Valentine Fun

A fun Valentine's weekend...full of the things I love! Time with family, grandkids and...lovely roses from Doug!

Jon and Tiff came up from Airdrie to celebrate their 9th anniversary. We babysat the kids for them overnight on Friday.

 

We also had a fun visit with Cam and D and the girls, Brookie, Mckinley, and Brynlee on Skype! They are so cute...they showed us their new Valentine pajamas.

 

 

 

We took Ava and Josh to Chuckie Cheese's on Friday night. They had fun in the junior play area, everything was just the right size for them.

 

 

 

 

The food was really good, we were surprised! The kids loved the pizza, especially Josh... He was really eating his share!

 

 

 

After dinner we went around with them and I think dad and Lindsay had as much fun as the kids.

 

 

 

I love this picture of Josh...he is so much like his dad and just love to drive cars...watch out Jon!

 

 

 

 

Ava loved the tube slide we could hardly get her out of there!

I think this place would be a great place to have a family reunion with all the kids!

Funny how food is such a part of a fun weekend.On Saturday morning, just after we had finished our waffles, Jon and Tiff came back...the kids were so happy to see them! Later in the day, we brought Grandma over to enjoy dinner with us. We had our favorite...Cafe Rio Salad.

 

 

 

It was a fun time, Lindsay and James played with the kids and ended up in a dog pile just before Jon and Tiff had to leave with the kids on Saturday night.

 

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Weekend Fun

Well, our weekdays have gotten pretty busy again with work and returning to our regular Temple shift. We worked in the Temple this week on Wednesday, it had been closed for two weeks for cleaning and repairs. It was so good to be back, there is such a peaceful feeling there.

Our recent weekends have been really fun. Mark came up from Calgary on on Friday Feb 1, and he brought a few friends with him. They went to West Edmonton Mall on Saturday and spent most of the day at the water park. They came over after and had dinner with us and that's when the fun really started! Mark's friend, Kali, had worked at a youth camp last summer and learned how to do some team building 'stunts'. She demonstrated several of them for us...that's her upside down!

We had fun watching her, she is very athletic and we just laughed at what she was doing. We eventually moved the couch to allow for more room. She got Mark involved as her 'side kick', and he was really using some muscle to help her demonstrate the stunts.

 

 

Before long Lindsay and James were doing the 'Titanic' in perfect form! They are both very strong and well co-ordinated, and were able to do several of the stunts very well!

 

Even Mark's friends, Dave and Christie, we're finally convinced to give it a try. They were hilarious to watch...Dave is so tall and had to really adapt himself to get into the proper position, but they did great!

 

 

 

It was such an interesting experience watching everyone trying so hard to get in the proper position to have things work. Even Doug surprised me by asking me to try and do the 'Titanic' with him, we didn't do too badly! By the end of the evening, Kali had us all up with a big final 'stunt'! It was such a fun evening!! (And really good exercise...we need to do that more often.)

Sunday evening, we had our friend, Myrna, and her family over and made pizzas together. Mark wanted to try out the new juicer that we got for Christmas, so we ended up making several kinds of juices. Carrot juice with apples mixed in was a big hit...kinda. We had watermelon left over from dinner, so Doug and Mark decided it was best to juice it up also. I hate watermelon, but what I heard it tasted very good!

This last weekend we went out to the cabin to check on everything. We hadn't been out there for several months. It was a pretty warm day so Doug spent several hours trying to get the snow mobile up and running, he had some success, but it didn't stay running for long. Luckily, Lindsay and James came out to join us for dinner, and James helped Doug work on it...but no luck getting it to run! However, we did enjoy a wonderful dinner of lettuce wraps and green onion cakes!

As we left the cabin that evening the sky was crystal clear, and we were astounded at the view of the sky. It was if we could reach out and just touch the stars, they were so beautiful, bright and clear!

We are so grateful for weekends, we get to kick back with family and friends and laugh and enjoy eachother's company. Another fun weekend coming up, we get to babysit Ava and Josh this weekend...and that will be a fun blog for next week!

 

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Cabo Memories

A few months ago we decided we wanted to get away from the cold and spend a little time somewhere warmer than Edmonton. We remembered how lovely Cabo San Lucas, Mexico was last year when we went with Mark, so we decided to go there for out week vacation.

 

We invited Doug's sister, Rhonda, and her husband Jim to go with us. It as an exciting time planning to go and Jim was particularly happy to be there away from work for a week.

 

 

We had a very relaxing time, doing a lot of reading, but each day we would get out for a good walk around the area.

 

 

 

We went swimming and snorkelling one day near Pelican Rock Beach. It was a beautiful ride out to the beach in a 'glass bottom boat'. Rhonda stayed on the beach and read and tended our stuff, while Jim, Doug and I went snorkelling. We saw so many beautiful fish here, tangs, parrot fish, trumphet fish,and others...so fun!

