Kellys Empty Nest

MIA

2011-09-19T17:35:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. Busy visiting grankids and crafting. Hope to catch you all up soon!!

More pictures

2011-04-28T10:05:00.001-07:00

More party pictures

2011-04-28T10:00:00.001-07:00

Party for Loraya in West Virginia

2011-04-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

We had 3 tables that we decorated for the party. The eating table which had butterfly wings at each seat and their own cupcake stand with their cupcakes on them. We also had pink lemonaid in mason jars with striped straws with butterflies on them. Butterfly noise blowers were fun for the girls to blow at each other. We also had a yellow polka dot table cloth covering the table. Assorted paper lanterns with butterflies on them were hung above the table and all over the place.
The food table had a brightly striped table cloth on it and simple food items displayed on cute trays and plates. Butterfly cheese shaped sandwiches, popcorn, cake pops, jello cups, veggie cups with ranch and a cute picture of Loraya made the table complete.
The favor table was my favorite. A pink table cloth was on the table and each girl got to take home their goodies from the day. Colorful buckets with their names on them were decorated by Loraya for the party. They got to have many cool things to take home. A butterfly net was put in the tall pink metal flower bucket with a large "L" on it. Sunglasses, bubbles, nail polish, lip gloss, butterfly suckers, stickers, books, bracelets, stamps etc all with the butterfly theme were a big hit. The girls decorated a pair of flip flops to take home also.
The pink curtains were put up for the backdrop which added to the charm of the party. So cute with the walls a bright yellow! We really worked hard to get everything up by Thursday night because the party was Friday at 11:00am. It was a good thing that we planned ahead because the day of the party I got the flu and was in my bed all of Friday and missed the big party!! I could hear the girls having fun in the other room so that was fun to hear them get excited about everything. I will post more pictures so you can see more of the decorations. ENJOY!

Welcome New Grandbaby #14 Vann Michael Bennion

2011-02-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

We did not have the crib yet for the new baby so we made do with my carry on suitcase for 1 night until the mini crib arrived. We had to do the same thing with our first baby Matt because he came a month early and we didn't have a crib yet. Matt slept in a dresser drawer!!
Getting ready to go home!

On February 5th Kandis gave birth to Vann Michael Bennion. Weighing in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. A real cutie! Looks just like his father Nic and such a sweet calm baby. Nixon loves him and doesn't seem to mind having another person in the house. Kandis looks great and is such a sweet mom to both of her boys. This picture the first time Nixon met his little brother Vann. Precious

Birthday party part 3

2011-02-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

We had a poster to take pictures with so the kids and adults could put their heads into the hole and look like they were riding a tractor. Here are just a few of the pictures of Nixon, Kandis, Vann, and Sid. Enjoy. It was a great day and lots of fun.

Birthday party part 2

2011-02-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

We had a place for the kids to eat that had their hard hats with their names on them, their home depot tool belt full of fun plastic tools and then they had a construction cone cup to drink out of. The table was covered in grey fabric and was set low for the two year olds to stand and eat.

I got these home depot tool pouches for 77 cents each and the kids loved them! I could not have made them for less than that.

This is the thank you table that the kids saw when they came into the party. The little metal pails are full of goodies that I made for them (truck crayons, chocolate truck suckers, gummy tools, stickers, activity book, small truck, fabric pouch made by my friend Cindy! The polka dot bags were for the goodies in the pails to fill up before they left and take with them. The parents loved the goodies too! I just loved the picture of Nixon with a construction cone on his head. He is so funny and cute!

A Party to Remember! Part 1

2011-02-26T11:37:00.000-08:00

Nixon had his 2 year old birthday while I was visiting in Utah and we did a construction themed party since he LOVES anything trucks!! You can see by the pictures that we used his toys for decorations and had simple finger foods for the guests to eat. I made a mini banner to go over the cupcakes and we put Nixon's cupcake in a mini truck to make his special.

We have mini orange construction cones that are actually candles on the table as well. The white signs are from Ikea and can be changed with whatever party you are having. We had a room for the kids to color pictures and then we did a tractor pinata filled with toys and goodies that they put in their home depot tool belts. It was so much fun!!

I've been busy lately

2011-01-30T14:22:00.001-08:00

This month has been busy with having ladies over to do crafts and learn new things together. We had a group over Saturday and we did gourmet apples for valentines day and then I had some left over chocolate to play with. I saw a great idea on a blog and decided to try it. First you put a layer of pretzels on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Don't worry about making the pretzels in a single layer, it doesn't matter if they overlap each other. Melt chocolate, white or dark and get ready to drizzle over the pretzels. Sprinkle valentine M & M's over the top, sprinkles and what ever you have to make it festive. I used mini chocolate chips, a heart sprinkle mix that I got at Walmart and anything else that I could find. Let cool and then break up into pieces and put into a zip lock baggie. So easy and so yummy. Kind of pretty too.
These are dollar store frames that we mod podged over the top with scrap book paper and then put glittered letters in the holes to spell words like Kiss, hugs, xoxo, Love etc. You get the idea. We did these for Christmas and they were amazingly easy and we spelled JOY, NOEL, SNOW etc. Endless possibilities.
This is so easy it's funny how cute they turn out. These are coasters made out of 4 x 4 white tiles that I purchased at Lowes for about 18 cents each. I mod podged wrapping paper to the top of them and then after they dried I sprayed them with a coat of Krylon matt finish acrylic to protect them. If I do them again I would use cardstock scrap book paper because it would be easier to mod podge on the tiles without so many wrinkles. So cute and so easy. What a fun gift for teachers, friends or neighbors at Christmas. After everything is dry you glue felt to the bottom sides to protect your furniture or you can buy thin cork in a roll and put on the bottom. The cork was expensive so I opted for the felt to keep the cost down. Tie 4 tiles together with a beautiful ribbon and there you have it!!
This was another banner that I made to take to Utah for Kandis. We have been making banners since Christmas and this is just one we did for Valentines day. We did one for Christmas and then one for Thanksgiving and now one for Valentines day. Maybe Easter will be next!!

I have to take a break now from crafting to go help Kandis with her new little baby that will be coming any day now. We are excited to welcome Vann Michael Bennion into the world soon. I will take pictures and of course I will post as soon as I can. Nixon will turn 2 while I will be visiting so the big birthday bash will be a blast to do. Again, I will take pictures and show you all how that turns out.

Our stake was split today and they formed a new Lincoln Stake which we are now a part of. All of Loomis wards and all of Lincoln wards are now the new Lincoln Stake. The new stake President is Mark Perez with Pres Brasier as 1st councilor and Mike Schmidt as 2nd councilor. It will be a great time for change and new beginnings. The church is true and we will miss all the wonderful people we have served with in the Rocklin Stake. Rocklin stake now is comprised of 2 Granite Bay wards and all of the Rocklin wards. Roseville stake is all of the roseville wards only.

Home made crayons for a birthday party

2011-01-20T15:54:00.000-08:00

These are the bags that my friend sewed for me for the goody bags that will go in galvanized pails for the kids. It will be filled with the crayons that I made and can be used to put special things in when they are done with the crayons.
These are the crayons that I made with the candy molds. Aren't they cute??? Easy for toddlers to pick up. I just hope they won't eat the brown one thinking it is chocolate.

I put the finished crayons in a glassine bag tied with bakers twine and then I will put a little sticker that will say crayons on it. I think they are fun!

I will be going to Utah when Kandis delivers baby Vann and so I have been working on things to put on a 2nd birthday party for Nixon while I am there. We really don't know when Kandis will have this little guy so we are going to plan on having a party with or without her around. The theme for the party is Construction trucks so I made some dump truck crayons to put in with the goody pails for the kids to take home. I used a candy mold that I found on Amazon.com and then you can use old broken crayons or you can buy new ones to make them. Just make sure you get good quality crayons because I tried it with some dollar store crayons and it did not work! So bummed to have a big mess and nothing to show for it. You put the broken crayons in an aluminum backing cup in the oven at 250 until it melts completely. Usually takes around 12 to 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and pour into the candy mold and let set. If you want to speed up the process you can put them in the freezer until COLD and then pop them out. So easy and so cute. Can't wait to do it again for another party some time.

It's COLD outside

2010-12-31T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it is New Years Eve and it is freezing outside. For the past 2 nights it has dipped below 30 degrees and it is really cold in the morning when I walk with Gayle. Don't I live in California??? It is the end of the year and so much to be grateful for. What a great 2011 to look forward to. We have six wonderful kids married to six great spouses and together they have given us 13 grand kids so far and number 14 will be here the first part of February! What more could a person ask for?? Sid is making changes to his dental office with going digital and he still finds more than enough days to hunt, hunt, hunt and did I mention he likes to hunt??? How much pheasant can one person eat?? Zip has turned into a wonderful companion for him and gives him lots of exercise on Friday and Saturday mornings. I will be starting a monthly craft group to get my creative juices flowing again and I plan on loosing much needed weight to look good for Cancun in May 2011. So grateful for wonderful friends and family. May we all have a healthy and prosperous new year!

