~10 THINGS THAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT ARE FREE~

1. THE TEMPLE. I love how it makes me feel to be able to go there and just do the work.

2. A GOOD BOOK. I can spend hours and hours just reading. Give me a warm fire, a quiet corner and and a good book I'll be entertained all weekend!

3. WARM SOCKS. My feet are always COLD. I am always grateful for a comfy pair of old warm socks.

4. MUSIC! I would rather listen to music than watch T.V. I think that I was supposed to be a great musician...what happened?

5. SNOW! I LOVE IT! I am a winter sports enthusiast. I look forward to the first snowflakes of winter and I am sad to see the last ones fall in the spring...

6.SUNSETS! We are so lucky to have such
beautiful sunsets all year round.

7. BIKE RIDES! Although they are a little harder to do in the winter, I love to ride my bike. It doesn't cost a thing and you get healthier the more you do it!

8. SMILES! Ever noticed how contagious they are? I love smiles.

9. FAMILY! Absolutely the best thing in my life.

10. TIME! I am so grateful for every minute that I get to spend doing the things I love!


If you read this you have been tagged! Your turn to think about 10 things and write them down...Actually, it's quite fun!

~GIRLS WEEKEND~

We spent the weekend at the cabin doing pretty much whatever we wanted to. Gotta love weekends like that! Stephanie brought her card making supplies with her and we scrap booked and made cards until we were creatively drained. We all love to make cards but without Stephanie there we are like babies learning to take our first steps...She has to hold our hands and show us everything. Lucky for us she is sort of patient! Lucky for us she has all of the "stuff" that is needed to make everything and when I say everything, I mean "EVERYTHING"! We turned out card after card each one getting just a little better than the one before. By the time weekend was over we had all become what I now refer to as "Cardatiers" ie one who makes cards.

THANKS Stephanie for your talent and your patience with all of us.


It was fun to have Ali there with us for the weekend. She thinks that at "6" she is now a teenager. She wants her mom to talk to her like she is a teenager and treat her like she is "big". None of this little girl stuff...Until she needs the little girl stuff to work for her that is...Then it is okay to be "6" again. She LOVED playing with the dogs. Thor is so much bigger than her. Well, Thor is pretty much bigger than all of us but, Ali is not one to be intimidated. She just used her big "teenager" voice and pretty much ruled that dog.

Stephanie had a project that she was doing for Valentines Day for her kids. Making Owls...We are all now very skilled at making google eye Owls! They are so cute! Yes, along with everything else that she does, she also makes the kids Valentines. These when they are done will say: "Who loves you". Where did I get her and why didn't I get some of that artsy-fartsy stuff that runs through her veins?



We played in the snow with the dogs. We read our books. We watched movies. We played scrabble. We put together puzzles and even slept in! What a great weekend. Let's do it again soon!

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL~

Abbie turned "2" ! It is so hard to believe that she is two years old all ready. It seems to me that Clark was just calling us on the phone to tell us that they had just HAD her...Time, where does it go?

We went to Farmington last night for Abbie's birthday party. She was so cute. She really doesn't get what all of the hoopla is about but, she does like the audience. You put a tutu on this girl and a pair of dancing shoes and start up any kind of music and she is dancing. I don't mean a little wiggle here and a little wiggle there this girl can DANCE! She full out kicks and shakes and swings and jumps and slides and twists and ... ends it all with a curtsy! Pretty dang awesome if you ask either one of her grandmas! Well, if we can stop laughing long enough to answer you that is. She is hilarious . We are still wondering where she learned to move like that. Certainly didn't get it from her Grandpa Steve. Maybe it came from her Grandpa Dan...

I wish now that I had video on my camera so that I could show you how extremely talented she is but alas, only still shots and I am not so good at those yet with my camera. She is pretty patient with me flashing pictures in her face constantly however. She has pretty much had to get used to it with her mom and dad! They like to take pictures just about as much as I do!

Abbie had a "beary" cute cake for her birthday. She was more than happy to blow out the candles and eat ice cream. I asked her what she liked better ice cream or cake and she told me without any hesitation at all "ice cream"!

