Tyler's birthday get together and family picture

Today is Tyler's birthday. Last night we were able to all get together to celebrate with him. Actually, first off, Mel took Tyler and Andy bird hunting first, then we got together. It was fun to be able to all be together. Anna made a wonderful ice cream cake. DELICIOUS. And the "cousins" got to see each other one last time before Melissa and Andy and Stella left. Then today Tyler, Anna and Grace came to our ward, which makes a Mom really happy. Just wish I could have had everyone there together, but Melissa and Andy were on their way to Colorado to spend a week with Andy's family. But here is the picture we got of the whole of us.

JUMP, RAH and AAAH!

Michelle Julie Melissa
Michelle Melissa Julie Andrea
Julie Michelle Melissa

Melissa and Stella Grace and Tyler

These last few days have been lots of fun for me. Being able to spend time with Melissa, Andy and Stella, having all the sisters spend time together, and having the whole family together. It just feels GOOD !! And since we are a family that loves a good picture, it's been great getting it

all documented digitally. Andy has been such a sport, taking scads of pictures. He's darn good

at it too. So, the jumping pictures (Jump) are from Christmas day, with the new trampoline,

the cheer pictures (Rah) I just had to take, and the aaaaah picture is from the feeling I got seeing Tyler's daughter and Melissa's daughter together for the first time in 5 months.

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas. I sure am. Here is the Christmas card/picture

I sent out this year. Didn't put any news in it. That will come in Next years card/letter/picture.

Probably the biggest news this year was Melissa and Andy having baby Stella in June. Mel is

at the same job, I'm doing the same thing, things are pretty much status quo. We will be adding a new grandchild next year. A boy. Tyler and Anna are expecting in Feb. And it's so nice having them live close by. We are thankful for our families and the happiness they bring. We

are also thankful for our Savior and his un-ending love for us.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Deck the halls

Tonight since Michelle and Melissa and Andy and Stella and Andrea are finally here, the tree got

decorated. While it was being decorated, Melissa had to deal with Stella, so she didn't get in on the fun. We've already had a blast with the Smiths here. We had a yummy dinner, held Stella, hugged and kissed her, and got to hear her laugh. Then we played Apples to Apples, then we sent Melissa and Andy off to bed. It probably will take them a bit to get used to the time difference. Anyway, we are happy everyone that had to travel, is here, but we are missing Tyler and Anna and Grace. We'll see them soon. Anyway, Mel and I are in our glory. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Julie caught the spirit

Today feels so nice. Julie is out of school for 2 weeks, Mel is off work for over a week, my girls are coming to town, and we get to see Stella. Yippe Kye Ay Kye Oh. We're trying to tie up some

loose ends with the Christmas shopping, and it's a mad house out there. I need to remember this next year. Get it done early. Anyway, Julie was feeling the spirit of the season as she went off to school this morning. Enjoy the pic

Andy Melissa and Stella. Our cute family that lives further away

Yep, Melissa and Andy and Stella live further away. MUCH further away. But I'm so excited because they are coming out for Christmas. We get to hug and kiss and squeeze little STella, and enjoy being all together as family. That is.......when Tyler Anna and Grace get back into town. They went up to Anna's Mom's house for Christmas. But we have a few days where we can all be together. I call it "Heaven on Earth"

Tyler and Anna's e-Christmas Card

Here is our Cute family that live close by. Gotta love it.

Andrea Bocceli

This morning Mel walked over to the computer, turned it on (which is very unlike him when he's home) went online, and started looking at Ticket Master. He found Andrea Bocceli, and saw that his concert was tonight, so asked if we would like to go. WOW, o.k. That was out of the blue. He has one of his C.D's and he and Julie love to sing "Time to Say Goodnight", or is that "Good-bye?" anyway..... so he thought it would be something we would all enjoy. So we drove over to the Honda Center (used to be the Arrowhead Pond) and got tickets. Then when we got home, Darryl and Cristina and little Reane were here, and we mentioned what we were planning on doing, and Cristina said how much she loved Andrea Bocceli. So I made her an offer she couldn't refuse, and we ended up taking her with us. It was very enjoyable. He is such a beautiful singer. It was so fun, because he came out for 4 extra songs, because the crowd was cheering him on. YIPPEE. And he and a guess singer sang Mel and Julie's song. BRAVO Andrea Bocceli