A song to remember

2010-12-15T06:46:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago the temple president's wife asked me to sing Away in the Manger for our prayer meeting in the temple last night. I told her I would love to sing but I don't sing solo! She was not surprised and asked me to ask Susan Merrill to sing with me. I quickly sent an email to Susan and asked her to sing with me and hoped she was an alto. She said she would be glad to sing with me and she was an alto so all was going great. The week before we scheduled our breaks at the same time so we could practice in the break room together. We sang it once and called it good until this last week when we were to perform. We got to run through it once in the ladies room before we performed in front of our Tuesday evening shift. When we practiced together we were discussing how we were both so afraid to sing alone and that we were both very nervous to sing at all in front of everyone without a piano. Well, it was finally our turn to sing and we just got up and it was such a high for me to sing with Susan in the temple. The acoustics in that room are amazing and we sounded really good together. So many people were shocked to hear us sing and said we sounded like angels!! It was such an honor to sing with Susan and especially such a wonderful song about our Savior. It was a wonderful beginning to the night of work at the temple. I am so grateful for the talent of being able to sing and share this talent with others. I have truly been blessed in so many ways and thank him for this gift.

Happy News

2010-12-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

If any of you have not heard yet, our son Joshua got accepted into Dental school at the University of Louisville!! We are so excited for him to FINALLY get in and get on with his dream of becoming a dentist. It is hard to believe that we have two sons attending dental school at this time. Jacob in West Virginia and now Josh in Kentucky. We are so proud of all of our kids and know they have worked hard in their educational goals. Mike and Christy are living with us while Mike completes his clinicals at UC Davis in Sacramento. He enjoys the experience of working with different people every day and learning new things. We love having the grandkids entertain us on a daily basis. Now that Jack is mobile we have to watch out for everything on the floor that he might get in to. We had a great Thanksgiving in Colorado visiting with Matt and Stacie and seeing our newest addition to the family Tysen. What a sweet and good baby he is. It seems all we did was eat the whole time we were there but we did have a great time. Kandis and Nic were there and Kristin and Thomas were there. Three out of six children isn't bad when they are spread out all over the USA. It was cold and windy but we flew in and out with out any problems. The time just went by to fast! I have not got the Christmas decorations out yet. I have to decorate for the ward Christmas party on the 11th and most of my things will be taken over to the church for that party. I will probably get the rest of the stuff out today and get it done. Much to be grateful for and much to look forward to.

Look What I Did

2010-11-16T13:40:00.001-08:00

A while back I bought a hand held sander so I could sand those little benches that were in front of my house. The weather was beautiful so I decided to go for it! The sander is really great and I loved how fast it took care of the work of sanding. These are really old oak benches so they needed a lot of sanding. I think I definitely got my monies worth out of this guy.

A little tricky with all the slats but really fun to use the new tool.

Then on to painting them red! Yes, RED. I love red so I thought they would look better in red in front of the house. I can even think of ways to decorate them for Christmas now!! Anyway, they turned out really cute. It did take 2 to 3 coats of paint. We did not take a picture of the primer on the benches so that was another step in the process of getting these painted.

Finished results. I likey!

One on the left and one on the right. They are different benches but both are antiques and oak. On to the next project. Painting nightstands black. Julie Doolittle gave me some nightstands that she did not want so I said we would take them and someone would want them. Why not add them to the stuff I have in my garage?? Saw a great blog about painting and I am convinced they will be wonderful when I am done. If the weather holds up in the 70's I will tackle it soon.

Photo shoot of grandkids

2010-10-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Looking at something off in the distance
Ava playing hide and go seek
Look at those baby blue eyes!
We bought some cool frames from Ikea to go in the kids room so we needed some updated pictures of the kids to put in them. We dressed them up and took them out front of the house and tried to get pictures of them to put in the frames. After much effort on our part to get these two little ones to smile and look at the camera we ended up with some good ones! We had fun blowing them up to 16 X 20's and putting them in the frames! Enjoy these two little cute kids. Ava is 2 and Jack is 8 months.

Back Home

2010-10-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

Well, after two weeks in Kentucky I am back home and Mike and Christy have moved in again. The place was ready for them and we are having fun having them back with us. Mike should be starting his internship this week and life will get into a routine. Sid is off hunting in the mountains with his brother Calvin looking for deer in California. He should be back when they get something. The weather has been hot but where he is it rained on them and looks like rain will happen most of the week. I am excited to get back to the temple on Tuesday night and see my friends. I really enjoyed general conference and hope all of you got a chance to see it too. If you want to see what I helped with in Kentucky you will have to click on Josh and Alexis's blog! Lots to see. Kristin and Thomas will be arriving back in the USA on Tuesday night. They will fly into SLC and will be staying with Thomas's parents. They are anxious to return home. They decided not to proceed with the masters in law in England and return home and go another path. We will see where they will land. Maybe we will be lucky enough to have them back in California again. I hope this helps you catch up with my life!

New Decor

2010-09-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

Have not decided on the lamp yet so that is why the tag is still attached. I love having homegoods so close with all the great deals you can get. I just love the mirrored night stand. You can't get enough bling!

With the arrival of Mike and Christy back into our home on the 25th of this month I thought it would be nice to change things up a bit. Sorry Kandis but the purple and gold had to go in the guest bedroom. I decided to go with black and white and aqua. Ava and Jack will be sharing this room and they will move the white crib in the bedroom with a white dresser so it should look really nice. I also purchased black curtains for the window treatment to keep the light out when napping. I am thinking of getting HUGE vinyl letters of their names for the wall but have not firmed that one up with Christy. The other bedroom has Kristin and Thomas' bed in it with their bedding. All I added was the picture over the bed and a mirrored night stand. The other mirrored night stand is in the kids room. They are really cute and I got them at Target! The Laundry room got a new rug and a picture on the wall to make me happy when I do laundry. ( I'll let you know about the happy part!). The shower curtain rod has been changed to the type that is in hotels. It is bent to give the person more room for the shower. Pretty cool. I hope you enjoy the pics. This is the first time I have done this with my new computer. (go apple!)

All ready for the kids to move in a couple of weeks. I will be in Kentucky when they come so I hope they like it!

So Sad

2010-09-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we knew this day would come but it didn't make it any easier! Thomas and Kristin flew to London on Monday and the trip to San Francisco was very memorable. The flight did not leave until 7:15 pm so we decided to leave around noon so we could be there in plenty of time and possibly grab some dinner before they needed to be at the airport. We start out getting on 80 west from our house and the traffic was packed bumper to bumper pretty much all the way to the turn off for the Sacramento airport exit. We were going about 5 miles an hour stop and go when we get rear ended by the car behind us in the middle lane of the freeway. We pull over and get out to check the damage and luckily we were in Sid's truck and didn't have any damage to our car since Sid has a tow hitch on the back. The bumper of the other car was punctured but we were fine. The bump woke up Mason from his nap and he was not very happy about that. We got ourselves back in the pile of cars and headed forward again. The clock was ticking and we really did not see how we were going to make it to San Fran by 5:00pm. We would cruise for a little while and then come to a dead stop again. Very frustrating and tense in the car.( You can imagine how Kristin and I were in the back seat) Thomas was calm and cool about it but we were a little tense! We get to the bay bridge and pay our toll and then on the bridge a car was stalled and a tow truck pulls in front of us and stops. We have to go around it and then off we were to the airport. The clock turned to exactly 5:00pm when we arrived. We pull all the luggage out of the truck and get a cart to push everything in the terminal. I am pushing Mason in the stroller and Kristin is pushing the cart and Thomas has 4 bags trying to find where we needed to go. The luggage falls off the cart and we have to stop and pick everything up again. Sid had to wait out by the curb with the truck and then the police car came and told him to move it just as I was walking out of the terminal. I ran and jumped into the truck and off we went. Sid didn't even get to say goodbye properly and I was a sobbing mess! We haven't heard a thing from them yet so we hope they made it on the plane and are in London at the Holiday Inn.

We have a couple of weeks before the house will be full again with Mike and Christy and their 2 kids. Mike will get assigned his internship at the Kaiser in Sacramento so they will stay with us while he completes that part of his schooling. They will probably be with us for about a year. Life is always changing around here and keeps us busy. For now there is quiet on the home front but I sure miss Mason's giggle and smiles and all his jumping in the jumper! Next time we see him he will be walking and running.

Sid got his Antelope

2010-08-09T12:46:00.001-07:00

Here is Sid's big antelope for the Nevada archery tag that he drew for this year. Before he left on Friday I asked him if he would shoot a big one the first day if he saw it and he said," No Way, I have the whole week off". Well, as the story goes he saw this big guy by 11:00am on the first day and shot him and was home Sunday night!

We have gone back and forth about getting this bad boy stuffed and I have laid down the law and told him no more animals in the house. He said this one will go in his dental office! Yeah right, we will see how long that will stay there. I told him the elk in the garage needs a friend to talk to so that is where he will go!

The night before Sid set up the trail camera and didn't bother to look at it. You can see his truck and trailer in the background. He really didn't need to go very far from his camp to get this big guy! He was already in his hot blind waiting for his antelope to come into his watering hole.

