Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy 39th Birthday Kim!  I love you!
It snowed all day long.  Although it kept Kim and Brian from coming, it was beautiful!
James, James Hayden, and Alex must have really wanted to go fishing to go out in this weather.

When it's snowing outside all I want to do is stay inside and watch is snow as I sit by the fire and read a good book.

Jared went in to town to get tubes so the kids could go tubing.  When he returned, he took Tricia, Anna, and Emmy out on the Ranger.  They were headed for the pit which is over 3 miles away.  I thought they were a little crazy going out on the Ranger in this weather but I didn't say anything.  About an hour later Anna, and Emmy came in crying and Tricia was pretty annoyed.  They had absolutely no fun at all because they were freezing cold!
After the girls settled down they wanted a snack, and this was what the chose:

Pickes!  They love the dill ones the best.

 Anna and Emmy enjoying their pickles.

 Molly getting ready to go outside.  She did not want her picture taken.  Can you tell?

Some of us played Rockband and some of us played these games: Logo, Fact or Crap, Would You Rather, and 5 Crowns.  Some of us played dolls and some of us tried to get warm by the heater

Darrel debated most of the day and finally decided to come up with his kids who were so excited to play in the snow and to see their cousins.  They arrived this evening. 

Addy formed an instant bond with Emmy and Anna but it was a little harder for Ruby and Molly.  Molly tried.  She said to Ruby at one point: "It's okay Ruby, I'm nice now."

We celebrated Kimmy's birthday with Texas sheetcake and ice cream and we called her and sang Happy Birthday.

Some people stayed up until midnight but I wasn't one of them.  I think Darrel and his kids made it.

Tricia made her kids go to bed early and Emmy said: "We're the only kids in the world that have to go to bed before midnight on New Year's Eve.!"

Sunday, December 30, 2012

I got up around 5am and started preparations for dinner.  First I made The Pioneer Woman's creamy mashed potatoes and set them in the frig.  When we get home from church they go in the oven for 30 minutes.  I also put two roasts in the crockpots.  For breakfast I made cinnamon rolls and biscuits.  Isn't it interesting how so much of our lives center around food. 
We were late, but we all made it for church: Jared, Tricia, James, Anna, Emmy, Molly, Joe, Michael, Alex, James and I.  The great thing is everyone stayed the full 3 hours and the boys attended all of their meetings.  When they came out of the last hour Alex said to me: "Grandma, we went to all over our meetings."  The last time they were here they ditched Sunday School and Priesthood.  They knew I was very upset.
I had a short meeting after the block and Sean and Tyler Hunsaker brought me home. 
We had a nice lunch then it was time for naps, board games, football, and dancing.

Fact or Crap is one of the games.

Daddy Daughter Dance.

Playing the Logo game.

Alex, Grandpa James, and James Hayden getting ready

for tomorrow's fishing trip.

Watching a movie.

Tricia, Molly, and Jared.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

I made the same breakfast casserole I made for Christmas for breakfast this morning.  Before it got out of the oven Jared & Tricia had to leave for breakfast to pick up our (mine& James's) Christmas present.  They had an appointment at Bowman Studio in Snowflake.  They came back with this:

I love this picture!

The picture is signed by the artist, David Bowman.  Someone posted this picture on the internet after the tragedy in Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary and David Bowman got over a million hits.  Jared and Tricia are so thoughtful to give this to us.  Thank you so much!

The boys played lots of Rockband while they were here.

James trying out the guitar.

Michael loves playing the drums and that's Joe on the other guitar.

James took the girls, Anna, Emmy, and Molly outside for a "walk."  It turned out to be a Ranger ride, and a Cat ride and burning brush.  The burning of the brush scared Molly so Anna brought her in.  Emmy stayed out and helped James for another hour or so.

This evening Jared's family and James and I went to Bill & Rita Solomon's for dinner.  Rita is my cousin and Jared met her son Ricky when he lived in Frisco, Texas.  They were in the same ward and the two families became good friends.  Jared moved into the ward while Tricia and the kids were still in Arizona.  When he introduced himself and said he was from Arizona, Rick came up to him and said he was from Show Low, Arizona.  Jared said, my great grandpa lived in Show Low.  Rick said, "Oh, what was his name?"  Jared said, "Arlee Maxwell."  Rick replied, "He's my great grandfather too."  That's how the friendship started.  Both families became good friends.  

Jared and Rick both served missions in Ecuador.

Friday, December 28, 2012

It was a sunny day today and the snow is already melting.  It makes me sad.  I rotated between studying, working, and watching TV most of the day.  I vacuumed, mopped, cleaned the kitchen and put clean sheets on the beds upstairs. 
Tricia left El Paso around noon and she said Jared and Anna were about 30 minutes behind her.  James left the valley with Alex, Joe, and Michael around 3pm.  Tricia arrived a little after dark.  Emmy somehow got herself stuck in her seatbelt and had to be cut out.  We waited for Jared to get here to do it because Tricia really didn't want to cut the seatbelt in her new van. 
James really enjoyed going to Alex Tolman's wedding.  An old friend from our early days in Chandler, Bob Layton was the sealer.  I wanted to go but felt I needed to get home to prepare for our company.
Jared's family, and Grandpa James opened their Christmas presents. I opened a gift from Jared & Tricia.  It was a picture book of their family with a history of the things they have done in the past year.  These are the best kinds of gifts!

