A few of my favorite things......

We had a wonderful holiday. Cody and Stephanie had us come and eat at their home this year. They worked really hard getting their home and yard ready for the party. Stephanie picked up Nana and Papa and brought them, and My parents both came. My sister and her family and Herb's sister and Kyle, then all of the kids were there. Christopher and Rachel, Anna and Calin came from Flagstaff, and Jacque and Curt came from Logan. Both of them left in just the right amount of time to miss the big blizzard that hit on Tuesday, unfortunately they were not as lucky on the way home and it took Jacque and Curt from 9:30 a.m. to

1:15 a.m. to get home. The snow was no fun at all and patience was so important. Thankfully Christopher and Rachel left the night before so they missed the big snow during the drive. And we are so grateful that everyone got home safe and sound, blessings for sure.

On Saturday we took pictures and  I was so happy how they all turned out. Rachel is really good at editing so she did the little girls into glam shots and they look so pretty.

On Thanksgiving night we played Minute to Win It. I am telling you it was a blast. Easy to prepare, but so much fun. We played for almost 3 1/2 hours. More pictures to come of that.

For now I just wanted everyone to see a few of my favorite things.

As soon as Jordan's SD card gets here in the mail, I will post my favorite pictures of him.

He is doing really well. He has a wonderful companion, and if feeling a little more successful in this difficult area. We are really happy when Monday's roll around and we get to hear from him. Only a few more weeks and we get to hear his voice. I love that!!!!

Thanks kids for coming down to be with us, We loved having you, be safe everyone.

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Happy Birthday Wonderful Man

 Today is Herb's birthday, he is beyond amazing and there are really no words to describe just how lucky I am to have him. I hope he had a great day today. He has been so busy with the painting and caulking, and taping, and all the re-do on this house that he never really stops to do anything for himself.

 Christopher and Rachel came down from Flagstaff this weekend for his birthday and he was so happy that they did. He sure loves seeing them, but best of all he loves all of his grandbabies so much, so he was really glad to get lots of loves from all of them.

 Crazy Nammie and Batman........cool kid that batman boy.

 We had our ward party on Saturday night, It was so much fun to see all of the kids dressed up.

I really do love halloween.

 Lexee could not come to the ward party, but a darling little tink came over today to wish her Pop-sicle a happy happy birthday.

 Anna and Lexee are becoming fast happy cousins. They sure enjoyed each other this weekend.

 This is my angel baby Lexee, whenever she comes over she and I go out into the front yard and lay down and count all of the planes that fly by. She can spot a plane so far away. She is such a delight to hang out with. I love that she loves laying on the lawn with me.

 These girls crack me up. I was in the kitchen fixing dinner and all I kept hearing was screaming. I of course was really worried that someone was hurt. Oh no, they were just playing in the old dollhouse outside

peek-a-boo through the windows. Too fun.

 Then wonderful Auntie Cina came with Uncle Kyle and then the fun really began.

 Don't you just love little ones at the piano. I hope they really get to play one day.

 The duet!!! :)

 Great picture Rachel, thanks I love their little hands.

 Calin was such a happy baby all weekend, but something spooked him, and Cina got the mess........

 Uncle Kyle was teaching Anna chopstix, she just loves that Uncle Kyle.

 Since we are painting the big mirror in on the floor and these girls had a blast admiring their darling little selfs. So adorable. I wish we could bottle up little ones and keep them sweet and innocent forever.

Too bad I guess for me......

Thanks Auntie Cina and Uncle Kyle for stopping by to see us.

Happy Birthday Honey

Your family loves you to pieces.

Happy Birthday Mom and fun with Lexee

Happy Birthday Yesterday to my mom. I wanted to post it earlier, but the surprise would have been ruined. I made her this quilt. My mom always is making things for other people. She is my inspiration in sewing and especially sewing for others. It does really make you feel great. Who doesn't love that. I love homemade gifts, just ask my friends and kids. It seems that is all they ever get, but it really does come from the heart. I have never been able to surprise my mom, but this time I did it. A secret kept for a whole month.

 I think she really liked it!!! Or at least I hope that she did. I also made the back out of Christmas colors so that it could serve two purposes. It was a lot of work, but so much fun, and the lessons I learned were this. Even though I don't like to follow patterns or instructions (I am so bad that way in everything not just sewing) I found out that this quilt cannot just be figured out on my own. Now probably by somebody really smart, but not me and so the lesson was learned and the quilt turned out beautifully.

I then sent it back up to Logan where I had it quilted and then Jacque mailed it back to me to bind. It was perfect timing and the suprise was well received. My mother and my Grandmother (her mom) are the reason I love sewing so much. They have been teaching and inspiring me with this talent ever since I can remember, so thank you mom for that and for sharing your mom with me as well. I cherish the memories of sewing with you throughout my life and I give all of the credit for my talent to you. You are an amazing woman in so many ways. Thanks for your example and for you life and for loving me.