Monday morning I walked out of the garage to see a carcass hanging from the tree and a big black garbage bag in the refrigerator in the garage. Sid was quick to show me the head in the bag and I was not so excited to see meat hanging from the tree. Sid said you might be married to a redneck if you have a head in your refrigerator and meat hanging in the tree. I KNOW I am married to a redneck! It was great having him home for the week but he went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday! Right now his back is killing him and he can hardly walk. He needs to take it easy! The garden is killing him this year.

Slacker

2010-07-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

I know I have been the blogger slacker lately. I have been really busy with helping Kristin and Thomas move, having house guests (Josh & Alexis, Jacob and Julia) Still not an excuse for keeping everyone that wants to know informed about the goings on in our home! It seems like the days are going faster and faster and I get less and less done. I still work at the temple on Tuesday nights and for that I am grateful to stop the day and just ponder and have peace in my life.
Sid bought a 4-wheeler for riding in the mountains and has been giving the grand kids rides. The garden is over flowing with produce which takes time to harvest and preserve almost daily. I must say we have come up with some wonderful zucchini recipes for all the zucchini we are picking.
We had a scare with Betty Boop eating slug bait and almost dying. She seems to like to eat anything she can get in her mouth. She will be going to live with Kandis in a few weeks so we will see how long that will last. Life is great, fun, busy, wonderful all at the same time. I am trying to walk with my good friend Gayle Wheeler in the mornings and finding time to relax in the pool if I can with the kids. I can't complain, we have been truly blessed with wonderful kids and grand kids.

Another Turkey Hunt

2010-05-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

Mike came up for Mother's day weekend with the family and went hunting with Sid on Saturday morning. They went to the same place that Sid got his big tom. They set up the blind and called the turkey and waited for the big moment to kill one. While they were talking up came a tom to their decoy and they jumped into action. Mike shot it and off it ran limping. They waited awhile and then started out to find it. An hour and half later they found it and claimed their kill.

A very nice bird with a long beard! Gobble Gobble! We are not having it for dinner today but they will have to take it down to Richmond and cook it up later.

Quick trip to Provo

2010-05-04T09:49:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesday I drove to Provo to visit Kandis, Nic and Nixon. My friend Cindy was going to women's conference at BYU and asked me to drive out with her. The weather forecast was crazy cold so Sid gave me the truck and the trip was on! Going over Donner pass they posted chain controls but if you were in a truck with snow tires you did not have to chain up. We started up the hill and about a third of the way up the hill I hit some ice and spun the truck in a complete circle. We were now facing the on coming traffic and luckily for us they stopped behind us and let us get facing the correct direction. I put the car into reverse and turned it back around and started to head in the right direction very slowly. Cindy mentioned that we needed to put the car into 4-wheel drive. I made the comment that I did not know how to do that. I did not want to wreck Sid's truck so I thought we would need to get the car manual out of the glove box and read how to do it. Just as we said those words the phone rang in the car and it was Sid on the phone calling us to tell us how to put the car into 4-wheel drive!! We were so excited to press the little button on the dash and off we went with not a single problem the whole way! I know Heavenly Father was watching out for us. Sid was not happy about us going in the cold weather but I am sure glad he listened to the prompting to call us when he did! How could I miss seeing such a cute little grandson like Nixon?? We were at Quilted bear in Provo and Nixon saw these stuffed animals. He grabbed the biggest bear he could carry and wanted to squeeze him. So cute!

We found some treasures to put into Kandis's home and it was a great time.

We did the Sam's club run and while we were there we saw Julia's sister Christy (sp?) It was good to see her! When we got home we set the hose on the front lawn and Nixon climbed on top of it and was afraid to get down. He LOVE'S being outside. Even if it is snowing and raining he wants to be outside. He points to everything and tries to say the words that we would say. The funny word he says is "Happy" at this time. He loves the song "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" and that is why he says Happy all the time.

All dressed and ready to go shopping with Grandma and Kandis. We went to Quilted Bear, Thai Pan, Ikea, Sam's, Macy's, University Mall etc. On Saturday we went to Wayne and Laurie's house and saw how the addition is coming along. A jaw dropping job of an addition. Way to go Laurie. On Saturday night we went to a concert in Salt Lake with the Utah Symphony and the Temptations. Yes, you read it right the Temptations. I didn't think any of them were still alive and singing concerts. The last original Temptation is Otis Williams and next year he said he would have been doing concerts for 50 years! Wow that is a long time. They were great and it was a fun evening with Matt and Val. Church was on Sunday and Kandis will be great as the new YW president in her ward. The girls will have a lot to learn from her. She is a great example and so darling! Monday morning I packed up the truck and headed home. No rain, snow, ice but a lot of wind. I will take wind any day! 85 degrees and now I remember why I live in California!

Library Time

2010-05-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

At the Library they have reading time for little babies and toddlers and we took Nixon over to participate. It was really fun and such a great place to be when the weather is so cold. They had a big stuffed animal zebra that Nixon loved to hug.

He was having grand thoughts of riding this bad boy but the librarian put an end to that dream!

They have a 1/2 hour of rhymes and puppets and books and then you can do it all again in Spanish! Starts out with the morocco's and cucaracha song. The kids LOVE shaking their instruments to the music. Fun to watch.

Kandis and Nic are getting into the song.

A Day at the Bay

2010-04-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Mike and Christy were asked to speak in church so the Meyer family and ourselves decided to go down and watch Jack and Ave while they spoke in church. It was an amazingly beautiful day at the marina and we took a walk after church. These purple plants are everywhere and they are HUGE. They remind me of a purple pineapple! I wonder if they would grow in my yard.???

Ava is sleeping in the stroller at this point but you get the idea of how wonderful the weather was and the beautiful ice plant was all over the place. Sail boats and bikers everywhere.

Here is Ava and Christy at the deli waiting for some lunch.

Can you believe how big Jack is getting??? He is so happy and smiley all the time. It was great to see their place and how cute Christy has decorated their apartment. The people in their ward just love them so much and are so grateful for them moving into their ward. It was a wonderful day.

Random

2010-04-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Zip and Betty having a moment together. Usually Betty is barking and bugging Zip all the time and jumping all over him but they seem to get along once in awhile.

Have you tried these yet??? They are so yummy we just had to buy some after having a taste in the store. REALLY really good. I can't say which I like better. They are both great.

My beautiful birthday flowers are still in bloom a week after my birthday! I just love to look at them. Thanks Jacob and Julia.

Loraya's special day today!

2010-04-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Loraya on her blessing day!! What a cutie and so smiley. The dress was bigger than she was and she was just beautiful.

Always smiling and laughing. A very roly poly baby!

The serious side of this little girl. Julia always dressed her so cute and notice the accessories on her wrist. I just want to squeeze those sweet cheeks.

So so so cute! Happy birthday Loraya. This is the way I remember you! Now you are all grown up and so big! 6 years old today!

Things that make Sid SMILE

2010-04-17T21:31:00.001-07:00

Sid got up bright and early this morning and went hunting for the big Tom turkey. He set up a blind the night before at a friends private property and this morning he nailed him with his bow.

He was a biggy! He got him in the leg first and then he flew a ways away. Sid waited for him to die and then went over and shot him again just to make sure he was dead! While doing that 2 other toms came over to his decoys and started strutting their stuff and wouldn't leave his decoys alone.

Check out these spurs on his feet. The biggest ones I have seen him bring home to date.

A seriously ugly bird if you ask me. The beard on this old tom was really long. Much longer than the one we have in the office. I am sure he will go back to get another one before the season is over. He sure was excited about this one. Gobble Gobble

Things that make me SMILE!

2010-04-15T13:40:00.001-07:00

If you want to get some attention at church wear these shoes!! I wore them on Sunday and you would have thought some people have never seen amazing shoes like these! These make me smile. I got them in Minnesota when I was visiting Kristin and we wore them for our photo shoot with myself, Kristin and Kandis. We all wore HOT shoes and had fun. If you want to see the pictures you can go onto Johnsharpephotography.com and click on clients and then on Rose family and see the unedited pictures of our group shots. Those pictures make me smile.

This closet makes me smile. I got new little boxes to put my socks in and they are so fun to look at. I got them at Home goods for small change and together with my shoes they make me smile!

Sorry this birthday card is sideways but I just had to share it with everyone. Sid gave it to me this morning and I still can't stop laughing. The dog on the front looks like our lab Zip! Read on for the funny part.

The funny part is that Betty always sticks her head around the shower to see me in the shower and just stares at me! Weird I know! Zip is a POINTING lab so what Sid wrote on the card was hilarious

Thanks for all the birthday love coming my way. The flowers were beautiful from Jacob and Julia and thanks for all the phone calls. That makes me SMILE!!

Hapy Birthday!!

2010-04-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

A great day for Zip and Sid

2010-04-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Look at all of these pheasants!! 16 to be exact. Sid was asked to be part of a special hunt at the pheasant club and so this was an extra Saturday for Sid and Zip to have some fun. I think Sid was the highest shooter of the day and he would have gotten more if he didn't run out of shells!

