Strange things

Why is it that projects begat more projects?? I declared earlier this fall, that never again would I do fix up projects in the month of December. Then Ted heard the sound of rushing water when all the water was off.....which started the first project. A leak was found in an underground pipe (garage floor) and we had to do much in the way of plumbing services. Then, as that is almost finished, I came into the garage after YW one night and saw a big pool of water around the Hot Water heater. Now we had already been doing without the water being on for a few days, so this was not happy news. Yes, the Hot water heater blew and we had to boil water for hair washing (that actually felt really nice in my new sink) while we waited for the new hot water heater to be put in. We had recently purchased a new toilet for our downstairs bathroom. We were waiting on the plumber for that one too, but Ted decided to get a head start and started chipping away at the tile and grout that was in. The previous owners had done some crazy things in all these area's and it was killing us (ok, I use "US" liberally). So five hours later, it is finally ready for the new throne....which literally has an engine in it....and we realize we have to grout the thing back in again, I mean, who wants a wobbely toilet? So anyway, then we decide to push the envelope a little and try to quick paint before Grandma and Aunt Janice get here. When we take out all the furniture, it's very obvious that the carpet has been there about 20 years too long. So I call Empire Today and they came out on Friday and we had new carpet in on Saturday. It was the coolest thing ever! But, now I have piles everywhere, with no place to put them and no time to sort through it all. The countdown is on and thank goodness my closer is coming over tomorrow (Tiffini) to help me through this crisis and have the place ready for Grandma!

Our grown up daughter

Just wanted everyone to know that Tiana is alive and well. I have tried not to share her news on my blog, so as not to steal her thunder, but she just isn't going to be blogging anytime in the distant future, so here goes. Tiana got a job at Toys R Us and began working the day after Thanksgiving. It took 2 and a half hours of cleanup that night to get the store back in working order after Black Friday. She has loved the experience and was on the register the 1st day. She has 26 hours this week plus had to take the SAT's todady and ACT's next Sat. We are proud of all she is doing and thankful for her job to help her earn $$$ for her trip to Europe. Go Toys!

Shopping Black Friday

Dana's post about the shopping, reminded me that I needed to share our Thanksgiving after experiences. Tiana and I decided to try out this new thing that everyone is always talking about. We looked at all the ads, cut coupons, made lists and set our alarms. We decided against the 4:30am routine, opting for the little better 5:45am, second wave. We set out to Wal-mart first and Tiana (very smart girl) suggested that we zip on in the back garden center for easier access. We did and I hung onto the cart for dear life (that whole foot thing, you know). I had 5 things on my list and I hollered to her where to go and she did the grabbing and we were back in our car 20 minutes later, exhausted! That was so easy, we decided to make a quick stop at Micky Dees for some nourishment (if you can call a sausage McMuffin/no egg and a coke nourishment) and headed out for the the next store. Tiana stayed in the car (I do have some Christmas secrets) while I made another quick dash and run at Michael's. By now it is 6:45 and we were quite proud of ourselves. We headed off to Joannes, and should have known by the completely packed parking area we were walking into trouble. It took us well over an hour in that store and most of that was standing in line. We met lot's of nice people along the way though...and a few grumps too! Off to Ulta and there was no parking lot to be found (darn). One last stop at K-mart and by now my foot is burning. We run in and of course they have not one thing that I wanted from their add. We were home and ready for naps at 9:00am feeling as though we had been through the war. Can't decide if the $80.00 I saved on my printer and the $100.00 I saved on a back-yard play toy, was really worth it. I have to say it was an adreneline rush. But pretty much had to elevate the foot the rest of the day:(
Hope you all are doing well, and yes, I am feeling like the wimp too because of our sudden "cold" weather. It only got up to 68 degree's today. But it was 80 two days ago...go figure!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We miss you all and wish we could be together with all our family and friends. Hope everyone has a great day, full of love and blessings. Lot's of food and fun too!