Anna, Molly, and Emmy.

Molly loved her baby doll.

Molly in her Woody P.J.'s.

Although Jared's family spent Christmas in a cabin at Cloud Croft, New Mexico, where it snowed, they were so excited to be here and see the snow.  It is going to be a fun day tomorrow!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

The Weather Channel says it's suppose to snow in Vernon today so I wanted to get an early start home.  I went to Sam's Club and bought Alex Tolman a wedding gift and then went to Sheri's to wrap it.  While I was there Evan showed me his latest Lego project.

One of the sweetest boys on the planet.

The world of Legos is amazing.

I left town around 11 am.  No snow until I got to the top of the Rim and then there was quite a bit.  I stopped in Show Low at Walgreen's to fill a prescription and then on to Walmart to get groceries for the week.  Jared and Tricia will be here tomorrow.

It was snowing from Show Low in to Vernon.  I had no problems until I tried to go up the hill into our place.  My tires just kept spinning.  I called James and he said to back up and get a running start.  That didn't help.

Finally I called my neighbors the Crane's and they came to my rescue.  Chuck tried to drive my car but he had the same problem I did, no traction.  He got he four-wheeler and bladed the road but that didn't help either.  Finally Chuck got Kathy's Suburban and pulled me out.  Kathy and Chuck helped me unload my car and Chuck helped me turn on the water out at the pump house.  It is so wonderful to have such good neighbors!

Coming in to Payson.

Lots of clouds.

The road is covered with snow.

On the Rim.

Stuck at the bottom of the hill.

Chuck comes to the rescue.

The view from inside my car.

In spite of the cold, and the problem with getting stuck.  I still love the snow!  Thank goodness I had my new boots and a blanket in the car with me.  I told Tricia about getting stuck and she decided not to come until tomorrow. 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

James parked his truck on 108th way because he had tools in the back so I took him to get it early this morning.  I came back to the hotel and paid bills.  At 9am I had an appointment at Chandler Family Practice with Lois.  My blood pressure was 118/20.  Hurray!  This was a routine appointment so I can get a refill on my blood pressure meds.  They also did bloodwork.

After my doctor's appointment I went to Sheri's.  She told me if I came over this morning she would vacuum out my car, which she did.  She was also taking Alex to Cabellas to get a new fishing rod.  The one he got for Christmas doesn't work right.  I also stopped at Stacy's and sprayed the mud off the undercarriage of my car.  It took much longer than I thought and I had to clean up the mess off the driveway.  Afterwards I picked up a spicy chicken salad from Pei Wei and took it back to the hotel to eat.  I also took a nap and had a little down time.

At 4:30 James and I had an appointment at Grand Canyon title in Gilbert to sign papers for Zaki's lot. 
Our next stop was Sears to get my tires rotated, a lube and oil change.  On the way down on Monday my car was shaking when I went over 65.  The guy at Sears said my tires were so bad it wouldn't do me any good to rotate them.  They did the lube and oil change and James said we could get tires when I came back on the 7th.  We used one of Chili's gift cards for dinner.  I had the carribean salad with grilled shrimp.  It was yummy.  James had the fajita trio.  Stopped by Deseret Book and bought 3 books with my gift card, one for Kim, Stacy, and myself.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We all gathered at Sheri's house this morning for breakfast and then to open our gifts from each other.  Terry and Dave donated venison meat and James made venison and gravy with biscuits.  I made a potato, ham, egg, cheese casserole and we had orange juice and milk to drink.  We missed Jared's family and Stacy who wasn't feeling well.  It was a fun morning but I am sad and regretful about one thing....we did not read from Luke 2 which has always been our tradition.

Sheri & Ian's beautiful tree.

 Evan playing with his new Nintendo3DS.

The madness begins.  Dallin loved the

Miami Dolphins watch we got him.

Dallin wearing his watch.

Paul in an awkward position.

Evan and Ruby setting up Evan's new train track.

Evan, Max, and Joshua.

Grandpa helping with the train.

The engine keeps jumping the track.

Max and Ruby love each other!

Got these from Kim & Brian.

They are my new favorite treat!

Purple snow boots from Kim & Brian.

James got a Cabellas gift card, we both got Chili's cards, and a Deseret Book card, and James got a strap to sharpen knives and scissors.  We love our children and grand children so much!

This afternoon Kim and Brian took us to see the move "Les Miserable".  I got to sit by Joe.  We really enjoyed the movie.  I love Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.  

We also went over to Darrel's and played with his kids for awhile and saw their Christmas presents.

This evening we went to visit Lois.  We wanted to see Dawn too, but she wasn't there.  Of course she fed us.  On the way home we were still a little hungry so we went to Filiberto's.  I ordered a green chili burro and ate it back in room 214 at the San Marcos.