What a Great Summer

It rained and rained and rained. Several of us were considering getting together and building an ark. It got to be a bit depressing. I had a wonderful experience to look forward to though. Jeff and I were going to have four of our grandkids with us for the summer.

That day finally came. I went down to Holladay to go to the hospital with Mikayla and her family for a check-up. She passed with flying colors. I had lunch with Allison and the kids and then Allison went back to work and Taylor, Mikayla, and I headed to West Jordan to pick up Braden and Trevor. We got all their stuff in the car somehow and headed for Mink Creek. Then the fun began. We stopped at Smith & Edwards to put a flyer on the board about the Open House. Trevor fell in love. He keeps bugging me to go back down there. He's a character!! We stopped in Logan and got a couple of pepperoni pizzas at Pizza Hut. They were almost all gone by the time we got home. I would ask Braden for a piece of pizza and he would take a bite out of it and then give it to me. We were having so much fun. My sides hurt from laughing by the time we got home. The cousins were having such a good time together and telling each other funny stories and singing and just having fun. We got everybody settled and they went up to the ranch to see what was going on.

They go to work every morning but Sunday at 7:30am. They get up at 7:00, get dressed, have breakfast, and go over to Richard's to start their day. They had to get horses ready for the open house when they first got here. They worked with the foals getting them ready to show. Some got kicked now and then. Foals are little but they pack a punch. There were some bruises, but no serious injuries. It just made the kids a bit more aware and careful around the little critters. They practiced riding for the gait demo too. They had a lot to do to get ready for the open house.

June 20, 2009, came and the open house began. It was great!! We worried about the weather, but for the most part it was a perfect day.

I'm going to get some pictures together and finish this later this evening or tomorrow. Just remember this: I'm the luckiest grandma in the world. I have wonderful grandkids and they are spending the summer with Jeff and I. Life couldn't get any better.

It's Another Beautiful Day

It's February. Winter isn't over, but spring is getting closer. It stays light longer and that always gives me more energy.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I have been working on getting my food storage up to where it should be. I have found some wonderful blogs (which I will be sharing with you). I have learned so much. One of the things most of them agree on is that you need to inventory your food storage so you know what you have and what you need to get. Well, I did that Saturday. It took me all day long. It was a lot of work, but it didn't seem like it was that hard. I took everything out and cleaned off the shelves. Then I counted everything and put it back in nice neat rows. I'll have to take a picture and show you how good everything looks. I checked out my bags of wheat and got them organized so I knew how much I had. I got all my sugar in the same place. Anyway, everything is neat and counted so I can move on to step two. By the time I got done Saturday night I was in serious pain. I had lifted and stooped and bent and bent and stooped and lifted until my body was screaming, "You fool!!! You're not a spring chicken!!! You should have done this in a couple of tries." Sunday was awful. It was a good thing I just had to sit at Church and at home watching the Super Bowl. Today I'm doing a lot better. I never have been good at taking care of myself. I decide to do something and I go for it. It just doesn't work as good as it used to.

I took "Buffy" to the vet today to get her spayed. I don't think she was too happy. She was crying by the time I left. I don't know if she'll cuddle with me tonight or not. She wasn't too happy with me. She is changing color. She was black and now she's turning salt and pepper. I need to clip her again. Her fur is growing out quite a bit. I know!! I know!! I'll have to take a picture of her too and include it in my next post.

I am going to try canning my own chicken and hamburger. One of the blogs I have read says I should have beef too. It sounds pretty easy. I just have to watch for good sales and get to work.

Tony and Camille are going to have a baby. He called Saturday night and told us. It was pretty exciting. They are good parents and Simon needs a brother or sister. It will be a while before we know which, but I thought I would get everyone excited.

Cameron and Dallin want us to go to California in April. Dallin will become a deacon and I would love to be there for that. He is a very special young man.

Cameron turned "40" on January 20th. You'll have to check out their blog to see all the pictures. Rebecca did such a good job. He is so lucky to have her. She is an excellent wife and mother.

Their family went to Disneyland and several other places just after the 1st of the year. They had so much fun!!! I wish I could have been there to see everyone and how they reacted to the rides and such. But Rebecca did a great job of sharing everything with us on the blog.

Angela got a different shift and is very excited about that. It will be a lot better for her family.

Matt is having a birthday party for Chandler on Sunday. It should be fun.

Allison and Scott are so happy. It is fun to watch them together. They have so much in common and they treat each other so good. It is the answer to a mother's prayer to see her so happy.

I haven't heard much from Shawn and Amy lately. Amy had some pipes freeze at her house and had to come up and take care of that. She's in school now and is very busy. Shawn is always working and is always busy too. They both have partners that they really appreciate.