A fun day

What a fun day today....We had David and Devin in from out of town for the big BYU scramble golf tourny. I don't know which boy had more fun or was more tired. Tiana had early release today and heard that I was going on a field trip to the outlets with my good friend Paula and begged to join in. We shopped, had lunch and hustled back so we could be there when the golfers came home and Summer and Madi came over and Derrick, Tiff and Casey came over. Amazingly, they all showed up at the same time from 3 different places. We couldn't have planned it better. We had a good visit while some slept (under my family room table I might add...guess who?), then it was off for some more golf while the sun went down. The foursome picked up an extra (Derrick) and they got in a quick 9 holes, with Trev and Derrick getting a new education on "Uncle Daves Rules of Golf"!! By the time it was "pitch black" the D's were off to Cali and the T's ordered some pizza (since the cook is still out of commision). While the boys were gone we watched Mona Lisa Smiles and I got some good Madi snuggles and Casey snuggles. It was just a great day!

Hooray! Tournaments are over!

The best thing right now is that we are done, done, done with all 4 baseball tounaments. Each one was very different from the other, but each successful. This last one was the National Chamionship for the 14 year old USA Baseball organization. They are the group that chooses the Jr. Olympics and Olympic teams. This was the first year they did the 14 year olds and they will pick a team and play in some international competitions. We had USA baseball magazine reporters out and the semi final and chamiopship games were played in the big stadium, with announcers etc. At the end, the coaches announced each of the players names over the loudspeaker, as they received their awards. Very cool for anybody, but especially for 14 year olds.
I am going on week 2 after surgery and am excited to get my stitches out on thursday. There are 8 or 9 and are starting to really hurt (hopefully a sign of healing). I still can't put any weight on that foot, but it will come soon, I am sure. I have a new respect for those who use walkers, crutches, or wheelchairs. It is not a fun way to get around. I am also very excited to get to take a real shower. Tiffi has been my angel, washing and dyeing my hair in the kitchen sink. She and Tiana and Ted have done the lion's share of the cleaning (I had a baby shower here on Sat, so I could be in attendance) and wash and cooking. They have all been awesome. Trev and Summer are always ready and willing to help and entertain when they are here too.
Well, I am a little tired of whats on TV, but I fall asleep when I try to read....oh well!

No news from the T's

It's that lovely time of year when we are taking tickets and selling hats and T-shirts. Hearing the crack of the (wood) bat and seeing many, many world series rings. You are right, we are in the middle of the Tournament season and just finished with the Senior Fall Classic. We dodged a few bullets (ok raindrops) and everything went relatively smooth. We were able to see many old friends and make lots of new friends. We missed some of our star workers this year namely, Grace and Michelle (didn't know how we could do it with out you....) Danny, and Doug Taggart. We are loving having all the kids and spouses working hard, right along with us. We added my nephew Craig Church, who came down from BYU and the guys all had a blast with him. It was an added bonus that he worked at Nordstroms....he knew how to fold shirts! I only worked out there 1 and 1/2 days, and then I stayed home with Casey. Tiff was me the rest of the week-end. I am having my foot operated on Oct. 27th and didn't think the added aggrivation would be good for it. I had a blast hanging with Casey bear. We read books, played in the grass, rocks, rain (ok, I admit it, Casey laid down in a puddle and slurpt up a drink of water). I wasn't too quick on my reflexes, because he did it so QUICK! We watched a little Whinnie the Pooh and Charlotte's Web and had naps!
Anyway, not many of us will be blogging for the next few weeks. Ted has Organizational meetings this week and we start Junior Fall on friday. Hope you all have a great week!

Some more pics

Hello everyone. We had a great day today. It was Summers baby shower! Tiff, Tiana and I and one of our close friends Paula went and had a great time. Summer got some beautiful things and Ash, we got her some cute boppy covers. She got a nice variety of things. It just got me more excited for that new baby to get here. Tonight is Tiana's homecoming dance. She is in getting ready, and I am excited for her. I always loved all that stuff in High School...it's so fun to dress up and try to act like grown-ups for a night. T has had a long week, helped with the assembly and helped with a lot of the decorations for the dance and all the rest of the festivities. To top things off, Cactus won and beat an undefeated team 42-21. T also does the concessions at the games. It will be good for her to relax next week until tourny's and Dinner Theatre for choir happen next week-end.
Well, i am off to prepare what I hope to be the last lesson I teach the young women for a long while. I finally have 2 new advisors, so now I can do some of the other things for YW (namely, Wed night activities)
Have a great day