You can see Zip licking his chops at the birds. It was a real test of Sid's strength to keep him away from these birds. He wanted to roll all over them and pick them up and play with them.

Zip looks like he is saying thank's Sid for taking me hunting. You are the best! We just love seeing Zip point those birds and he never seems to get tired. If it is hot he will get tired but it was a cool and breezy day today so perfect for both of them.

Mason Scott Rose has arrived Grandbaby #12

2010-03-10T23:35:00.000-08:00

Mason Scott Rose has arrived as of 12:21am March 11, 2010. Kristin's water broke on Wednesday morning and she was in labor all day but got stuck at 9 cm. after over 20 hours of labor they decided to do a c-section and get him out. He weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and is 19 3/4 inches long. Perfect in every way! They say he has dark curly hair but we have not seen any pictures yet. I have to start packing because I fly out Thursday at 2:00 to help them with the new little guy. I will be gone until the 29th of March so wish me luck. I don't know much about c-section recoveries!! I will try and post pictures when I get in Minn.

Cute JACK

2010-03-03T14:40:00.001-08:00

These are a few pictures of Jack that we took the other day. He is awake more now and so cute! I think he looks a lot like Mike and still looks like Ava too. They definitely look like brother and sister. You will have to excuse the red eye since I did not edit these pics!

Fed and happy and just relaxed! That's the way we like them! It will be so sad when they move and we don't get to see them every day.

Cute new things

2010-03-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

These cute slippers were hand made by Christy! Aren't they so cute???? She is so talented. First the "Blingky's" and now the cute little slippers. These will be for Krisitin's new little guy.

These are the ones she made for Ava. You can tell she likes to wear them. Well worn.

These letters are hand carved by a guy that I know and so I had him make some for Jack and Ava. They are so cute. They measure 5 1/4" high by 1 3/4" wide. He paints them and waxes them and makes them look a little rustic.

Hand carved letters for Jack. I just love them! He had to place the letters a little higher on the block because of the letter J and the letter K. I still LOVE them.

Quick trip to Utah

2010-02-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

We took a quick trip to Utah to witness the sealing of Megan Hoyt to Chris Alme in the Salt Lake Temple and then drove to St. George to bless Jacob's little girl Macey. This picture is taken out the balcony at Julia's parents house in St. George. What an amazing view they have. Their home is so beautiful and just the right size to house all the visitors that were there.

Look how big Nixon is getting. He is wanting to stand up on his own and crawl around everything. He is such a happy and funny little tike!

This is an amazing picture. Seated on the far left is Nixons GREAT Grandma (she is holding Nixon) in the middle in the chair is 92 years old GREAT GREAT Grandma. Great Grandpa is leaning in by Nic with the mustache. We were so glad to let great-great grandma meet Nixon for the first time. They all live in St. George so we took the time to visit with them while we were there. Such wonderful people. Only one missing was Nic's mom Grandma Bennion!!

We went out for ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi while in Provo and proceeded to pork out until we felt like blowing up!! All the food was great but it was really crowded that night and so the service was not the best. Thanks Kandis and Nic for introducing sushi to your father! We will have to do it again and hope it won't be so crowded.

It was a fast trip but it was great to see Chris and Tim Hoyt and all of their children at the Salt Lake Temple. It was a surprise to Chris that Sid was coming so she was really surprised when she saw us. I had never been to St. George before and didn't know why so many "old " people want to retire there. Now I know why! There is shopping and restaurants everywhere. The scenery is not what I particularly like but I could get used to it. The wards are huge and filled with wonderful members and lots of young families are moving to the area now because of jobs.

We also had a chance to see Wayne and Laurie and their HUGE addition project that is happening in their home. The place is amazing and truly is the Scott Hotel for sure. Jessie looked great and is still making progress. His new apartment will be so nice for him to be able to become more independent. Laurie is doing a fantastic job of keeping on top of all the subs and making sure his needs are met in every way. Pool party at their house when the whole thing is finished!! (Cannonball!) The rest of our down time was spent in Provo with Nic and Kandis and it was great to be around little Nixon. He is growing way to fast! I hope it won't be long before we get to see everyone again!

WONDERFUL NEWS!

2010-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

I don't know why this is sideways but you will just have to turn your head to see these cute pictures! This is Kandis and Macey when we visited them in Utah.

Can't you tell Macey is excited to get blessed!! What a doll.

The family all together for a group shot. To bad they were not looking at my camera!

Our sweet baby Macey on her blessing day. She is a wonderful baby and such a joy to have in our family!

Jacob was accepted into Dental School!! We are so thrilled with Jacob and Julia's effort to make this happen. They have been working so hard these last few years and Julia has been more than patient to let Jacob follow his dream of becoming a dentist. Sid is thrilled that he will have another Kelly son to add to the sign of Sidney D. Kelly DMD!! Keep good thoughts for Josh as he prepares to take the DAT in March and hopefully this will be his year to get in too!

Random News of the Week

2009-12-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we must start with congratulations to Mike for getting accepted into the Medical Diagnostic Sonography program which will start in April. They will be looking for a place to move by the middle of March and hopefully they will have Jack by the middle of February so he can make the move too!!

Second, we all had an interesting weekend. Sid went Duck hunting with Zip for the first time and he did well considering the elements and the fact that Sid did not shoot a duck for him to retrieve. I got to lead the Christmas cantata for the ward Christmas party and it turned out well. We then performed in Sacrament meeting and that went well too!! Mike and Christy went out to dinner with Trevor for his birthday and had a good time. Christy celebrated her birthday this week too and we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner with both of our families. When Mike and Christy got up for church on Sunday they went to get into their car and noticed something was not quite right. Someone broke into their car and stole his ipod, garmin, radio face plate etc. They then took things from the black honda and Sid said his back window on his truck was open in the morning and luckily they did not take any of his hunting stuff that was in the back. What a way to start a Sunday morning. My car was safe because it is the only one that gets to be in the garage!!! We called the police to make a report and Mike will call the insurance company today and see if anything is covered under his policy. Zip did not bark because we have a bark collar on him. Last night we took the collar off and he didn't bark so we will try him without the collar and if someone tries this again he will surely bark at them and wake us up. I guess someone needed some Christmas presents and didn't want to pay for them. It really makes me mad! I am just glad they didn't try to come inside the house or the garage.

I hope everyone is safe in your neck of the woods and that you don't have to deal with any kind of theft! Lock your doors and cars! Stay safe.

Part 2

2009-12-05T10:04:00.001-08:00

The $9.98 tree this year with the blue and white theme. It is about 10 feet tall. The Santa collection on the hutch. Don't forget to find the elves on the antlers of the deer!

These are the towels in the guest bathroom. I could not resist them since we have a dentist a hygienist and 2 want to be dentists in the family!!

Ava was eating her breakfast so that is why they are ducking in this picture! The stairs look festive with garland and red poinsettias on them.

The entry way has my Santa and other pretty things I could not put back in a box!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

2009-12-05T09:58:00.001-08:00

For those of you who will not be with us this Christmas I thought I would take a few pictures of the decorations so you can imagine yourselves here! No fighting over who gets to take out the toy.

Feather trees are in abundance this year. This one has antique acorn ornaments on it and surrounded by my Bellsnickels.

Mr. Bear always gets his hat and bow on for Christmas. Betty barked at him because we moved him from where he usually stands.

The three trees in the living room with the Nativity on top of the piano this year to keep it from getting picked up by little hands!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

I thought you would like to see how big Betty is now. It is kind of hard to see with her laying on my lap.

Here we all are!! Zip is not wanting to get on the bark dust and sit nicely. Betty is trying to attack Zip so we look a little weird!

I hope you all have lots of turkey and stuffing to eat and have a wonderful day!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Pheasant for All!

2009-11-25T18:36:00.001-08:00

Zip is always trying to sit on Sid's lap! He just loves being close to him and hunting with him. This is going to be a long and wonderful relationship I hope.

Sid has been taking Zip out on Fridays and Saturdays to pheasant hunt and he is getting really good at it. He points the birds and even pointed a skunk and got sprayed one time!! Zip can't wait for Sid to get up in the morning and take him out. He runs all morning and just loves it. He comes home with purple and red marks on him from these berry bush things that he runs around in. It takes a few days for that to wear off of him. He has really been a great companion for Sid and a great hunting dog so far! Ducks are next and Zip has never been duck hunting before so this should be an adventure!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we will be going to Christy's parents home. They have been so nice to invite us over since we have no kiddos coming home for the holiday. I had lunch with Gwen and Debbie on Tuesday to celebrate Debbie's birthday and it was so much fun to eat and talk. We missed Julie but know she was with us in spirit!! I have so much to be thankful for!! Not to mention the best 6 kids in the world with the best 6 spouses and 10 almost 12 grandchildren. We are so grateful for good health, jobs, friends, and most of all the gospel in our lives. What a blessing to know we will be together for eternity! We hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to be grateful for our blessings.

Guess what Sid saw on his walk this morning??