If you haven't checked out Nikki's blog you need to. She had pictures of Mia and Mason jumping around in tubs that just made me laugh. As a matter of fact I still pull them up and watch them every once and a while.

It seems like everyone is doing fine.

I hope you are all fine and are doing well. Keep the faith and I'll talk to all of you later.

It's a New Year!!!

Good Morning,

It's a beautiful day. It's snowing. The flakes are big and fluffy. It's just a perfect winter snowstorm. Depending on how long it lasts I'll see if I'm that happy about it later on.

I don't know if you make New Year's Resolutions. I don't. The general feeling around the office is that you are setting yourself up to fail. I think the reason for that is because we make our goals (resolutions) so big they are totally unobtainable. I make daily goals, weekly goals, and monthly goals. That's it!!! I try to live one day at a time and make it the best I possibly can. If I can do that I'm in good shape.

I found a couple of papers from one of the blogs I follow that helped me to assess 2008 and plan some things for 2009. I was going to share it with you, but I left it home this morning. It asked some questions that made me think about why some things happened the way they did. You can't control everything in your life, but the choices you make point you in certain directions. I don't always think about the direction when I'm making the choice. I'm going to try to think ahead a bit more. It will make the results of my life a lot better. (I think).

2008 was a good year. I have a good job. I have good friends. I have a wonderful husband. I have wonderful children and super grandchildren. My health has been good and Jeff's health has been good. We've had enough to pay our bills and eat and keep a roof over our heads. What more do we need.

2009 will be a good year too. It has started out good and I see no reason for it not to continue. I'm thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm thankful all of my children and grandchildren are happy and healthy. I'm thankful for a good husband who helps me keep on the right road. I'm thankful a wonderful mother who blesses my life all the time with her sweet spirit. I'm thankful for the gift of repentance because I use it on a daily basis. I hope 2009 is a good year for all of my friends and family. I do know it will only be as good as you think it will.

Have a great day!!! You deserve it!!!

Christmas is tomorrow. Are you Ready?

Well, it's December 24. Are you all running around like crazy trying to get finished with last minute stuff or are you done? I've got to go the the grocery store and get dog food and milk. I think I'll run across the street and get a sled at King's in case any of the grandkids want to go sledding if they come to visit. We certainly have plenty of snow. I don't think any of them will come up tomorrow but maybe they'll come up this weekend. I'm not working Friday but some of them have to.

Jeff is working today. He is driving part-time as a courier for the hospital in Logan. He works about four hours and it's not too bad. He drives around to four or five out lying towns and picks up test that have to be run in Logan and delivers supplies. It's not much, but I think he enjoys it. He was supposed to drive once a week, but the weather has been bad and some of the drivers don't want to drive in it so he's working every day but Christmas this week.

I'm only working part of the day today. The agents keep telling me to go home. I think I'll take them up on their offer. It's really slow here. I think I've answered the phone three times all day.

At this Christmas time I want to tell you how much I love and appreciate my husband and my children and grandchildren. They are so good to me. If they never gave me anything but their love I would be a happy woman. Sometimes I haven't been easy to love, but they always give me another chance. I love my extended family too. I have a wonderful brother and sister. John's wife is so special. He is very lucky to have her. Their children are super too. They have great kids and I have fun being around them. My mom is a very special person. I have to say I'm a very lucky person. I am surrounded by loving family and friends. I have my health. What else could a person ask for?

I love parts of the Christmas season. People are more loving and patient with one and another. We seem to go out of our way to help others. I just wish we could act like that all the time. I know there are some that try and succeed to have a Christ like attitude all year long. I want to be one of those people. I'm going to try to think about the things I do each day. I want to keep the thought in my mind that Jesus is watching me because I know he is and I don't want to let him down like I've done in the past.

I'm grateful to Jesus for choosing to be my Savior. He is an important part of my life. I really need to try harder to learn more about him and to thank him daily for all he has done for me. I love the Christmas story and all it means. But there's so much more to know than that. If I want to go home and live with him again I need to work on a lot of my shortcomings.

I'm not a "resolution" making person. I have found in my life that it doesn't work for me. I do set my mind to do something and that works for me. It could be on January 1st or March 15th, or some other time. Jeff says he's amazed that when I seriously decide to make a change I do it. I'm going to set down this weekend and take some time to see what I need to work on most and "just do it".

Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Hello to all of you. I wish I could say I got as much done the weekend after Thanksgiving as I planned, but that is just not true. It seems like when I try to get a lot done it just doesn't happen. Life just gets in the way. Nikki and I planned the Pace Family Christmas party this year. We held it on Dec. 6, in Highland, Utah at Nikki's house. Let me tell you,"Their house is wonderful." Donney has a huge projection screen TV in the family room. I wasn't sure Jeff was coming home with me. I had a hard time getting him away from the TV. We had dinner and then the kids made nativity sets. My ward had made them on a Super Saturday a couple of years ago and I bought some extras. They were perfect for the party.

If this picture looks familiar it's because I stole it from Nikki. I forgot my camera and had to rely on Nikki and Allison for pictures. Nikki had hers' on her blog. I haven't seen Allison's yet. She still has to send them to me.

The kids seemed to have a good time and I think the parents enjoyed helping them. We had them put their completed nativity sets back in the bags and started in on the gingerbread houses.

Rachelle put the main houses together and then we turned the kids loose. It was fun watching them decorate their houses.

This is Simon and Camille with their houses.

The whole evening was so fun!

Allison and Scott went home about 8:30 and left Taylor and Mikayla with us. We left Nikki's about 10:00 or so and Allison and Scott invited us to spend the night. So we stayed with them and went home the next morning.

In case you don't know who these wonderful people are I'll tell you.
Shawn, Me, and Nikki

Now I'll tell you the camera story. I had a list of all the stuff I needed to take to Nikki's for the party. I got everything loaded and checked my list. I was set. We got down to Nikki's and I realized I had forgotten my camera. It wasn't on the list. It makes me irritated enough that I have to make a list to go somewhere, but HOW could I leave off my camera.

Today is my birthday. Mikayla called me this morning to wish me happy birthday. I was kind of surprised because she was supposed to be at school. Well, she was, but the teacher had stepped out of the room for a minute so she hurried and called me. She wished me happy birthday and then told me she had to go. She called me back a few minutes later and all the kids in her class were yelling "Happy Birthday Grandma", and "We love you". Mikayla couldn't even hear me and I really couldn't hear her either. Anyway, she decide she needed to get off the phone in case the teacher came back in. The kids wrote "Happy Birthday Grandma K" on the blackboard and she took their picture with her phone. She's going to show it to me and I'll share with you when I can.

Are you surprised there are pictures? I am!!! I decided to try it. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. I'll have to try some more things that you guys do all the time. I'm just a beginner and I'm a little slow to try new things.

Have a great day!!!

Well, here it is the day before Thanksgiving and I'm doing better than usual. The pie crusts are made and the pie filling is ready to go in them. When I get home from work I'll cook them and make sure I have everything ready for tomorrow. Angela has invited us to come to her house for Thanksgiving. We're really looking forward to seeing her and Jed and the kids. We're looking forward to seeing all the kids and grandkids tomorrow. I hope to take lots of pictures and learn how to share them. Mikayla is coming up after dinner and spending the weekend with us. That will be fun. I'm not working on Friday so I'm going to get some Christmas stuff done while she visits with her Idaho friends. I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your friends and families. If you're driving be careful!!!

Good Afternoon,

I have found some patterns I was looking for on the internet. I was going to try to make all the kids a sewn Christmas present, but it's way too late. I'm going to start working on them so they'll be ready for next year. I did find some fun patterns and they are just what I was looking for.

I forgot to mention that I had one more dog. He was a weinie dog and his name was Max. Jeff and I have had him since he was about 8 weeks old. He was getting pretty old and he finally died about a month or so ago. He was a great dog! He started out as my dog and ended up being Jeff's. That's what triggered the collection of dogs we have now. I got Zoe a week or two after Max died and then the rest came like I explained yesterday. Life is always interesting around my house. Jeff never knows what to expect.

I also have 4 dwarf hampsters and a long haired hampster. (How long do they live anyway?) Then I have a cockatoo named "Powder" and a parakeet. She doesn't have a name. I won't even go into the cats. Let it suffice that I love animals.

I'm going down to Logan tomorrow to get some fabric. There isn't a single fabric store in Preston and I need to have some Christmas fabric for a couple of projects I'm working on. I also found the cutest pattern for a pin cushion that I want to try.

I have a friend trying to help me with the Maag side of my family history. I need to find a crack so I can work on mom's dad's side of the family. Sharol is a pro and is going to see what she can find out. Family history is a great love of mine and that's usually what I spend my Sundays doing. I haven't found any new names for a long time. That is always a special thing. If I can get something going on the Maag line maybe I'll have some more great experiences. For the time being I'm trying to find all the baptism, endowment, and sealing dates for everyone so I can make sure all that work has been done instead of assuming it has been done. If I can help anyone with anything they need let me know.

Have a great day! I know I'm going to.