Love Seaworld

I think Seaworld is the greatest! We had such a good time there. Ted was happy all day, Tiana and her friend Lindsay were happy all day, and so was I. We giggled and laughed at all the animals and I think Tiana and Lindsay giggled and laughed when we got soaked in the show and they didn't. We had fun food and won cute prizes (Shamoo and Nemo) and bought fun things. Then we went down to LaJolla and walked on the rocks on the beach and watched the sun set. Off to the SD Temple we went and got talked to as if we might be investigators. (I quickly told them we were members from AZ and then we played the 20 questions of "do you know so and so?") The Temple was so beautiful at night, we just wanted to stare.
We had some fun at the Millers but were sad that Dev and Missy and Avery weren't there. Luckily we got to see everyone the next day. We spent some good time with Dave and Delynn. They were great hosts and we all had some good fun. Snuck a little Conference in there (saw more when we got home and wow was Elder Holland's talk great!) I'll put a few pictures on the next few days so you can witness our adventure.

I am hooked

Ok, I just have to say that I LOVE FANTASY FOOTBALL! I am having a blast. It's a lot harder to be a mangaer of a team that I thought it would be. Tyler and Ashley sent me a book for my B-day that came today called "Why Fantasy Football Matters (and our lives do not) Cracked me up! It really is a funny book with all sort of crazy little anecdotes throughout. I do not believe I am quite this obsessed, but I could be. I am just starting to get a feel for the players. I haven't watched the NFL since we moved from Seattle 12 years ago, other than the occasional Super Bowl. Not many players still out there from back then. I am also glad the boys let me play. I know typically it's a Male gender thing, but it is quite addicting.
I mailed out the invitations for Summer's baby shower today....so excited! We'll have pink before we know it. Hope you all had great monday's!

Casey at the Temple

Isn't he the cutest boy ever? I loved seeing him at the Temple. This is when Tiffini went to take some pictures for me for my Birthday. I wanted to have a framed black and white picture of the Temple and didn't care for the ones they had at Deseret Book. She did a great job and we picked out the cutest frame. Now I just have to finish my walls. No more excuses!
This was a great week. Busy as can be, but just great. I had some fun time with Tiffini scrapbooking and shopping and a slumber party too! Then Trev and Summer took Ted and I out to dinner on Saturday night and then we played a few games. I had a few moments here and there with Tiana, in between her selling concessions at the football games (it must be in our blood.....) as Treasurer she has to stay after and count all the tills as well. It's also the start of hyping everyone up for Homecoming ie....decorating the halls, dressing up, assembly's, getting just the right dress, etc. And of course choir must do something "Grand" right at the same time. They are getting ready for their big dinner theatre performance....which is also smack dab in the middle of our October tournaments. Am I making you tired yet? She makes me tired! I kind of went on a tangent....back to my birthday....Tyler and I played phone tag all day and finally got to talk at night. I miss you guys....family, it's the best! Thanks everyone for a great day and great week.

Beautiful Girl

Tiana was asked to be in a fashion show modeling modest Prom dresses. This took place last Thursday night at a Bridal Shop over in Mesa. It was really fun to see her all dolled up. A friend of hers did her hair in ringlets and they had a blast.

Atlanta Pictures

CNN Plaza









Olympic Park









Olympic Park












Olympic Park









Olympic Park

Lovely Atlanta

Ted and I had a wonderful day today exploring downtown Atlanta. First we went to Centennial Olympic Park. It was the sight of the 1996 summer olympics. It is a beautiful park with many fountains, waterfalls, statues and trees. I will post pictures later when Ted get's back with the camera. The next place we wanted to go to was the Coke headquarters, which we heard was fun. It was under construction. Instead we went across the street to the CNN plaza and went on the tour. That was fun and very interesting. The part I liked the best was watching all the different screens while listening to the director yell at everyone and when a specialist was being interviewed at Wall Street, he kept saying, that's not on the script...why do we have a script if she isn't following it? She just keeps ad-libbing and she isn't saying anything interesting. Get her off the air...this is terrible. Then after we came back to our hotel room, we turned on the news and there she was on the screen. Ted loved the "green" screen that the weathermen use and everything behind that technology. We are starying in the beautiful Marriott Marquis. It is unbelievable as far as the structure itself. It has 47 floors that all look out over the worlds largest open air atrium. It's amazing, really. I'll post pics of that too!
Anyway, we are having a blast and enjoying this time with each other.