2009-11-19T09:02:00.001-08:00

A silver Toyota corolla face first in the creek past the second bridge!! The same place that a person died when they did the same thing many years ago. No one died this time but still crazy to see a car in the creek. I was walking down so I could take a picture and the fire truck and several placer county sheriff's came down to check things out. They found a purse in the car which had identification in it and said it was from a girl on our street. We did not recognize the car as one that we see coming down our street so she was probably a passenger in the car. Crazy huh?? They would have to be going pretty fast to run through the barriers and end up in the creek. My battery in my camera went dead on me so I only got this one picture. I just saw the tow truck go by with the car in tow so I can't take any more pictures now.

Primary Program

2009-11-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

We had our ward's Primary program on Sunday and there were some funny things that happened. One of the sunbeams in the front row kept picking her nose and eating it in front of everyone. Her parents were just dying in the congregation and kept trying to tell her to stop doing that. One of the little boys who had a speaking part said "Jesus was baptized by "George" the Baptist". You could hear the chuckle from the congregation!! All in all it was a great program with lots of wonderful little singers and speakers. We really have some talented kids in our ward! I am sure the Primary Presidency is glad that one is done for the year!!

Random shots

2009-11-05T09:22:00.001-08:00

Ava got some new boots and was playing around. She was trying to do a head stand or something. Maybe she was trying to look at her new shoes upside down!

Ava likes to dump the balls out of her bag and kick them around the house. Betty loves to help her mess things up too!

Ava in her Halloween costume. She is a little Mexican girl! Barefoot and all! She would not let go of her little ponies for me to take her picture so that is why she is holding them.

Betty wanted her picture taken too! She poses for me. She is still cute and little and has lots of energy. She gets mixed up as to what toys are hers and what toys are Ava's. She kept me company when I was sick by lying on my bed with me. She really is a sweet dog.

Betty helping Ava make a mess of the balls in the house. She loves to chase these and bite on them.

All Better

2009-11-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am all better now!! It was not fun getting sick and especially when it came back after I thought I was better. I worked at the temple on Tuesday and it was so nice being in the temple again. I missed all my temple friends and the wonderful new temple presidency that just arrived. Life is pretty much back to normal for now and luckily no one else in the house got what I had!! Thanks to all who called and wished me well and thanks to all who brought over Chicken Soup! (Judy, you know who you are!) it was wonderful.

The FLU

2009-10-23T16:34:00.001-07:00

Just a post to let you know that I got the flu on Tuesday night and am still battling with all the symptoms, fever, cough, aches, etc. Possibly the H1N1 virus. I guess I was due to get sick since I NEVER get sick!! It could not have come at a worse time since our choir is supposed to be singing a HUGE song for a farewell and I have been working so hard on it for the longest time. I am so bummed about that whole thing. Also, Sid and I were supposed to watch Ava while Mike and Christy go out of town on a motocross weekend. They ended up taking Ava with them. I feel just horrible about that one too. The doctor said it just has to run it's course and some people get over it sooner than others. I have been quarantined to my bedroom since Tuesday and I am getting really tired of just laying around and watching HGTV. Water and chicken soup are all I get to eat. My non stop coughing causes my chest to ache so bad. Do you all feel sorry for me now?? Good! Here is getting better and enjoying good health in the week to come. (Cough, cough)

Cuddly grandkids

2009-10-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Connor and Macey got to meet each other for the first time. They were both so cute and cuddly to hold and kiss!! Such good babies.

Grandma with 2 at a time!!

Grandpa's first time meeting the new additions! They all loved playing with and on grandpa!

Macey was starting to smile so much while we were there. She is so darling and such a good natured little girl. Can't wait to watch her grow up!

Huber Farm in Kentucky

2009-10-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Went to the farm and picked apples for an apple crisp. It was cold and windy and very crowded but we still had a fun day to remember with silly pictures.

Bryson trying to be like the big kids!!

Isaac loves green so he just had to get up on this tractor and take a picture. Doesn't he look so sweet and cute??

Baptism Day

2009-10-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Brayden getting ready for the baptism. Matt and Brayden were excited to have this day arrive. The weather was cold outside but warm inside. The water was extremely hot and Brayden let everyone know it was. Matt said it was so hot it stung when you got in the water!! Brayden did great and it only took 1 time to dunk him!!

Brayden with Grandpa and Grandma after he was baptised and confirmed.

Brayden and his friends at the baptism. He had a lot of friends come and support him on his special day.

Brayden's Birthday and Baptism

2009-10-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, you are seeing it right!! It snowed when we were in Denver and it was really cold. It didn't stop us from having fun and celebrating Brayden's 8th birthday!

Brayden had to ride the saddle at Texas Roadhouse and get a birthday song! He loved every minute of it. The food was great and we were totally full for the evening. It is always fun to eat peanuts , throw the shells on the floor and not get in trouble.

Sid bags one in Kentucky!

2009-10-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sid found this deer taking a nap in the back of this truck and decided to shoot it with an arrow!! NOT! Actually he shot this deer with his arrow on Tuesday night around sundown and tried to find it but it got too dark before he could find him. Sid went out the next morning and tracked him down, put him in the back of this truck, and brought him home!! Yee Haw!

A nice 8 point white tail!

Proud hunter with kill!

I think the face on this deer is funny looking. I guess you would look weird if you were shot too. Sid says the deer around here wear red lipstick (hee hee)

Eggplant festival part 2 (Sorry it is out of order!)

2009-10-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

There was a booth of 4-h kids showing off their animals and encouraging others to join. Ava liked seeing the animals and Betty Boop was pretty much afraid of them.

Wells Fargo Bank had a booth set up with this really cool stage coach. Doesn't Christy look so cute! Betty is in this picture since I decided to hold her. She was getting stepped on by the HUGE crowds!!

High Hand Nursery has really grown big now with a restaurant and a wonderful walking nursery to stroll through. This is an old truck that they planted flowers in. It really looks great in front of their nursery.

This is a chicken with a bad hair day!! This was part of the 4-H group of animals to view. We just thought it looked pretty funny with all those feathers on top of her head.

We had a great time strolling through the booths and seeing people from the town of Loomis. The food booths were a lot more plentiful and they even had a bull riding booth and a surf board riding booth. They better watch out how big this thing is getting. It might encourage people to locate to Loomis!! Just remember a small town is like a big family!! (Hee Hee Hee)

Could it be???

2009-10-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

What do you think would cause the city of Loomis to put this sign on the road??? If you guessed the world famous eggplant festival you would be right!! Yes, my folks it is the weekend for the Loomis eggplant festival once again. We strolled on down during the break in conference to check it out and much to our surprise there were a lot of new things to get our attention!

Who ordered the giant purple man?? Pretty weird if you ask me. Seriously a purple man???

Lots of produce to buy and of course the reason for the season the "eggplant". What do you do with those things anyway. I really have not met a soul who grows these things in Loomis. Hence, why the festivities to celebrate this vegetable?

This was one of the new things added to the fun day. Yes, you can race your OWN chicken or RENT one from a 4-H person for $5.00. If your chicken comes in first place you win a prize. I think grandpa Kelly should bring "Big Red" down and kick every one's buttocks!! I should raise a chicken for the races for next year and train him in our half acre. What do you think??? They even had trophies with gold chickens on top of them for the winners. That is reason enough to get the training started!

More Macey pictures

2009-09-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures I will have in my mind of what Macey looks like. I know the next time I see her she will look totally different. She is such a joy to have and I am so lucky to have spent the first week of her life with her to get to know her better. Jacob and Julia are wonderful parents who love their kids so much. They are raising wonderful children who love each other and their Heavenly Father and Jesus. What a wonderful place to raise their kids and have such wonderful friends who love them and their family. We are so grateful to the ward family that loves each of them and takes such good care of them when we are away.

Macey is lucky to have come to such a great family. Loraya and Isaac love her dearly and Julia and Jacob will be great parents to her!

This is a familiar sight. Macey always has to be sucking on something if she wakes up and is hungry. She is so cute and cuddly. Those cheeks are perfect for kissing and squeezing! Can't wait to see you all again in a few weeks.

Morgantown Charm

2009-09-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Downtown Morgantown is so cute with all of the old town charm and especially these wonderful hanging baskets on every lamp post. They are so beautiful I just had to take a picture to show you how long the ivy is on them. I don't know how they grow so good without any known source of water except the rain! Wish I could do that!

This little house is so cute too!

Waterfalls

2009-09-23T10:42:00.001-07:00

Isaac was not wanting to get his picture taken any more so you will have to see the back of his head in this one. The scenery was spectacular on this beautiful day. The leaves were just starting to turn colors so I was a little early for the wonderful fall show of colors. The temp was about 78 degrees and just beautiful.

Another cool bridge to cross and walk around. So many great spots for a photographer to snap photos! Wish I was better at taking pictures. I was just lucky to remember my camera!

Jacob chilling by the falls. They have places to raft, kayak, horseback ride, natural water slides etc at this place. Such a great place to visit and see.

Loraya and I in front of the waterfalls. She is such a sweet and beautiful girl. She loves her kindergarten class and teacher and is such a great student. She is such a wonderful help to Julia and the new baby. I miss her smile so much already.