Ward Christmas party

At our ward Christmas party this year, I was asked to cut up some snowflakes, and thankfully, Mel said he would help me. And boy, am I glad. He is so darn creative on most everything he does. He made some of the best looking snowflakes there that night. I was also asked to play for a special musical number, and since we practiced at my house, and Mel was home, he got roped into singing with them. It was great. He has such a beautiful voice. In fact when Julie was listening to them practicing, she said "Hey, I thought I got my talent from you mom, but I've decided that I got it from dad". Ha ha. True True. Not that my talent is anything to shake a stick at. I've got talent too!!!! Ü Then the next morning, we had the primary party for the kids where Santa showed up. Man, I especially like this Santa. Ü He has Luke S on his lap. Julie thinks Luke is one of the cutest boys she has ever known. He really is a cutie pie.

Anyway, it's nice to have that week over with.

Lunch at BJ's with my dear friend Bonnie

Today Bonnie Jean and I got together for our annual Christmas lunch. I thought it was pretty fun that we went to BJ's, since those are Bonnie's initials. Normally our getting together included Shelly, but she has moved too far away to get together on a whim. We have to do more scheduling if we want to include her now. Anyway, lunch was great, conversation was great, but it just wasn't long enough, so we are hoping to get together again, but this time with our daughters also. I'll keep my fingers crossed!!

P.S. My sister aptly pointed out to me that BJ's restaurant is also Bonnie and my initials!!

Julie's first Cheer competition

Julie attended and participated in her first high school cheer competition on Saturday, Dec. 8th. They placed second, and did a good job. They have a squad that "mostly" tumbles, so Julie got to show off her stuff doing a round off back hand spring, and she had great form. They really have the girls do their make-up slightly exaggerated, as you will see in the picture, but it looks good on the floor. The girls still have 2 more regular competitions, and then it will be nationals. Boy, do they make for long days, but it's kind of fun to see the families and friends cheer the girls on. They are almost more fun to watch than the spiritleaders.

Go BYU Cougars

With our good friend Cosmo. I think I look a little bit too happy

My cousin Sandra and I
We decided that the rainbow was an omen for a good game
Gotta get a shot of those cheerleaders
Grant and Mel. Long time BYU fans

Today Mel and I, and Tyler and Anna, went to San Diego to see the BYU vs. San Diego state football game. And we WON. We also went to the tail gate party and ran into my cousin Sandra and her family, and Grant, from our ward. He and Mel have been fans of BYU football for a long time. We enjoyed the food and entertainment, until it started raining on us. Thank heavens that didn't last for long. But here are a few pictures of some wild and crazy BYU fans.

Early morning fishing

This morning Mel, Tyler, Michelle and Andrea went deep sea fishing. It was Andrea's first time.

They got up really early in the morning, and were all done by noon. I decided to stay home and

catch the sales. Yet I didn't catch them. Too sleepy. But Julie and I did go out and shop a bit.

We got a few little gifts taken care of.

Oh, a shout out to my son in law Andy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

The family as we are today

Now that Tyler has his own little family, and Melissa has her own little family, our Family picture is definitely smaller with those that are still "at home". But here is a picture of the group that remains. = ) We took lots of different shots hoping for one that we could put on our Christmas Card. This is a runner up.

Happy Birthday Anna

Wow, Thanksgiving isn't enough. It's also Anna's birthday. Michelle made the cake, and not only are we having cake, there's pie too. That's what happens when your birthday falls on Thanksgiving. Time to go have a bite......

Being Thankful

This is going to be a picture full post. We had our Thanksgiving feast of Turkey, Mashed potatoes, dressing, greenbean casserole, peas, corn, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, rolls, gravy, and pie is coming for dessert. Then you can see in my later pictures, that the triptowhatever it's called really hit hard. Then tonight, it's Cirque du Soleil. It's fun to be together, but we are missing The Smith's in South Carolina. I'm feeling tired now, so I'm brain dead for the rest of this post.