A really fun Young Women's

Last night we had a very fun YW night. It was a re-challenge of sorts....let me explain. Last year around January the Relief Society challenged the YW and their leaders to a scripture mastery competition. It was to memorize the scriptures that the seminary kids have to. I will just say that the YW beat the sock's off the Relief Society and so they had to cook us dinner. (A little bragging moment here, Tiana and a RS sister were the only two who memorized all the scriptures) I guess beating them once wasn't good enough, they are back for more. So, we organized a "kick-off". We had a couple of teachers speak, who gave lot's of fun idea's of how to memorize and why it might be important to know these particular scriptures etc. One of the gals taught seminary for many years and was hilarious. We laughed all night. We had these great competitions and everyone came away very fired up for this years challenge. It couldn't have turned out better. I am extra excited that it is D & C this year. Wouldn't you know it, that is the one year I paid close attention in Seminary and was on the scripture chase team. As luck would have it though, they have changed about half of the scriptures....but guess what that means? I already know half!......This year will be CAKE!

Our Fantastic Labor Day

We had a great Labor Day family get-together, with a surprise appearance from Trev and Summer. We thought they were going to be gone on an early anniversary week-end getaway. They had the vacation and just stopped by for a little gaming. What they didn't know was that our "gaming of one game" was going to take 3 and 1/2 hours! Tiff and Derrick and Casey were there too and Tiana most of the day. We ended up playing Phase 10, which we hadn't played for years!! I guess we forgot how long it takes to play the game, and I doubt if it will surface again anytime soon. Summer led the game for about 3 hours of the time and then Derrick and Tiana swooped in for 1st and 2nd. Poor Ted was close until the last 10 hands where he was stuck on Phase 7 "set of 4, run of 4". I won't even mention how many rounds it took for Trev just to get off of level 1. Needless to say we had our cranky moments, our screaming and shouting "that's not fair"....but we prevailed and finished the darn game. Trev and Summer left and we swam with Casey....a promise is a promise.....and then Derrick did the Barb b Q of yummy BBQ chicken strips and hot Dogs. Madagascar rounded out the night for Casey bear and all of us big bears. Another great holiday in the books!!

Good friends

Today Ted and I got to go see the daughter of our good friends from Washington. Mary is on the volleyball team at Western Washington State College. The team was in town to play in a tournament at Grand Canyon University that is on our side of town. It was fun to be around the college atmosphere again. We had such a fun time and had a great visit with her after. Mary's Mom, Turie was one of my closest friends and lived 3 houses down from us. We raised our kids together, side by side for 11 years. I will never forget the time Tiff came home (Mary and Tiff are the same age)crying from the Martineau's saying she hated Turie. She was the meanest Mom ever! I guess Tiff and Mary got into their usual trouble and got sent to Mary's room for some time out. I guess sending them up there together was a problem, because when Turie went to check on them they were playing out on the roof of a 2 story house! They both got spankings and Tiff got sent home. That's the kind of good friend Turie is....she was the other "meanest Mom ever" and I love her.

Things I get to look forward to

1. Ted is taking me to Atlanta,GA on Sept. 10th (he is watching a team from Taiwan)

2. Watching Casey every tues and friday

3. A new grandbaby in Nov.

4. A new advisor being put in so I don't have to (oh yeah, get to) teach any more

5. Ty and Ash just called with their Christmas plans.....yeah, Dec. 17th

6. Football starting (I haven't looked forward to that in a long time, but fantasy football is calling my name)

7. COOLER WEATHER

M's won again? What's going on?

