School's Out - the fun starts

Today was our first day of our Holiday break. We had several families over to make Candy Houses. It was lots of fun. We have also decorated cookies with Hailey and Zach and had our Christmas with Amber, Dan and Megan before they left for Utah. Hailey and Zach all tuckered out after a fun day. I'll include some other pictures also.

Fun with Baba

We have had such a nice visit with Craig's mom who we all call Baba.
We went to the Zoo last week. Today we walked around the Galleria Mall and then decorated the tree for family night and played "hot potato" with Shad's family.

Thanksgiving 2008

The Parade is first event of the morning. All the family went except me. I like to finish getting everything ready and setting the table and such with no helpers. This year I had the New York parade on one TV and the Houston parade on the other TV, while I hooked up my handsfree headset to the phone and called all my siblings while getting everything ready.




After the parade it is back to the house for everyone and final preparations for the meal. This year we had Amber, Dan and Megan, Baba,(Craig's Mom), Blake family, Dodie, Natalie, Katie and Steven, Lisa Hobleman and the Pace family, Hoyt, Mikala and Oscar.
This year our menu was Turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit bowl, veggie trays, rolls, and cranberry bread. Dessert was an assortment of pies and icecream. It was all so yummy.
After eating we played games, croquet, bocce ball, and wits and wagers. Then about 6:30 pm we were off to see the fireworks and the Christmas lighting of Galleria area. A busy fun day and it was warm we didn't even need sweaters for the fireworks.

Is Baba having any fun yet?

Baba (Craig's mom) is here for a visit. It is so fun to have her around and let her join in with all the day to day activities with our family and the grandkids. Amber (and Megan) , Baba and I went to see Twilight today and we all enjoyed it. Here are just a few pictures to share.

Bedroom redo

I decided it was time to redo Amber's old bedroom. We never have enough shelf space for books so the idea was to add book shelves so I could get books out of boxes and onto shelves. Notice the striped wallpaper. Light yellow walls, Trying to decide on little flowers on curtain, I think I like that. Should I rehang the bulletin board with ribbon to hold pictures, think I will look for a cute magnet board instead. What about the mirrow should I hang it back up, not sure yet.
Need to hang some kind of curtain over closet area, door takes up room so won't put one up. Would it be too cluttered to add a cubby book shelf at doorway, still trying to decide. I could put toys in this for grandkids. Anyway I really like the red and yellow combination and still playing around with book shelves to make them look neat and attractive.

BYU Trip

This was taken and sent to us after our trip to BYU. This is Pres. Samuelson, president of BYU and Charles and Elaine Bingham ( My Dad and his wife).

Visit to Jamie & Trent in Connecticut

I flew to LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday and Jamie and the kids picked me up. Julianne and Catherine didn't have school that day because of the Election.
We went to a really fun nature center with a great park and lots of animals to see.
Wednesday we went to her Ward's women's conference. It was a wonderful event followed by a delicious luncheon. Thursday Julianne and Catherine went to school and Jamie and I and Madeline and Adam drove to Boston to visit Carrie. When we got there we went to her one room apartment and then took her to lunch at the Cheesecake factory for her upcoming birthday. Next we went to the Natural History museum.
It was great to see Carrie but the drive home was about an hour longer than usual due to rain and traffic.
On Friday we took it easy and went to some fun shops around Jamie's home and drove to the beach which is only about 10 minutes away.
Saturday I flew back out to Houston.
It was such a great visit. I miss those darling children so much. We had fun playing games, doing puzzles and just being together. Jamie's home is so lovely. She has it fixed up so nice. I love her kitchen. The trees were so beautiful, many shades of red, orange and yellow. Trent puts in lots of long days but we picked him up from a different train station on election day so he could get to the polls before they close. Little Adam loves to help his Dad in the yard.
It was such a wonderful visit.

Halloween 2008

We had a fun night trunk or treating at our Church. Tyler had been sick for a few days so He didn't eat any candy but had fun being Frog Zoro!!

