Christmas

Okay...that was nice. Now I'm ready for spring!

Breck hanging out with Uncle Jayden

Mom (and Sam) made Jayden a new piano bench

Mom got a "feminine" knife to go on her key chain

Jayden made Dad a cedar box for his new toy

These two were banned to the livingroom for being so goofy

What a beautiful family

I was dreaming of a white Christmas! Oh, wait...I'm not dreaming. The snow put a damper on our Christmas plans. We were so hoping for Jehkiah to come for the holidays-he started out and ended up turning back after several hours on the highway. We were all so disappointed. It just wasn't worth the chance. The roads were horrible. Karen, Travis and their crew came for Christmas dinner along with Jonbrock, Sheri and little Zoey. I fixed my first primerib (thanks to Travis for helping) and we had more desserts than should be allowed in one house at a time! Santa brought me a new camera!!! It was a fun day. Josten showed up with little Breck on the following Saturday and we had a blast. What a kick in the pants that boy is! He carries on quite a debate with Papa and has grandma wrapped around his finger.

Lisa and Katrina

Lisa, Katrina and Ron

Shyane, Lisa and Mackenzie

Before Shawnte's shower, I took the girls to my old and dear friend, Lisa's house for lunch! (She's as good a cook as I am...although her Italian blood probably gives her the upper edge). Lisa and I were roommates when Karen was a little girl so we go back a long ways...Her and hubby Ron (Gates...yes related to the infamous Bill Gates) just moved back from Seattle. I'm so glad they're closer...now we can visit more!!

Shawnte's Day

Shawnte's Day...lots of fun new things for our new little baby boy! I drove up with Shyane and Mackenzie so we could join in the fun! We had a fun trip. Those girls are little comedians!

Singing the Back to School Blues

Slamming, cramming, learning to memorize! What was I thinking? Ever read the story of Utopia? How about trying to unravel the woven web of communism? (I had to call Josten for that one). That's where I'm at as I move into the final stretches of my first quarter in school. All in all, I think I've done extremely well considering it's been 30 years since I cracked my last text book (as if I took it seriously then). I'm not on the honors roll by any means but I feel somewhat accomplished. I have hopes! Thanks for all your love and encouragement...

Okay Shasta...Did you tag me? I pulled up this one out of the archives. It's me with my beautiful sisters while we had our reunion last year at Lake Almanor. Kellie, Katrina (aka Kris), Kim and Kandy. I miss them so much. Kellie has always been my rock of Gilbraltar. Kim is the one who suffered tragedy by losing her 17 year old daughter a couple of years ago and Kandy is the baby that most of you kids know. We don't get together very often so this is a keeper.

Back to School

Jayden and I are both back to school and getting into the swing of things. I admit, I was a little overwhelmed my first week but I think I'm getting the hang of it. The most challenging class is Psychology but it may end up my favorite. It's like old hat for Jayden. He's such a smarty pants! It's kind of sad when your 13 year old son knows more than you do. But he can't cook!!!

Camping at Jubilee Lake

Brrr...it got cold at night. Shawnte's staying warm.

Cameron's looking pretty intimidating

Shawnte' lookin' good!

Don't mess with Mama!

Koda's in time-out

We had a fun time camping with Shawnte', Cameron and Koda a couple of weeks ago. They snuck up on Thursday to Jubilee Lake and John and I arrived Friday evening...just in time for dinner. They made an awesome dish with hamburger and stir-fry...man was I hungry. (Yeah, I know what you're thinking, "she's always hungry")...it's true, I know. Saturday morning we got up early and I fixed a scrumptious breakfast with link sausage, eggs and fried potatoes with peppers and onions. I'm sure the potatoes were nummy. Before Cameron and I could dish up, Koda jumped up and knocked my pan of spuds in the dirt. I almost cussed - but I restrained myself. I mean, look at those eyes? I had to settle for a time-out...I love you Koda! Later, John took Cam & Shawnte' fishing on the canoe while I stayed back with Koda and did some reading (my favorite past-time). I went out with John later to do some fishing and it didn't start off so well. He had 11 nice sized trout on the stringer (the biggest one was Cam's) and when he went to add a 12th, the stringer slipped out of his hand. We were sick as we watched all those fish sink to the bottom of the lake. There was some cussin' this time, but it wasn't me:) I told John we could not go back to camp without replacing those fish so...we fished until our hands hurt. Needless to say, we had a successful haul. The evenings were pretty cold and there was a full moon so we didn't do much star gazing but it was wonderful being up there in God's country eating junk food and sleeping in the tent. Sunday, after packing up John and I went out fishing for a couple more hours and caught some beautiful trout. On the way out we stopped off and did some target shooting. I was pretty good with the shotgun...I hit all my targets. The pistol whooped me though! Thanks for a wonderful weekend Cameron and Shawnte'. We loved it.

Sienna's Day

I'm not sure Sienna realizes what a great day we/she had. Most of our family drove over for her blessing. We arrived in Moscow Saturday evening - just in time for Sarah's delicious pot roast and my favorite...spinach! Who serves that any more? I loved it! Thanks Sarah. Sunday we attended Sacrament and witnessed a beautiful blessing pronounced by her daddy, Josten. The spirit was very strong. We then spent the afternoon visiting and playing with our grandchildren, eating a scrumptious lunch and engorging ourselves on Grandpa's homemade root beer. What a blessing our family is. I get weepy just thinking about how grateful I am to have been threaded into this family. As always, it was hard to say goodbye.

Life with a bird

Our bird, Matty has been with us for almost three months. Our dog, Gunner, discovered her in the backyard one day this summer. (She was nearly mulch from the lawnmower). We rescued her just hours after she was booted from her nest (along with two siblings who later died). When we found her she was beak and skin, having no feathers to keep her little body warm. We brought her home, googled "how to care for a sparrow" and began our journey as a bird rescuer. It's been amazing raising this little creature from infancy. She really believes I'm her mommy and Dad has her quite spoiled. She loves to soar through the house and hide when it's bedtime. Her favorite thing to do is perch herself on John's sherbet bowl, stealing little bites in between his. A month after we found Matty, another sparrow landed in our yard. She's a little older and not quite as secure as Matty but "Mayday" is good company and is safe from the neighbor's cat. John's brought me two other birds to nurture, a Magpie and Finch but I wasn't successful in those. They were a little too far gone. But, they died knowing someone loved them.