 I

 Cody and Stephanie had their 5th anniversary this week and so we got the privilage to have their little Lexee stay at our house for a night. She was a delight. She was really happy even though she did not feel very good, she climbed everything that she could, and with our house in an uproar while we paint everything, there is a ton to climb on. So needless to say she had a blast.

 So did we. She is at that stage of curiosity galore and I love to watch how their minds just seem to figure things out. So much fun.

 On my computer in the sewing room is a big picture of Jordan, and she loves to look at pictures of Jordan. She was only 6 months old when he left  but somehow they are connected and she really does know who he is. So I watched as she tackled this chair and then sat down to watch her Jordan boy on the screen. So cute.

I love her faces. I think all of our grandkids make the darndest faces and I love when I actually catch them on film. It was a delight to have her, and I hope we get to have her back soon. We are so excited for this next weekend when all of the grandbabies will be here. We like their parents too, but thoses babies.......

Well need I say more.

Thanks for the fun.

What a day and night.....

If you know my Herb, then you know he cannot, will not, refuses to sit still. So tonight all of a sudden he decided to tape off the floor and start scraping the ceilings of that gross popcorn yuk. He got the old dining room finished and then we had to go and take care of his parents.

So tomorrow we will have to move all of the furniture and clear off the top of the big shelf that is in between the rooms. We are planning on painting the kitchen, family room and hallway and before we do that, we wanted to get this done.

All day long it rained and rained and I loved every minute of it. I have been sewing all day long, watching movies while I sew and listening to that wonderful pounding sound of rain.

I usually don't like the rain, but today it was perfect.

Tonight though, as you all probably know it got crazy.

Hail, Hail, Hail

This is it. Our front yard was covered. It was crazy.

It beat down the flowers and I am sure left little dings in the cars.
Arizona weather, you never know what's coming.
The hail was the size of a quarter, at least that is how big it was by the time we got it into the house to measure. It has been a wonderful week so far, I hope yours has been good too.
Enjoy the rest of it.

Blessing Day

What a wonderful wonderful weekend we had in Flagstaff.

It was Calins blessing day and it was so beautiful.

Cody, Stephanie, Lexee, Herb and I all piled into the truck

and headed north. Although we were cramped, it was a fun ride together.

We had so much fun with all of the grandbabies together.

They are darling when they play, and it is just amazing to me

how fast our little family is growing.Christopher gave Calin a beautiful blessing and the spirit was so strong.

I am so proud of my boys and how they hold their priesthood

with great honor.

I love this family picture. I am so happy I caught them in such

a fun pose. Outside of Christopher and Rachel's Apt. there is this

amazing lawn and beautiful trees. The weather was beyond beautiful

and the wind just blew and blew. It was soooooo great.

This precious, sweet baby is so calm and loving. He is such a good baby

and I loved that Rachel wanted him to be blessed in the same

little outfit that his daddy was blessed in 26 1/2 years ago.

I am so glad it fit him and when we compare pictures

well its kindof crazy how much they look alike.

It was such a great day to get together and enjoy each other.

Since they started school we won't get to see them as often. I enjoyed the summer

when we could run back and forth more frequently.

Of course papa had the best time with his little girls. He always does.

He just loves these girls and I am pretty sure they are

in love with him as well.

It was a wonderful weekend. Thanks Christopher and Rachel

for giving us this beautiful baby boy to enjoy and for

sharing your home with us this weekend.

We love all of these precious grandchildren so much!

Happy 82nd Birthday Nana

Yesterday was Nana's 82nd Birthday who would have thought.......

We asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said pumpkin pie and her family so that's what she got. This is all of her and papa's great grandchildren. L - R Baby Calin (1 month) Anna (2 years), and Lexee (1 year)

I am so glad that we got this picture and all of them are at least looking at the camera

a miracle for sure!!! This is my new favorite picture of papa. He cracks me up.

I think they both really enjoyed the evening I know we did.

Here are the kiddo's again.
Anna loved the chocolate pie as you can see.
Lexee thought Papa's cane was the best toy ever.
And Calin fell right in love with Aunt Cina.
It was a really fun night.
The top pictures are 4 generations I think that is so cool.
The bottom left were the children who could make it
L-R Herb (the oldest son), Cina (the youngest and only daughter)
Wes (One of the twins)
Les and Steven could not make it.
Then at the bottom is Cina and Kyle.
While we were there I got to see Lexee walking for the first time and
I was so delighted. So I put this video on for the memory.


I have decided that we have not a clue when our time will end on this earth I have always known that, but with taking care of Nana and expecting her to go so many times and seeing her pull right back into the swing of things, I am understanding it more and more each day.
I am so glad that we got together for this night, it is a memory we will all treasure for sure.
Remember to make each day the very best it can be.....we never know!!!
Have a wonderful week.