Mother-Daughter Campout 2008

We drove to Brazos Bend for our annual Mother-Daughter campout. The weather was perfect. It was cool enough to enjoy a campfire but not too hot or cold for the babies. This year it was Amber and Megan, Amy, Hailey and Chloe and me.
We left about 3:30 and arrived about an hour later to the campsite. Luckily for us Craig said it was a little walk from the parking lot to the group camp site. So I had packed our wheel barrow. We had to make 5 or 6 trips with it loaded down to get all our stuff there. Two tents, two pack in plays, stroller, sleeping bags etc.
Since we had two babies the pack in plays were great as they could each be in their own so as not to hurt each other and keep out of the dirt. Although Amber let Megan crawl around in the dirt and leaves so she could have her first taste of camping. Those leaves were so yummy! I am always so glad to have our dinners cooked and ready to eat because by the time we get camp all set up it is close to dark and everyone is hungry. The Stake provided a big campfire and we enjoyed it to roast our marshmellows and have s'mores.
In the morning we cooked pancakes had orange juice and bacon. Then we took a little hike but missed seeing any alligators. Then we packed back up and headed home, we got home about 12:30. We missed Jamie and the girls.

Little Girl Hair Bows

I got together with some friends to make bows for the little girls in my life.
Amy, Amber, Margarita and Melissa Harvey came over. We had a fun morning and now I think I am inspired enough to do more on my own. The big flowers can clip in hair or clip to a headband. After doing the bows, we had a delicious chicken salad served with homemade wheat bread.

BYU Homecoming 2008

We just spent 4 days in Utah going to many activities for BYU's homecoming.
Craig was asked to come and be an honored Alumni from the college of Life Sciences.
We arrived on Wed. night and spent the night at Tobi and Scott's home. ( my sister)
Thursday morning we awoke early to get ready for our events for the day, starting with an orientation at 9 am and then Craig had a lecture at 11 am followed by a luncheon. We were asked to be in Business dress so Craig in a suit and Tyler and I also in our Sunday clothes.
As we drove through Orem, Tyler leaned forward and threw up all over us and the car, he was seated in the middle back seat but managed to spray all over. We just looked at each other and tried to think of what to do next. We remembered our friends the McCann's and I called her up and we were just 2 minutes from her house. What a nice greeting after not seeing each other for 3 years. Craig hosed Tyler off and into the tub. I took Craig's suit jacket and started cleaning it and myself. Our now dearest friend, Mary took all Tyler's clothes, my jacket, and started running everything through the wash. I called Tobi to bring me a change. I kept working on Craig's suit jacket and scrubbed it as clean as I could, I used some nice smelling soap and it was wearable. Mary kept Tyler for the day, what a friend.
We arrived at the end of the orientation, boy were they glad to see us.
Craig did a fantastic job on his lecture, I changed my clothing between lecture and luncheon. We enjoyed a luncheon where he was honored for his acheivements in the Scientific world. They gave him a bronze cougar ( I will add a picture) and a beautiful glass plaque. Our first order of buisness after luncheon was over was to trade out our rental car and pick up Tyler. All was well and so was the smell after getting a new car.
On Friday we took our time driving down to Provo, stopped at Cabela's and Thanksgiving point. We checked into our room at Aspen Grove where we were staying for this night. We enjoyed the ride up the canyon and seeing the pretty colors.
We headed back to the beautiful Hinckley Center for a dinner followed by the Homecoming Spectacular in the Marriott Center.
On Saturday we awoke to SNOW falling everywhere. We got to ride in the Homecoming Parade in a one of a kind vintage car.(See bright yellow car). Tyler hung out with his Uncle Tab who had brought up several 4 wheelers all decked out for the BYU cheerleaders to ride on. My niece Jessica is a BYU cheerleader. It had stopped snowing but it was cold. Then it was breakfast with the cheerleaders where we met up with Tab, Pamela, and Tyler. At noon we had a garden barbecue at the Hinckley Center Patio. We had about an hour before we headed to the stadium for the Homecoming Football game, BYU vs New Mexico. We got to be seated in the President's box. What fun. We were up high but had a great view and were inside away from the cold. When we arrived they served dinner and snacks. At half time they served dessert with icecream. This is where many of the General Authorities and General Board members sit. I talked to Sis. Oaks and Sis. Beck. Tyler had great seats and sat with his friend George McCann, but out in the cold. They were pretty bundled up to stay warm. BYU won!!
We took George home on our way to Tobi's and got to have such a nice visit with Mary and Lee McCann and their children.
Sunday morning came too early and once again, SNOW everywhere, this time a couple of inches on the lawn. Tyler was so excited to play in the snow. Then off to church and back to Tobi's for an extended family dinner. Dinner was so delicious.
We loved seeing all the family and appreciate those that came to support us at the luncheon. Dad and Mama Lani, Tobi and Scott, Tab and Pam, Terri and John, it was so great to be with all of them and then on Sunday to visit with most of Tobi's children and Mitch.
We were off to the airport about 2:30 to head home to Houston.