She loved the balloons and before you knew it they were all on the ceiling. THE VAULTED CEILING...CLARK!

She had the cutest umbrella that she was twirling around. She said it was for the rain. I thought it was for really darling pictures!

Her new form of travel this year is the tricycle that she got. She is learning to peddle. Once she gets that down I am afraid that Cami and Clark will be out looking for her throughout the neighborhood everyday!

I love Abbie's dance attire! I can hear the PA system at the grocery store now:

( We have a lost little girl at check out stand #3. She is wearing a yellow tutu with bunny slippers and a pair of pink pants. She also has on a off white turtle neck top with 3/4 length sleeves. The Burger King Crown has fallen from her head but can be picked up from the clerk at the check stand along with her magic wand and angle wings. Thank you).

In the end, it's all about the SHOES! Gotta love a girl that at TWO already loves SHOES!

~COLE TURNS 4~

Steve and I were not able to be at Cole's birthday party because of something else we had to do that night but, we went over the night before so he got to open presents all week long! Christmas just kept happening for this little guy! Who said it wasn't fun to have a birthday so close to Christmas...Loreli has become a cake making extraordinaire! She can really whip up a birthday cake. It takes her days to do it but what a wonderful creation she comes up with for each of the children. Cole could not have been more excited for this one. He loves his trucks...especially JOHN DEERE!

You can't be around this little guy and not smile. He is just a GREAT kid! Cole, Maddie and Bella are the little ones that live the closest to us so we get to see them whenever we want to pretty much. Cole will call grandpa and see if he wants to "hangout". He was more than a little disappointed when he came to our house last Sunday and the Christmas train was put away. I almost caved in and got it out again. Sometimes I just can't take those big sad brown eyes, they MELT me! Mom and dad came quickly to my rescue. His eyes, well, they don't seem to have the same effect on them...

It is so fun to see the little ones grow and develop into their own little persons. I think that they are all just about perfect!

Happy Birthday COLELO!

~TWO ALL BEEF PATTIES, LETTUCE, CHEESE, SPECIAL SAUCE, PICKLES, ONIONS on a SEASME SEED BUN...okay for me, a diet coke~

I have been working on my lesson for R.S. in my spare time all week and today my cute hubby decided that I needed a break. He got up this morning and called Cole and Maddie to see if they could play. Now how could they possibly resist an offer like that? John and Loreli got them ready in no time at all and off we went to the "slide" place, AKA McDonalds...they LOVE it there. They played hide and seek in the tubes all morning while I tried to practice with my camera. I even caught Maddie looking at me a couple of times. You don't know how hard that is! These two little ones are so much fun. They keep us on our toes. I really don't know how we EVER kept up with 5 little ones. We are good for about 2 hours and then we're done. So glad we can take them home where mom and dad can take over and exhausted grandpa and grandma can go home and take a nap!

I only wish the other three grand kids were a little closer so that we could include them every Saturday also. Boy, grandpa and I would really be worn out then. Bella is going to want to tag along very soon too. She is getting so big. I had to post a picture of her big blue eyes. They just seem to be getting brighter and brighter every month. What a sweetheart she is. We can hardly wait for the next little one to make an appearance. Cambria and Sky should find out this week if they have a little boy or a little girl Robertson. I will keep you posted...!

~WISDOM TEETH AT MY AGE~

I hate going to the dentist...It isn't so much that is scares me. It is more about having to sit in a small room with no way to escape and stuff in my mouth making me feel like I can't breath or I am going to choke! I was scheduled to have my last two wisdom teeth (for lack of a better word), "YANKED". Now you might be asking yourself why I did not have this done years ago when most people would have had them taken out...Well, I was only blessed with three of them so, I was shorted on the "wisdom" part of things to begin with....But, it was decided for me by my dentist way back when, that I actually needed those last two wisdom teeth until well... Now! I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either but, then again I am not a dentist! I was told last week that it would be a rather "simple" procedure involving a couple of rather painless injections of lidocaine...(Is there such a thing as a painless injection...I think not). I was also told that there was really no reason for any of the "big" anesthesia sort of stuff..."Easy" the Dr. told me, they would come right out and I could pretty much do what I wanted for New Years Eve. At this point I should tell you, I really have a problem going to the dentist. I get all kinds of anxious. My palms start to sweat before I even walk through the door. On the ride over to her office my stomach was doing somersaults and I had this dooms day feeling which I think is probably just a normal part of going to the dentist for some of us!