Cool Park

2009-09-23T10:36:00.001-07:00

At the end of the trail at the river front park they have a super cool play ground in front of some apartments. It is really fun to see the kids play on this structure and show me how each section works. This slide looks scary because there are no sides to it but the kids seem to stay on it with no problem. Maybe if I tried it my big backside would slide right off of it, hence you will not see me on any of these play structures.

Loraya playing on the climbing things!

Loraya is very strong for her age. I think all of her gymnastics at an early age built up her upper body for such a little girl. Go Loraya!

You spin this really fast with your arms. Don't ask me why! I think Isaac looks so cute in this picture!

River front Park

2009-09-23T10:19:00.001-07:00

The weather was perfect every day I was in West Virginia so we went to the river front park and took a stroll. The kids were getting tired of taking pictures so when I told them to smile for me they turned around and bent over!! Quite a cute pose don't you think?? At least you can see the trail you can walk on with all the cool bridges and stuff.

Here is the whole family on the bridge.

Loraya striking a pose!

Isaac striking a pose with some really cool "West Side" gang signs!!

New Baby Macey

2009-09-23T10:10:00.001-07:00

Surprise! She has her eyes open. I still think she looks so much like Loraya when she was a baby. Such a sweet natured little girl. She loves to just stare at her brother and sister and especially mommy!
Kind of a little smile on her face. Got to love the bows and cuteness of a little girl!

Isaac is such a great big brother. He loves his sister and likes to hold her unless she starts to cry! Then it is time to give her to someone else. Typical guy huh???

Check out all this beautiful baby hair! She has a lot of dark hair for now. Let's hope she keeps all of it and it stays dark.

Grandbaby #10 has arrived

2009-09-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today at 7:31pm EST Macey Kelly arrived in Morgantown West Virginia. Weighing in at 8lbs 5oz. and 20 inches long. She is beautiful with lots of dark hair. I think she looks a lot like Loraya did but she is still a squishy faced newborn at this point. I took the kids over to say good night to Julia and Jacob before I put them to bed and the doctor came in a checked her and said it was time to have a baby!! We left the room and 15 minutes later and 2 pushes she was out. It was great that the kids could hold their new baby sister. Isaac didn't like all the crying but Loraya was just loving this adorable little baby. She is going to be a great little helper at home with her! Jacob will come home later tonight and try and get some sleep so we can bring them all home tomorrow. Julia was induced today at noon with pitosan first but that didn't really do much so they gave her an epidural and broke her water and 2 hours later she had Macey! She is so cute and can't wait to put pictures up for all to see. I should be home on the 22nd if all goes well!

Kristin's visit

2009-09-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

Kristin came to visit for the Labor day weekend and we had fun spoiling her at Macy's sale and then attending a wedding of her good friend Michelle from high school days. She took me as her escort for the evening so we had a good time. Don't you just love her new shoes and jewelry??
She looks really good for being 13 weeks pregnant!

It was so fun to have her at the house. I won't see her again until her baby arrives next March so I will miss her!! Thanks for coming and seeing us in California Kristin. (We missed Thomas!)

We saw Grandpa Kelly, Ron & Alison's family and then off to Calvin and Joanne's family to see Ryan and Jenn and Clinton and Marga. It was good to see everyone.

Betty got a haircut!

2009-08-28T15:50:00.001-07:00

Here is Betty with her new haircut. She did pretty well this time and didn't try to bite the groomer as much. I found a place in Loomis so it is close to take her. They really liked how she turned out.

Another pose for the camera. You don't know how hard it is to take picture of this puppy. She is always moving around so fast it is hard to get her to stay still.

Our attempt at taking a photo shoot with Ava and Betty. They just wanted to crawl around the chair and look at everything.

You get the idea!! We just could not get one decent shot in the 15 minutes we tried!!

What to do with ZUCCHINI

2009-08-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

I have tried both these recipes and they are wonderful. The chocolate bread is so yummy!! The cobbler will fool anyone who eats it into thinking you are eating apple cobbler! Enjoy

Chocolate zucchini bread: Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Powdered sugar, optional

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Pat shredded zucchini dry with paper towels. In a bowl, combine sugar, milk, egg, oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves.
In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Add the zucchini, milk mixture and the mini chips to the flour. Stir just until moistened (lumps are OK)
Scrape into loaf pan and bake until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. 33 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a rack. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top, if desired. (I just cooled it in the pan and it was fine) Tastes just like those chocolate muffins you have from the bakery!!

Zucchini cobbler: Ingredients

8 cups peeled, seeded and chopped zucchini (about 3 pounds)
2/3 cups lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

CRUST
4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cold butter (3 sticks)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice for 15 to 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Add sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; simmer 1 minute longer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

For crust, combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir 1/2 cup into zucchini mixture. Press half of the remaining mixture into a greased 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan ( I didn't have one of these so I used a 9 x 13 pan) Spread zucchini over the top of crust. crumble remaining crust mixture over it. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. (I had to cook a little longer because it was thicker)

This is really good with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on the top and warm of course!!

All Quiet on the Home Front!

2009-07-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I blogged and a lot has happened. The kids starting showing up the Friday before the 4th with Nic, Kandis & Nixon, Matt, Stacie, Brayden and Andrew. We had fun eating and playing and then going over the Burgess's house to light off the fireworks. We can't light them at our house so we called and asked if we could do it over there. The kids loved being able to light the sparklers and stuff. Ava slept through the whole thing and Nixon cried at first but got used to the noise. Andrew almost lit his shirt on fire and stepped on some hot wires so he was not so happy about the whole thing. The "Big Boys" liked the fireworks the best! Thanks Jon and Debbie for letting us come and crash at your place.

Monday Kristin and Thomas arrived and we put her right to work cleaning Nic and Kandi's teeth! Jan at the office was on vacation so we needed to get help from Kristin. She was a good sport and did a fantastic job. They were both very grateful for the teeth cleaning.

Tuesday Jacob and Julia, Loraya and Isaac arrived and they were met at the airport with their car to drive to Santa Cruz with the gang. They all met up at the Jelly Belly factory on the way and then made it to Santa Cruz by the evening. They had a wonderful time and the weather was great and the house they rented was really nice. Sid and I opted out of the Santa Cruz place to stay home with the 2 new dogs and get them used to being in California. I really enjoyed the time to get my rest and relaxation for when they returned on Thursday.

Many nights of games and talking were had by all and we had a great time seeing all the kids. We did feel the absence of Josh and Alexis and kids but they honored us with a new grandchild on Wednesday the 15th, weighing in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. Connor Grant Kelly arrived and we are very excited to see him soon. We were glad to have the pool in the backyard and the kids and grand kids had fun using it in the hot weather. Zip has gotten used to swimming with Sid and loves to jump in with everyone. Betty on the other hand will have nothing to do with the water and fell in accidentally once and has stayed pretty far away since then.

We are resting up now and Sid is getting ready for his big deer hunt in Utah mid August. I will be going out to Louisville to help with Connor on August 1st - 11th. We still get up at 6 in the morning to take the dogs for a walk and that makes me tired by the afternoon!! I still work at the temple on Tuesday nights and Sid still keeps busy at work and in the garden. All the pictures are on the other kids cameras so they will have to post pictures. Mike has borrowed my camera because their camera fell in the pool and does not work now! They leave for Oregon tomorrow so I guess my camera will go with them again!

I hope this keeps you updated on our doings! Hope all of you are having a wonderful summer so far.

Fathers Day at Grandpa Kelly's house

2009-06-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Calvin, Clinton and Joanne in the back yard. Just hanging around after we ate some wonderful food.

Mike, Ava and Brad talking about dirt bikes I am sure!

Marga and Clintons new little angel!! Sophia. She is really beautiful and such a good baby.

Zip trying to figure out what is going on in this strange place. He liked the other dogs and the chickens and was really good on this little trip to Yuba City.

Last day with Nixon in Provo

2009-06-30T14:09:00.001-07:00

We got this toy for Nixon while in Provo and he is loving looking at all the toys and noises. He loves to stand up so this will make him feel like he is a big boy!

Nixon likes Zip! The first meeting with the family. The people we got Zip from have a girl that is named Kandis too!! She is at Harvard!

The morning we left we had breakfast outside on the patio and then we played with Nixon one last time before heading home. I just can't get enough of this little man!

Camping at Fish Lake

2009-06-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

We put up the tent in the rain but by morning the weather had cleared and it was beautiful. We picked up Zip that morning and brought him back to take down the tent and return to Provo. We had a great time tracking deer, antelope and elk and even saw a huge herd of elk up in the mountains. It was truly a beautiful sight to see these magnificent animals in the wild.

This is our campsite at Fish Lake

You can tell it is a little rainy!

Horse Ride

2009-06-30T13:34:00.001-07:00

This picture is at our Lodge. They had fun things around to take pictures of.

another part of the lodge.