Michelle and Mel in the kitchen

Well, Michelle wanted to help her Dad prepare some of the side dishes for Thanksgiving this year, and we even got Andrea helping make the green bean casserole. Miracle of Miracles, I know. Today is Anna's birthday too, and Michelle made her a sweet cake. We made fudge, and Michelle frosted the cake with it. It's going to taste yummy!!

Our visitors for Thanksgiving

Tyler Anna and Grace got here for Thanksgiving and I had to snap their picture. Enjoy

Just a little "elfin" around

Hi sure hope this link works. I had a lot of fun creating it. Enjoy

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9554463225

Happy Happy Birthday Hubby Dear

Today is Mel's birthday. Woo Hoo. Don't we all wish that it was more exciting than it is when you have to go to work on your birthday. Seems unfair (uncivilized, inhumane, etc.) to me. I think that companies should give you your birthday off as your own personal holiday. I mean...come on !!! Anyway, in my very domestic way, I put some candles on his "cake" and we sang happy birthday to him. I did plan ahead and got tickets to Cirque Du Soleil, Corteo, so that should be fun. I just know that everyone needs to feel special on their special day. So here's to you my Sweet Melvy........Happy Birthday

going backwards to Halloween

Well, I never posted any pictures from Halloween, and I realize that there's not been anything new for too long, so here is a picture of Julie with some of her friends from Halloween. I think you might be able to tell what the theme is.....but I'm not going to say. On the left is Samantha

then Julie, then Jackie then Jordan and then Kelsey.

Cheer pictures

Today was picture day for Julie and all the Spiritleaders. I have to say that my Julie is quite

photogenic. So, here is a picture of Julie and her squad.

The "Five things" Tag

I didn't know how this tag thing worked until Melissa filled me in. So I guess I'll participate.
Here goes.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago.

1. Getting the first grey hairs from Tyler passing his driving test and going on his first date!
2. Experiencing the first daughter trying out for cheer and making it
3. Sending off my last child to Kindergarten
4. Juggling back to school nights. I had 2 children in elementary school,
one in junior high, and one in high school
5. Camping out with the family in Pasadena for the Rose Parade for the first time.

5 things on my to do list for tomorrow

1. Wake up early to "watch" Nancy Rice's mom, who can't be left alone.
2. Make something yummy for dinner.
3. Watch "The Bachelor" with Julie
4. Unload the dishwasher
5. Get through my stack of catalogs

5 things I would do if I had a millions dollars

1. Put a down payment on a home for each of my children
2. Take my whole family on a trip each year
3. Invest
4. Do some anonymous giving
5. Buy something frivolous

5 things I will never wear again

1. Skinny pants of any kind
2. Maternity clothes
3. Short shorts
4. My moms, mine, and sisters wedding dress
5. 3" heels

5 favorite toys

1. My Magellan
2. The Computer
3. My Cell phone
4. My Beach cruiser
5. The Grandkids

My trip to South Carolina

Wow, I did it. I flew to North Carolina, then drove to South Carolina to see my baby and her baby. It is amazing what we will do to see our kids and grandkids. I'm not much of a flyer, even

though I have to say, that I get calmer after the initial take-off. And as long as the turbulence isn't too great, I can handle it. I had a lot of fun seeing Stella again, and of course I always enjoy my time with Melissa. Oh, and Andy. = ) I like to be able to visualize where they are living and the places they go when I am talking to them. I never dreamed I would go to South Carolina. I almost felt like I was in a foreign country, just because I never thought I'd step foot in the state. Not that I have anything against it, just never thought I'd go there. (I'm funny that way) It was

rainy the first few days, then it got nice. I'm looking forward to going back again and possibly seeing some of the touristy things. Charleston, Myrtle Beach. But I'm hoping I'll have more of my family with me next time. It was also very nice to see Karen and Chadd and their kids while I was there. They have been so good to 2 of my kids now.

Melissa and I spent some time looking at apartments. We went to Andy's school. We enjoyed "doing lunch". (And dinner) But truthfully, I could be happy just spending time with my daughter doing just about anything. And being able to hold and kiss Stella was the icing on the cake!!

Andy, Melissa and Stella, I love you all and miss you already!!! MUAH!