I walked in and the cheery little receptionist greeted me with a friendly hello and had me fill out paper work which basically said that I wouldn't sue them if anything went awry and then tells me how much it will be...( About this time I'm thinking that the tooth fairy is in the wrong business. She should defiantly be taking them out not picking them up! ). Then an even sweeter dental assistant comes out to usher me back to what I have come to refer to as the torture chamber. I look around quickly for an escape route knowing that my claustrophobia will get the better of me if I can't see a way out. I sit tentatively down into the over elaborate lawn chair which I lovingly refer to as "Old Sparky", and wait for the next bright and cheery person to walk into the room. Overly friendly dental assistant hooks me up with a TV on the ceiling and that cute little bib and chain then in walks the dentist! After a couple of formalities she informs me that we need to get me numb and pulls out her equipment...A very large needle! I'm thinking...where's the little Q-tip with the stuff on it that makes it so you don't feel the shot so much...Yikes! After the "BIG" ones in the back upper and lower part of my mouth she says to me..."Now I need to give you a shot in the roof of you mouth. I hurts but it is over with real fast, are you ready? What do I say to that?... NO, I am not ready, NO, I hate those shots, NO, are you kidding...NO, NO, NO! Dang, that hurt! The roof of your mouth is just not a place for a needle.

Completely numb now, it is time to get started. Overly friendly dental assistant extraordinaire on one side, dentist on the other and rather daunting instruments that I am all too familiar with in plain sight. Bite block in and off we go...Oops! Tooth broke. All four roots still in jaw... dig, dig, dig. More lidocaine. More digging, drilling started. Lips stretched beyond...well, new nickname could possibly be the "Riddler". I'm nearly drowning in the water at the back of my throat that dental assistant extraordinaire is NOT seeing...Dentist asks for surgical instruments... I'm starting to shake... Someone brings a blanket and puts it over me...I feel better...warmer...I keep looking for that opportunity to make a quick exit out my escape route...am I dreaming...did they slip me something in that last shot...one hour later tooth is finally out in 7 pieces!

Tooth #2...Had to start out with a second shot to the roof of my mouth because the first one had worn off...AWESOME!

~Christmas 2009~

I really had good intentions of trying to get a cute picture of all of the little ones around the Christmas tree, all together at once. Can I just tell you that professional photographers really EARN their pay! There is NO WAY these 6 little kids were going to hold still for 5 seconds to let me take a quick picture of all of them together so, I opted for shots of each of them separately. 284 pictures later these are the ones I dare post. I have to admit that none of them turned out all that great but I am trying to learn how to use a new camera (thanks Steve) and it is a little more than what I am used to. I have a LOT to learn!!! (I SO love digital).

Our third Christmas was just as fun as the first two. We had everyone here today for dinner and then to open the last of the gifts! Now, the house is empty again and I am not sure if I am ready for it all to be over...I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I love the anticipation and the feel of the holidays. It seems like we spend so much time getting ready for them that when they are finally here they come and go so fast we are often left scratching our heads and wondering where it all went!
I think that I am learning to enjoy them even more. I think that I am learning to relax a little and just "observe" . I am realizing that life is changing for me in more ways than I want to admit but that most of the time it is not a bad thing. It is rather enjoyable to watch from the soft seats as my children take charge of each of their own little families. Oh, they still want me to do the cooking and at times need my company and sound, sage, advise...hehe...But for the most part it is each other that they come to see and I love that!

So this is Christmas 2009, tomorrow it is back to work and the sweet memories of Christmas hopefully will carry me through the 12-14 hour of surgeries I am sure they have scheduled for me :)