngest children have been living in our basement for about a month now.  They are having a house built in Carriage Crossing so while it is in construction they will be staying in our home.  It's nice for Skylar and Sarah when they come to visit....they get to visit both families and not have to leave the house:)  We really don't see much of the Rigby's because Clyde generally works out of town on the weekdays (he works for the railroad) and Sharon works for the Tooele County School District as a speech pathologist.  They are both gone by the time I get out of bed.  (That makes me sound lazy doesn't  it)  Their son Ben is working for Turf It Landscaping and will be leaving for the Eugene, Oregon mission in December.  Their daughter Mary is a junior at Grantsville High and is involved with student government and basketball.  They are both outstanding  kids.   Clyde and Sharon's other two boys John and Matt live in SL where they work and go to school.

 

Back to Friday night......

 

The four of us at Tepenyaki's

 

 

Our tickets were in the lower bowl at the very top row.  The stage was a round one so there were people all around the arena.  When we first got there there was a lady named Judith Hill performing.  (I guess she was a finalist on "The Voice".  I don't watch that show)  While she had a great voice I couldn't understand the words she was singing and the speakers were turned up SUPER LOUD!!   I am losing a bit of my hearing and it was hurting MY ears.....I can't imagine what all those young ears were feeling!  Luckily, I had a handy kleenex in my purse so I plugged my ears.  What a relief that was.  At first Rick declined the offer of kleenex then when it got too bad he relented and plugged his ears too.  I was sitting next to Sharon and I was trying to be nonchalant about the whole ear thing because that's kind of embarrasing to have to do.  The health of my hearing won out and I pretty much used them the whole time.  I must be getting old!!

 

When Josh came out the crowd went wild and he started singing right off.  WOW!!   He was OUTSTANDING!!  He sang songs from his new album as well as his classics.  My favorites were the classics.  "To Where You Are", "You Raise Me Up", "Vincent", and "The Prayer" are just a few of them.  He also sang many in different languages as he is wont to do.  I loved the concert! 

His rich and full voice is just as great live as on his CD's.

 

This is the best picture I got.  We were up on the 29th row:)

 

 

Jazz Season Tickets

Earlier this year Superior Asphalt did some work for Miller Motorsports Park.  Brach sold the job and it was a big one!  The Miller guys wanted to make payment a little easier for themselves so they asked if they could do a little bit (or rather a lot of bit) of payment on trade.  Part of their payment were season tickets to the Jazz games.  We  got our tickets last week in the mail and split them three ways with Brad and Darrell.  On Tuesday evening Rick and I went to the first preseason game. 

they played the Golden State Warriors.  The seats are good ones on the 16th row looking at the Jazz bench.  This is the view from our seats.

 

 

 

What's really fun about these tickets is that with each game we also get to have a buffet dinner in the Legends Club before each game.  We started off our meal with the cold foods.....

 

 

Second course was the hot stuff......

 

 

and then a light dessert.  Fruit and a cakepop!

 

 

After dinner we enjoyed the first half of the game.  One fun thing that happened is that as we were watching the jumbotron (you know how they capture candid moments of the audeience) we saw Mindy Beckett's face pop onto the screen.  I yelled, "Hey, there's Mindy"! 

I ask you, "How often do you get to see someone you know big as life on the jumbotron??"

Cool Stuff!!

 

 

At halftime we headed back to the Club for yet more food!!  There was a great variety of desserts to choose from.  (This  is not the time nor place for Weight Watchers) .  These were Rick's delights!  I settled for a couple of cookies.  Then we both took a small bag of popcorn back to our seats.  I tell you,  "This is the way to see a Jazz game.  It was so much fun feeling like a VIP!!

 

 

Rick with his goodies back in our seats!

 

 

Here's the final score!  The Jazz came out on top!

 

Thanks Superior!!  It should be a fun season!

 

Favorite General Conference Quotes

General Conference was absolutely amazing.  During one session alone I used up SIX  kleenexes!! 
I felt many of the speakers were speaking directly to me. 
I LOVE THE PROPHET AND APOSTLES!! 
 I am so blessed to be a member of my Savior's Church.
 I LOVE HIM!