We did a 1/2 day ride on horses into the Capital Reef State Park. It was amazing to see this park on horseback. I had the white horse and Sid had the brown horse in the middle. My hose always wanted to eat and stop. I had to pull on the reins all morning. The weather held off until the last 5 minutes

Here is Sid in his "riding" clothes (hee hee) His wranglers and cowboy shirt!! I was so embarrassed to be seen with him in this stuff! He does look cute though don't you think??? Don't forget the binoculars around his neck. He won't ever leave those at home!!

The Lodge

2009-06-30T13:28:00.001-07:00

We stayed at this amazing place for our 34th anniversary. It even had buffalo in the front pasture to gaze out each morning and evening during breakfast. I still want one on my wall!

This is our private little patio out our room. The view was beautiful with the stream and red rock formations.

We ate at a local little place and had a great big hamburger and onion rings! Sid and I both enjoyed this great little place.

This is the front of the lodge where we stayed. It has 15 rooms that are all different and a great little restaurant that serves breakfast during the week and dinner on the weekends.

Trip to Utah

2009-06-30T13:23:00.001-07:00

This was our first look at Zip from his kennel. We were thrilled to finally see him and see what a great looking dog he is. He came right out and went straight for Sid and gave us a friendly greeting!

Zip is shorter than Rusty but much more muscular in build. He is a very sweet dog and does not growl or bite at things. He will just lick you to death!!

We stopped at Kandis and Nic's place before we picked up Zip and had some fun with Nixon. He is getting so big and laughs and chuckles so cute. Very healthy little guy!! A delight to play with.

A New Baby Girl!!!

2009-06-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

Ava has a new little girl to share her toys with now!!! You are looking at our new little baby schnauzer! I got her for our 34th Anniversary present. Call me crazy but I could not resist this cute little girl. Ava likes watching her run around and chase her toys. I still have not heard her bark yet so I hope that is a good sign.

Here is another shot of her. She is really small and I am sure she will be smaller than Pepper. She has a really small head and feet. She weighs 3 pounds now and she is 9 weeks old. She was born on April 6th.

She is black with a little white on her chest and the tips of her feet. I am trying to decided on a name but so far I think I will call her "Betty Boop". Little Betty is so excited for all of you to come and visit and see her in July!!

Many of you already know we are going to Utah Sunday to see Kandis and Nic and then pick up Sid's new dog "Zip" the yellow pointing lab. We are excited to see him and hope he is a good match for Sid. He is already trained and turned 2 in May of this year. We will let you know how that goes when we return next Saturday. In the mean time Christy and Mike will be watching my new little girl and trying to teach her good things!!! Like not going potty in the house!!

Working Hard in the Yard

2009-06-06T19:12:00.001-07:00

The last couple of weeks we have been working really hard in the yard to plant the beautiful flowers that give me so much joy to look at out our windows. I just love driving up to my home and seeing all the wonderful color!! Mark and Judy McKinney are quite the experts in helping me with picking out the flowers and they even came and worked really hard with me to plant all the flats of flowers. Mark adjusted the sprinklers and checks them when he drives by and taught me how to kill all the snails and bugs that attack my plants. Mark and Judy are wonderful~!!

I think this is kind of patriotic!! They should be really big by the 4th of July.

Don't you just want to walk up this path and read a book if I just had a chair to sit on! I think I should be on the cover of Sunset Magazine! thanks Mark and Judy.

A couple of trips

2009-06-06T18:58:00.001-07:00

OK, these are totally backwards from when we traveled but here goes anyway. The first pictures are of our trip to Anaheim for the dental convention. It was beautiful weather and just fun to be able to sit by the pool and relax all day while Sid went and learned a bunch about dentistry!! I did go to some classes with him and found them to be very interesting but for the most part I just lazed around all day and just had fun. At night we would walk to Disney Walk and find a good place to eat. We saw the movie Star Trek on the IMAX theater and that was really great. I had the honor of sitting next to a true start trek fan and he was obsessed with every bit of the movie. He made sounds of delightment (I just made up that word!) through the whole thing!! It was fun! This tree is by the convention center and across from Disneyland. It is HUGE!! Sid had to climb up it to give you the perspective of the size of this thing. Seriously HUGE!

We went to Utah to bless Nixon and these are some shots that are on my camera of Nixon. Sid has some really good ones that he needs to load on the computer so I can blog them for you. Enjoy!

I thought this was a funny look on Nixons face with grandpa!! He looks surprised for some reason.

We went to lunch at the Riverwoods and this was a picture of Nixon and I outside enjoying the sunshine. He is such a chunk!

Mexico Trip 2009

2009-05-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Sid and I took the office staff to Mexico for a week of rest and relaxation. I am just now getting to post about some of the things that we did. I, in no way have all of the wonderful pictures to show you but thought I better get some of the things on this blog for all of you to enjoy. We had such a wonderful time and the girls were so delighted to go and be pampered the whole week. They all enjoyed the manicure, pedicure and massages. The 24 hour room service, the non stop poolside drinks, food and what ever they wanted. I think what I enjoyed most was the tours and the non stop laughing and good times. What a treat to see Mike speak Spanish to everyone and seem so comfortable. It had been 5 years since his mission in this area but he slipped right back into Spanish mode and it was great watching him feel so comfortable. We loved the beautiful weather and the people in the Mayan Riviera are so wonderful. We did make it to Cozomel so Sid and Mike could dive. The girls just relaxed by the pool at the Palace in Cozomel and rested. The shopping in Playa was fun and we saw the worlds smallest monkey!! For $5 they would LET you take a picture of it with your own camera!! Mike got some great buys on some hammocks which we enjoyed laying in at the resort! We ate at the Playa Del Carmen Palace resort and watched the sun set on the beach. We spent a day at the Moon Palace which is closer to the downtown part of Cancun. The resort was HUGE and we were glad we spent the week at Aventura which is about an hour south of Cancun. We had a chance to zipline so we did that one day and loved it. It was kind of scary for me but I did it!! I truly think this is one of my favorite places to vacation. Sid just loves the fun and the relaxing so I am so glad we have a favorite place that we can go together. I hope you enjoy the pictures and seeing what a great time we had in Cancun. Anyone up for a trip next year???

favorite things in Mexico!

2009-05-12T09:33:00.001-07:00

I was so excited to finally get my chocolate crepe with vanilla ice cream!! When we first arrived I told the girls about the crepe place that Aventura had and when we went looking for this place it had moved. They told us they did not serve crepes anymore and I was so sad because they were so wonderful. Well, by the end of the week they did serve crepes again and I finally got my chocolate crepe I had been craving the whole trip!!

Every night in our room we would get a little plate of wonderful yummy treats to share with Mike and Christy. These are little swan shaped cream puffs and white chocolate with black berries on top. They were GREAT!

I just love kayaking in the lagoons and looking at the fish. I found a huge conch shell that had a big hermit crab living in it!

Nothing better than 24 hour room service!! We had breakfast in our suite at the dining table for 10!! We really were spoiled with all of the service and attention. Just another reason to stay at the Palace resorts.

These flowers were left on the spa tub in Mike and Christy's room. They would leave flowers and other things each night. These were so beautiful.

Cenote Time

2009-05-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

You might ask what a cenote is?? It is an underground fresh water river. You have to walk down some steep stairs like a spiral staircase to reach it. I was a little nervous about going into the well looking thing but soon discovered at the bottom that there was a large platform to stand on and see the spectacular clear blue water to swim in!!

Sheila and I are at the bottom of the well at this point.

This is all of us after we went swimming in the water. We are standing on the platform.

Jan, me and Kathy in the cenote water. So clear and blue and you can see to the very bottom. This was one of my most favorite things to do in Mexico.

Tulume

2009-05-12T09:21:00.001-07:00

It just would not be a trip to Tulume without the picture of the iguanas. They were everywhere!

At the entrance of Tulume. One of our favorite places to see and play at the beach.

Sheila at the entrance.

Jan, Jackie and Kathy at the entrance of Tulume. Sheila took most of the beach pictures at this place so I don't have any of them to post at this time.

Mayan Village tour

2009-05-12T09:13:00.001-07:00

We had the opportunity of going to a Mayan village and seeing how they live. In this picture the man is doing a religious ceremony and blessing us to be safe in the cenote that we will be swimming in later. After he sprinkled water on us they offered us some strong alcohol in a community bowl to share. (NO THANKS!)

The women and children are making corn tortillas for us to eat. They made them by hand and then cooked them over an open flame fire. They were really good.

This young lady was making the beautiful embroidery that is found on their dresses and purses and other things that they sell. It was an old treadle sewing machine which she made work in her bare feet.

These little guys performed some of their native music and poetry. They were adorable and so willing to do their little dances and music. I wish I could have taken them all home with me. Notice the floor of their home and that they have no shoes on again.

This little girl was playing the drums that were made out of a hollowed out log. She had such a sweet face.

Favorite Dinner Spot

2009-05-12T09:05:00.001-07:00

There are so many good places to eat at this resort but one of our favorites was the Hacienda Mexican place. You have to dress up for dinner and the live band was great.

Mike and Christy waiting to be seated!! Can't wait for the yummy food!