We cooked most of our meals in our condo kitchen, we can get good food and groceries from the local supermarkets that carry very American type foods...and Costco is nearby! We did have fun trying out a few local Mexican restaurants.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed our week in Cabo, and especially spending time with Rhonda and Jim. Just being in a green, warm environment really gave us a good boost.....we hope to get back there again!

 

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Dinosaurs and a Birthday Dinner

We've had a fun week celebrating Doug's birthday, he was born on his mother's 25th birthday...so each year on January 27th we celebrate Doug and Helen's birthdays together! This year she made him 2 dozen homemade cinnamon buns...he was in Heaven!! Our sweet dog, Rachel, turned five, so Doug shared a bun with her!

We took Helen out to dinner on Saturday night to Montanas Restaurant, and had a great time. Lindsay and James and Rhonda and Jim joined us and we all laughed so hard when the 'horns' went on Grandma and the whole restaurant sang to her... she was a very good sport!!

Earlier in the week Jon called and asked if we would like to join them on Friday in Drumheller, they were going to the Tyrell Museum with the kids. They wanted to meet up and celebrate Dad's birthday. So, we got up early on Friday and drove 3 hours to Drumheller and pulled in just as Jon and Tiffy arrived! It was so fun to see them all again! The museum was awesome!! It was so funny to watch Josh and Ava, especially when the dinosaur 'roared'...they weren't sure what to think!

Before long Ava was just a trooper...checking everything out and looking at each of the dinosaurs very carefully, especially the size of their teeth!! There were so many different kinds of dinosaur fossils, were all very impressed!

 

Joshie is walking on his own, and really tries to run everywhere! It is so fun to watch him just take off and go...it sure makes it easier for Tiff. He just wandered all through the museum and once in awhile would stop and play with some display he found at his level. He is sure starting to look like a little boy and not a baby anymore!!

We are standing in front of a dinosaur named 'Black Beauty'. It was discovered several years ago by two men out fishing on the nearby Red Deer river. They found what they thought was a small fossil, and as it turned out, this massive dinosaur was eventually unearthed!! So amazing that these great massive dinosaurs roamed right under our feet!! Of course that was 10 million years ago...

 

 

 

Looks like this dinosaur is coming over to take a bite out of Tiff and Josh...no way...he's mine... says Tiffy!!! Wow, we could almost imagine being surrounded by snorting, hungry dinosaurs!! We really enjoyed learning about their history here in Alberta and throughout the world.

The Tyrell Museum has the largest display of fossils in the world... It was so interesting, even the kids loved it! We had alot of fun together...and now we are all dinosaur experts!

It has been a great week, and I am so happy to be married to a man that doesn't seem older, but is always very kind and wise! He continues to be a wonderful example and friend to his children and grandchildren!!

 

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Christmas Fun with Family

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, we spent the weekend before Christmas with Jon and Tiff and Ava and Josh at their home in Calgary. We went down on Friday night and took Grandma with us. Doug and I and Grandma were able to enjoy a Temple Session in the Calgary Temple on Friday.

Then on Saturday Doug, Mark and Jon went skiing and Grandma and I babysat Ava and Josh while Tiffany took some time off to 'catch up' on a few needed things! While we waited for everyone's return we made Christmas pizza pies!! After dinner we exchanged gifts and had so much fun watching Ava and Josh play with their toys!! We really enjoyed ourselves! We came back on Sat. night to teach our classes at church on Sunday.

As Christmas grew closer, Mark came home, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time together with him and with Linds and James. They slept over on Cristmas eve, and we read the Christmas story together, and ate lots of munches! We had a really fun Christmas morning. I gave Doug a new pellet gun, and he was very excited about it!! We had a lovely Christmas day, enjoying good food and fun! Doug got me a new watch!! It's funny how excited we still get for Christmas morning...

 

Lindsay and I managed to get James, Mark and Dad some 'speeders' gift cards, which they loved and used over the Christmas holiday! It was so funny watching them race the cars around the track!! It was truly the perfect gift for them!

 

 

 

On Christmas Day, Doug and I flew down to Phoenix and spent a week with Cam, D and their three little girls...we didn't stay in Phoenix, however, and we drove up to Flagstaff Christmas night! Cam had planned several activities for all of us during our three day stay in Flagstaff. Thursday we got up and did some Christmas shopping for the kids. That evening, we rode on the Polar Express train, and saw Santa and we even received a shining silver bell!! The weather was really bad and we got caught in a bad snow storm on the way home, but we said a few prayers and made it home OK! The next day we enjoyed playing together in the hotel room and eating food that Cam had graciously brought in for us from a nearby store, it was fun to be 'holed up' in a hotel room with the kids! We were never up early enough to catch the free breakfast becuse it was finished by 9 AM!!