I had another week-end of lonely because my honey was out of town and Tiana was busy as usual. So I decided I wasn't going to feel sorry for myself, I would do something fun on a Saturday night. Many wonderful things went through my head but here is the rundown of my actual activities.
1. K-mart for a baby present and just wandering
2. Parking lot conversation on phone with my Mom for her birthday
3. Wendy's for dinner to keep that sink shining
4. Blockbuster for some movies
5. Checked on M's and they were winning....again, had to watch
6. Got over at 10:00pm, too tired to watch movies
7. Worked on lesson for YW
8. Checked E-mails
9. Tiana got home so I could go to bed!!!!

Glad Ted is home ...again!

I love pink!

I went to a baby shower today for the Mom of a girl in my YW class at church. It's #5 for her and it made me hurt just to watch her. She is a few days overdue and is darling, just looked tired and ready to be done. Okay, but she is having a girl, and she received the cutest baby stuff ever! I am a maniac when it comes to pink anyway because Summer is due in November, but this stuff was beyond cute! I am in big trouble having one of each (boy and girl) to buy for. There goes the savings dear....

SINK

OK...here are the promised pictures. It took all night to find these on my computer, but as Delynn says, this is just helping my computer skills. Though the faucet looks gold, it is not...just some lovely afternoon sun.

The Sink

Hooray

Yipee....I have a working sink, faucet and garbage disposal!!! I am so excited. It is so nice and shiny though I simply can't cook and then have to clean the pans in my new sink. It might ruin the new sparkle and shine. (code for: Ted is gone, Tiana is out on another fabulous date, and I am going somewhere other than home for dinner!)

Cute pregnant Summer and Trevor

Trev and Summer

Cute Taylor and still no faucet...

This is a picture of my parents and Ted and I and our Nephew Taylor just after he came out of the Timpenogas Temple. He is currently at the CTM (MTC in the states)in Sao Paulo and will leave in a few months to head to his mission in Rio De Janero.
Okay....still waiting for new faucet! Still no use of the kitchen sink. Much worse news than that....Ted is leaving again for Reno this time to watch of course a Japanese player who is playing in an independant league up there. I will be taking him to the airport very early (5:45am) and then he doesn't get home until monday night! At least there won't be jet-lag involved.

If the plumber struggled...

I am glad we hired a plumber today, that's all I can say. Our previous owners used liquid nails to put in the kitchen sink and lot's of creative pipes and valves just to make our lives miserable. Luckily, our plumber persevered and
after 2 and a 1/2 hours of carefully prying and using a blow torch to melt the glue...we got the sink out with out cracking or breaking the counter top. All was going good and then we opened the box of the new sink, ahhhhh. It was cracked and chipped. Back to Home Depot for the 2nd time. Of course they didn't have that same one so we found a different one at Home Depot #3. The Plumber (his name is Brian, by now we are definately on a first name basis) and Ted eagerly drop in the new sink and ....you guessed it, it doesn't fit. The plumber said to Ted "How good are you with a saw?" Ted said "fine if I had a saw" The plumber said "I have a saw out in my truck, but I am a plumber not a carpenter" Soooo Ted had to make 2 different cuts in the counter to get the new sink to fit in. We had measured just right, sinks are pretty standard, it's just our previous home owners had kinda jerry-rigged the other one in. Now things are going along pretty smooth, disposal is all in , new pipes and valves are in and then we take out the new faucet. Our first clue that there might be trouble on the horizan was when the plumber said "oh, I have never heard of that brand before and realized we picked the most beautiful one made in CHINA! Defective...so after another couple of hours of getting it all in and not getting water out of the faucet it's back to Home Depot #4. A very much longer story short.....it has to get finished tomorrow. Oh, so I am just practicing with random pictures everyday so I don't forget how to do this! Casey in a tree back in February at the family time with Grandma Bonnie at the Mesa, Temple.

things don't only break while Ted's gone!

Okay, we learned that things in the house can break while Ted's in town!!!! This is really a new discovery. He had only been home a day, when I mentioned we had been having trouble with the disposal in the kitchen. He got under the sink to flip the switch and that didn't help. He kept nosing around down there and the whole disposal cracked and fell....and a pipe is broken. Not really the way I wanted this to happen, but I am getting a new disposal, sink and faucet!!! (the faucet was already broken) After living in a house for 25 years....everything breaks!

This is Tiana at the Book of Mormon pageant before a performance. She worked long and hard and learned a lot and hopefully loved it...she said she did.