Could life get any better then this???

For the past couple days Anna has been in Mesa playing with all of her grandparents while Christopher and Rachel and Calin get better

at home in Flagstaff.

Yesterday Grandma Nielsen brought Anna to spend some time at our house for the next few days. Anna had not been feeling too well, with an icky tummy, but she is such a sweetie that she seemed in good spirits. A couple hours into the afternoon she went down for a nap. About 20 minutes later I really felt like I should check on her. Poor little on was in the only corner of the crib that did not have throw up in it. I felt so bad for her. She could not stop throwing up and her poor little bottom was no fun either. Because we have had too many dehydration issues in the past few months with our grandkids I ran her to the urgent care to make sure she was okay. They sent us the ER where we sat for about an hour and after talking on the phone with her daddy decided that we would just go home and do what they do with her there. Sure enough it worked and she was a happy clam today. Thank heavens for pedialite!!! Early this evening we decided that we should go in the back yard and take the plunge!!!
She loved it. We were so hoping that sweet little cousin Lexee could join us, but unfortunately she is really sick as well with a high fever and an infection she just can't seem to kick.
Hope you get better Lexee. Anyway so it was just Anna hanging out in the pool.
She has never ever liked me to take her picture. She refuses to pose so we just keep shooting and shooting hoping for the best ever. Well here they are. Nothing like a kid enjoying the water. Oh to be young again!!! :)
Papa put the slide in the pool and she thought that was the best. I got a video for Uncle Jordan so he could see how big his Anna Banana has gotten.



Then I taught her how to drink out of the hose. My favorite thing in the world. I know gross huh!!! But I love it and all of my kids love drinking out of the hose, well at least they did when they were little. Anna would drink it and then spit it out, it was so funny.


I hope all of you enjoyed your day as much as we did. She was so pooped out and did not have a nap today so she fell right asleep just before 8 pm. Wish me luck that she stays asleep for the night. I sure enjoy these little ones. I just run out of energy way too fast.

They got OUT!!!

Just a quick update that Rachel and Calin are on their way home from the hospital. The test results came back negative and all is well. He is happier and eating good, and she said he even smiled at her 3 times. (I love those spontaneous smiles in the new ones makes you wonder what they are thinking.) Anyway that's great news and we are all so grateful for your prayers in our behalf. Thank you thank you thank you. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to hug the ones you love and smile at everyone else!!! :)

Getting Better......

I think this sweet little boy is wondering what the heck is happening to me!!!

Such a serious plea for it to all end and he can go back home :)

Doesn't he look so much better without all of those tubes and oxygen in him. He has had the iv antibiotic in for 24 hours now and is improving. Rachel says that he is somewhat more spunky and is eating really much better. So that is a blessing of all of your prayers. They will still be in the hospital until tomorrow at least. That is when the results of the lumbar puncture will be back. So far so good and we totally feel the blessings from heaven on our family at this time. I love prayer and the power of it. So again thank you and thanks to a wonderful Father in Heaven who loves each and every one of us.

It's the best.

Prayers please.....

In the middle of the night my sweet daughter in law text me to let us know that their 3 week old baby Calin had been admitted into the hospital, with a fever. Never ever is that a fun phone message to get. Babies are only suppose to be in the hospital when they are born, but in the past year this is the 2nd time one of our little grandchildren have become sick enough to have to go to the hospital.He just hasn't been his happy little self for a day or two and last night thank heavens for mother's intuition with their little ones, Rachel felt he should go and sure enough the admitted him. So far all of the testing has come back that it is just a virus, but the lumbar (spelling wrong of course) punctures culture take a couple of days to grow and so they will be in for a couple days to wait it out. He is so new, and they are in Flagstaff, and I am dying being here, but we know that they will be okay and we are excited to get to play with Anna this week while her little brother is getting better. Thanks for the prayers.

We'll keep you posted.

Boots Magillicuddy :)

Well this adorable boot has been my friend day in and day out for the past 2 weeks. I know you say only 2 weeks, most people have them on a lot longer, but see I am magical and heal in short amounts of time so for me 2 weeks was perfect!!! I really don't know what I did, no swelling or bruising, just pain for about 9 days straight, so I finally cowgirled up and went to the doctor. Something about an injured ligament....Fun times so then I was introduced to the boot. It really did feel so much better in the boot, but man that thing does not have air conditioning and I tried but could not find a way to cute it up!!!

Today was my follow up appointment and yes siree bob, I got the boot .............. removed!!!

I am so happy. No more boot. So now maybe I will sleep again, and not have to hop beds, or couches as to not disturb my sweet husband.

The top of my foot has some numbness, but hopefully while I exercise my ankle the nerve will also heal and the numbness will go away. In 3 weeks I will go back and hopefully get a clean bill of health. As for the boot, it now lives in the closet

in the garage.

It was sure fun knowing you boots magillicuddy :)