That evening we were actually transported to Santa's workshop in the North Pole...it was really exciting to be with all of the elves!! We got to visit with Santa and he was so kind!!! It was a wonderful evening, especially because it was our 34th wedding Anniversary!

 

The next morning we were so lucky to see Santa again and to have breakfast with him!! He really likes pancakes and syrup! We loved the buffet breakfast and ate until we were all very full! We then headed back home to Phoenix.

 

 

We spent several more days in Phoenix playing and relaxing...we watched movies, played with the new toys and even made a 'Rice Crispy' train...it was delicious!! Before we knew it, it was time for us to fly back to Edmonton...it was hard to go, but we kissed everyone goodbye and off we went back home!

What lovely memories we have of our Christmas 2012! It's all about families and the love we feel and share together! The greatest gift we received at Christmas was to see our children and their families growing in the gospel, in their desires to be and to do good! Our lives are very blessed!!

 

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Another Trip To Utah...To Bury My Mother!

Well, it has been a very eventful week. Last Friday as we were preparing our American Thanksgiving dinner, we got a call telling us that my mom was in the hospital. She had developed phemonia and was in serious condition. The doctor started her on antibiotics to help her, but it wasn't enough...soon enough...and by Saturday morning at 6:00 AM she had passed away. I am so grateful that I went down just a few weeks ago to see her with Kevin and Karla.

Little did I know that we would be back and burying her just three short weeks later!!

Doug and I quickly shuffled our work schedule for the next few days, talked with family and arranged a funeral date. We then booked our flights and headed to Utah!

We arrived in Salt Lake on Saturday evening and met up with Karla and her family. So good to see them again, and they always make us laugh, so it was good to be there!

Sunday morning early, Doug and I went up to Salt Lake City to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and to hear the 'Spoken Word'. What a wonderful experience, and to feel such a sweet spirit there. It was very good for me to be strengthened by the power of their music. When they sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again", I cried and cried, but it felt so good. I really am happy for my mom and I know that she is in a happier place now!

Sunday afternoon after church, Karla and I went over and cleaned out mom's belongings from her room at Orem Nursing and Rehab. Everybody was so kind there, saying how much they loved Gloria. We donated the majority of her things back to the nursing home. Karla had done such a good job of keeping current pictures of her family on her bulletin board...it was sad to now have to take them all down!

Karla, Bryan, Doug and I met with Berg Mortuary on Monday morning and they were tremendous!! They helped us plan this funeral every step of the way. Karla and I chose her casket which was a beautiful light burgundy color, with a lovely satin pattern inside. We thought she would like it!! Karla and I then had the privilege of dressing mom in her Temple Robes. Karla did her hair and I painted her nails...it was such a sweet experience to serve her in that way. She looked so beautiful!!

The viewing and funeral took place on Tuesday, November 27. It was so wonderful to see and meet with family that I hadn't seen for several years! My mom's sister, Aunt Betty and her husband, Clyde came with their son, David and his family. My father, Larry, has 3 living siblings, and they came...Gene, Paul and Marie with their spouses. Arlene and Ron came as well, and Brad's wife Michele and their daughter, Wendy and little Burton! Plus several cousins that knew my mom from years ago. It felt like heaven, with this grand reunion! So wonderful! I'm sure mom is having her own reunion as well.

 

The funeral services were short, but sweet. Kevin and Karla spoke and shared sweet memories, and then we sang John Denver's,"Country Roads". Kevin played his guitar and Karla and I joined him on the chorus... So fun!! Then I spoke sharing some thoughts and memories, and Doug followed up with a short spiritual message. I felt a special spirit there during the service, and I really think we gave a great tribute to our mother!

We then followed the hearse out to the Provo Cemetery, where she has a beautiful burial spot in the 'Angel Garden'. It was a lovely day, with the sun shining and the mountains creating a beautiful backdrop! We gathered together and bowed our heads as Kevin dedicated her grave. It was so good to see him in that "patriarchal role" blessing our Mother's grave. What a great experience!!

While we were in Utah we were able to go to Salt Lake and see the Christmas lights on Temple Square with Arlene and Ron. The lights go on forever and are gorgeous! The Tempe was beautiful shining so brightly through all the Christmas lights!

I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life, what would I do without knowing that I will see my mom again? It is so appropriate that she is buried in the 'Angel Garden'. I so look forward to that day when I will be reunited with that 'Angel Mother' of mine!! She had a difficult life, but through it all she gave to her posterity her example of great faith and perserverance!!

 

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