My beautiful daughter

I am working hard on getting the pictures going, so I will start with a beautiful picture of Tiana. This is from the spring at one of the two Prom's she went to.

Casey....Papa's home!

I am so glad Ted is back. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I love having my best friend back to talk to. Sunday is always so busy and yet so peaceful and uplifting. We had the best fireside tonight for just the Young Women. We talked about "Tools for Success" in life. We used analogy's for several different tools and we had some great discussions. It was a good spirit there and I think the girls really enjoyed it too. Ted is really going to teach me the picture thing and maybe my blog will be a bit more interesting. Tiana is loving diving, though she is really sore and tired at night when she comes home from practice. She sleeps well.

Living my life vicariously......

Yes, I am living my life vicariously through Tiana!!! She has gotten to do so may fun things in her life these past few years (3 EFY's, Nanny for 10 days in Hawaii, Australia, Mexico on the beach, to name a few). Last night, I got to stay home all alone, while she went to "The Wigwam Resort" for her good friends 16th birthday. It is a beautiful and wildly expensive resort in Litchfield Park. The group is her friends family, the girl who's b-day it is and Tiana and one other girl. They had to bring a fancy dress for a "fancy" dinner last night. It wasn't going to be until 8:00pm and they would get there and be hungry @4:00, so they were ordering some room service. The best part is this....they(the 3 girls)....are getting massages, pedicures, and manicures this morning and then they are hanging out at the pool for several hours. How would it be? So fun, I really am excited for her. She is having a blast.

Heidco

Tiana brought 4 friends home for lunch today and one of the girls had never been to the house. She kept saying, "I feel like I am in freakin Costco there is so much food here". They went on and on discussing this and decided they should call our house Heidco instead of Costco. Amazing how far we have come on that name....full circle?

Memory's

Last night Ty and Ash and I stayed up until 1:30 am on a visit down memory lane. We talked about how Grandpa Church used to come home from work and read the newspaper and how when I was little I wanted his attention when he got home from work. So instead of waiting around to be noticed, I would hit the paper down and climb up on his lap for a hug. Another memory involving Grandpa came to me while we were reading a "Farm Animals" book to Casey. I suddenly remembered Grandpa's amazing ability to "Moo" better than any cow out there. Then of course when we were bowling and trying to give Tiana some tips on getting the ball down the alley straight, I found myself quoting my Dad on how to walk, bend your knees and keep your thumb straight up in the follow through. (of course that is advice for the beginner who hasn't begun to master the fancy spins and curves) Thanks for the great memory's Dad.

We have another diving girl!

Tiana came home from school yesterday and informed me that she decided she wanted to be on the dive team. She is really excited. The only other girl on the team has never been on a diving team, only a little gymnastics. They are learning together. She started today. Tiana dove on a little city team for 3 years when we first moved down here, so she has a little experience. I am happy for her. I was also excited for her fantastic job she did singing at the Stake Seminary Orientation. There were 6 girls and they sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer". She had a solo part and had to hit a very high note that she was nervous about. She sang out with confidence and hit the high note with no problems! Proud Mama moment.
On a sadder note, I am going through withdrawls. Ty and Ash left this morning and Tiff and Derrick headed to Kanab for 5 days. Ted is still in Japan/Korea until the 20th and that leaves me with the games put away and the house staying clean and the fridge full. Boring in other words! We just had a great time and miss them already.

I love the Priesthood

I really am thankful for the Priesthood in my life. This past few weeks I have witnessed several beautiful blessings given and know they have been such a strength to the receiver. I am also thankful I was able to spend some time in the Temple with some of my kids. We did sealings and had the same sealer that officiated in Tiffini and Derricks sealing. He was so awesome and he always teaches so much. It was such a peaceful and warm feeling. I am so glad we have had such fun family time this past 3 weeks with Ty and Ashley here. Everyone has been able to spend some time here and it has been wonderful. Now Ashley gets to go 3 years straight, with no summer breaks. They'll be back for Christmas, but then they and Trev and Summer will be leaving for a long time. I hope Ted is getting lot's of Frequent Flyer miles for me!
I know this sounds really dumb, but I am thankful to be getting back on a decent schedule. We have been "burning the midnight oil" and it will be good to be getting a little more sleep. I really love summer, but it seems I am always ready for school to start when it is over. I miss the days of back-to-school shopping. I always loved getting new backpacks, shoes and supplies with the kids. Tiana and I had a little fun doing this, but she is such a good planner, I think we were ready last June. We were thankful to have Ashley here to help Tiana with her Math homework tonight. We wish she could be around every night to be the tutor. It's been along time since I have had any math, let alone this stuff.

Today was a crazy day! Tiana was in and out with all sorts of Student Council business (Freshmen orientation, putting on the dance tonight for the freshmen, and then just the Council is having a sleepover/calendaring event at the HS) Didn't see much of her....so much for having her home! Had a fun day with Ty and Ash though. We went to lunch at Olive Garden and then did a little shopping, then ran a few errands that included Costco (3 prescriptions and pictures). Contrary to Tiff and Derrick's experiences in Arizona, I quite like the place. I love waking up to blue skies and a warm pool to jump into. I like the warm hug at night when you come out of the extra cold theatre. I like having all the great memories of raising my kids here. I like knowing all the bargain places to shop (for home accesories, baby clothes, etc.). I like my house. I have finally gotten most of the house where I want it and I love walking in and seeing my cute house! I realize I am being a little random here, I am just all over the place today in my brain. School is starting Monday and I have several lunch dates already lined up. I miss my friends over the summer. I will miss Ty and Ash though, when they go home on wednesday. It's been a fun 3 weeks.

I am so excited!! I am picking up Tiana from the airport in about an hour. Tiana has been in Utah for about 10 days. She was able to go to EFY and then spend some great time with Grandma and cousins in Pleasant Grove. They all went and saw Fiddler on the Roof at an outdoor theatre and then Tiana was able to go on a double date that includes 2 temples, ice-skating, a trip to D.I for a sweatshirt and tennis shoes, a trip up the canyon behind Bountiful temple and foil dinners and smores over real live fire!!! (That's rare in AZ) I'd say that's a pretty good date! Anyway, Happy Day!

Ok...we are all still figuring this thing out. We are trying on the pictures, but I am a bit of a novice at this anyway, so the pictures might take awhile. I can't get any of my kids to quit playing long enough to teach me. Ted is also going to try to get his blog set up while he is in Japan. I will figure this thing out someday! Thanks again Devin.

Well today was a great day!! It started out with blue sky's and a quick swim in the pool with some of my favorite people. Tiffini and Casey and I headed out about 8:45am and then we were joined by Ty and Ash. We hung out almost 2 hours and just had a nice relaxing time. Then we all did some cleaning and organizing ugh! At 1:00 pm we loaded up the van and headed to see our favorite "Blockbuster" employee. (Trevor) We took him to lunch and then he let us pick out some free movies. He get's 5 movies/games a week free as a benefit. We are helping him use all his perks. While we were eating lunch Trevor got a phone call from Summer saying she got 4 tickets to the Diamondbacks game and with Trev getting 2 free as a perk for being a "player" they had enough for a triple date. So off went Derrick and Tiff, Ty and Ash and Trev and Summer to the ballgame tonight. Little did they know, I got the best night of all! A night with my little Casey boy. We had such a fun time just playing and gigling. I can hardly wait for grandbaby #2 to get here.

Hello everyone-
I am excited to start blogging! Hopefully this will help me keep a journal of sorts and help our family keep in touch. I need to figure out how to do the pictures because Trev and Summer and the new baby will be in Portland and I will NEED to see pictures. I am baking Tyler's 26th birthday cake as we speak and I am wondering where did the time go? We are feeling lucky to have him and Ashley with us on his birthday. We are having a blast having so much family here for 3 weeks. We are swimming every day, sometimes several times a day! We are playing lot's of games.....Clue, Cannasta, Crazy Rook and Scum to name a few. We are eating awful (lot's of junk food) except when we go out. Then we stuff ourselves full because it tastes so good! There has been some early morning golf, and a little shopping now and then. We have seen a few so-so movies and then it's always back to games. It's going to pretty boring around here when everyone leaves. Ted actually leaves tonight for Japan and Korea.