These guys were so much fun to have sing around our table. They were kind of loud and so talking was hard to do when they were right at our table. The little guy on the left was a really funny guy. He made weird whistle noises during the songs and thought he was really funny! I don't think I will every forget the "Cat Meow" song!! (don't ask!)

Did someone say dessert?? These are 5 shot glasses filled with yummy desserts. My favorite is the middle one!

Rock Wall Climbing

2009-05-12T08:58:00.001-07:00

These boys thought it would be fun to try out the rock climbing wall at the resort. Mike zipped up really fast and Sid had to make two tries before he made it to the top. They both did really well and the instructor was very impressed!! The instructor said Mike was very fast!! He liked talking to Mike in Spanish while Sid climbed!!

Mexico 09'

2009-05-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

A room with a view again!! There is nothing that can describe the beauty and the perfection of sitting on the balcony of your presidential suite and taking in the blue water and the white sandy beach. The weather was perfect every day and we had such a great time getting in the most rest and relaxation that we could!!

getting ready to go on another day tour!! This is the family side of the resort now and there was not very many families hanging out!! It ended up being one of our favorite sides to hang out at because we were pampered and spoiled by the staff!!

Good Memories

2009-04-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day for us because we had to put down Rusty, Sid's beloved hunting companion. He will be really missed by all of us on our daily walks down Barker road and of course the swimming in the pool with us!! He was almost 12 years old and lived a good life. We all have great memories with this wonderful dog and I hope he is reunited with Pepper and they are chasing each other all over Heaven!! Sid was by his side at the Vets and said it was peaceful for him. When we return from our trip I will post some pictures that I think will be a nice remembrance for him. I thought you would all like to know about his passing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

2009-04-15T11:31:00.001-07:00

Today I awoke to Sid asking me to come into the kitchen and he gave me some beautiful flowers! How sweet is that??? then I was talking to Kandis on the phone and the UPS guy left 2 boxes, yes you read it right, 2 boxes at my door from pro-flowers!! Lo and behold (I just had to say that) I received 2 lovely arrangements from Kandis and Nic, and Jacob, Julia, Isaac and Loraya!! How spoiled am I???? (don't answer that one) I'm going to lunch with the hubby and Mike and Christy today and then dinner with Sid possibly tonight or this weekend. THEN, the best present ever....... ta,da............Aventura Palace Resort in Cancun! We leave on Tuesday and can't wait to feel the warm sun on my lily white body! Hey pool boy, bring me a virgin miami vice please!! Seriously, I am so grateful to have reached the ripe old age of 54! I still feel like I am in my 20's in my mind but my body does not seem to respond like it is still in my 20's. I have such great kids and grandkids and I love working in the temple every Tuesday. What more could a girl want??? I can't think of a thing, (oh, yeah, I can think of a few things, like both my sons getting into dental school soon!!) Thanks to everyone for all the calls from friends and fun cards from friends and family. Love to you all and thanks for being my friends and family

and putting up with me all these years. Hopefully I will be around a lot more years to bug you!

So Grateful

2009-04-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

I can't let another day go by without posting about the wonderful conference we heard on Saturday and Sunday. I was filled with emotion (not surprised!) as the prophet and apostles spoke to us and of course the music by the choir was amazing. It is so cool to see my brother sit in the choir seats and be singing with such a great group of people. We are so blessed to have a living prophet to give us direction every six months at the general conferences that we get to hear. It was so good to hear such positive direction for us to follow and know that our Heavenly Father knows and wants us to succeed in this life. I really enjoyed the talks and especially the talks about the temple and the importance of attending and renewing our covenants in that holy house. I feel so blessed to be able to work in the temple every week and feel the spirit that comes from being there. I have learned so much from the people that I work with and am truly blessed by their friendship and love. I am also so blessed to have such a wonderful family that I love so much. What a blessing to know that we will be an eternal family for the eternities because of the blessings of the temple. I felt the spirit so strongly when the choir sang We Thank Thee O God for A Prophet. I know that President Monson is our true prophet of God and he is to give us direction in our lives. We are not to fear if we have faith and do what we have been counseled to do. It is never to late to change habits, ideas, or whatever needs to be changed to become better followers of Christ in our lives. I truly believe that service is the key to happiness. No matter what we have in this life we can always give of our time and talents to make others happy and help in some way. We have been so blessed with things in our lives but the best things in life are not things. They are the joys of a wonderful posterity that I have and the examples they are to me. I hope we can all take the time to truly look at all the blessings that we have in this life and share something with others, no matter how big or small that may be.

Jacob came to Visit!

2009-03-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Jacob and Ava got along great. I guess Jacob is getting used to holding babies again since Julia will be having another little one in September.

We took a drive up to see Grandpa Kelly and Jacob got to see his little dog Abby and of course see all of the chickens. Abby liked Jacob a lot!

Ava loved seeing a little dog for a change and just laughed and laughed at Abby when she would move!! We tried to get a video of her laughing but she would always stop when we would turn on the camera!! Ava knows when we are taking pictures I guess!

Dad and Jacob went up to Squaw on Thursday and then drove over to Tahoe to stay at the time share at Heavenly. They skied the next couple of days at Heavenly and had a great time. Sid had been doing sit ups every night to strengthen his back muscles and it seemed to help him out a lot. He didn't get one single back muscle spasm! They had fun together in the great sunny weather but on the last day it snowed on them. Sunday we went up to see Grandpa and then Jacob flew home on Monday. We drove over to the Mall so he could see all the improvements since they had moved and found some cute things for the kids. We had to make a stop at Costa Vida for lunch before we took him to the airport. It was a toss up between In and Out and Costa Vida!!

It was wonderful to have him here but strange to not have the rest of the family here!! We missed Julia and the kids and hope that this summer they will all come out and have fun at our place. I'm thinking June???

2009-03-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Sid and I went to Arizona so Sid could attend a dental seminar in Scottsdale. We had the privilege of staying in an amazing place called the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. It was so beautiful and the weather was so warm. Sid got up early on Friday and went to his class and I just relaxed in our beautiful room and went for a couple of mile walk around the grounds.

The colors don't show up quite right but they were a blue and chocolate color with golds and browns. Truly beautiful and relaxing. We had a patio with furniture to relax in the sun and take in the aroma garden just outside our doors.

I must say it was quite expensive to eat at this place so I decided not to do so. One of the resturaunts was a steak house and a 6 oz steak was $175.00!!! That is close to what the room costs! We drove to Scottsdale and ate at the Cheescake factory and that was just fine with us! After the seminar was over we went over to stay with Chris and Tim in Mesa and got to see their beautiful home. The terrain in AZ is much different than northern California. There is so many rocks in peoples front yards and not very much grass. I don't particularly care for the southwestern style of homes but I guess it can grow on you!! It was around 80 degrees and so pretty but they say it really gets hot in the summers.

Back in Sac (2)

2009-03-01T15:11:00.001-08:00

This was the first day we brought him home from the hospital. We were so excited to finally get him home and love him!! He is very strong and moves his head around to look at everything. He also puts his hands out and touches your face. He is a very calm sweet baby so far.

Grandpa flew in again to get his truck back. I was supposed to drive home with him but since we just got Nixon home on that Friday I had to stay another week to help Kandis and Nic with the baby and help around the house.

This is just a sweet picture of Kandis hugging or burping Nixon. He is really good at all the bodily functions that babies do! He did not like getting his circumcision last Wednesday but in a couple of days he didn't seem to mind that either! He is gaining weight and the doctors are pleased with his progress. He will have his 2 week check on Monday and I am sure Kandis will post all the stats. We still think he looks a lot like Kandis and grandpa Scott!! Good thing his middle name is Scott!!

I am back home now and will leave for Arizona on Thursday with Sid for a dental convention. We plan on visiting Sid's sister Chris when we are in Arizona so it should be warm and fun!! It sure is nice sleeping in my own bed next to my husband!! Don't get me wrong, I loved being in Provo with Kandis and Nic and their great couch but your own bed sure is nice!!

Back in Sac!

2009-03-01T15:03:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken just before we loaded him in his car seat for the ride to the airport. I had been in Utah for a month and I was ready to go home again. Nixon is doing so good and such a great baby. Kandis is looking wonderful and feeling good so I know they will do just fine without me around!!

Back in her old jeans again and looking fine!! She only needed a week to get back to pre baby size. She looks great and is such a wonderful mother to Nixon. She really takes to this new motherhood thing in her life and is very calm and relaxed around the baby. That in turn makes Nixon calm and relaxed. Nic on the other hand loves to get Nixon excited and tickles him and tries to get a rise out of him. Poor little guy!! He gives him kisses with his prickly beard and that makes Nixon make his squishy face!!

Check out this boys hands. He loves to do this with his fat little hands. I don't know how he learned this thing but he likes to hold his hands or fold his arms. It seems to calm him down.

This is a closer look at his pudgy sausage fingers intertwined!! funny huh???

Nixon is HOME!!

2009-02-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Today was the best day ever!! Nixon spent the night in the hospital with his parents hooked up to a monitor so they could be tested on how well they will do with him home. At first they just wanted him to use the monitor for a month but now they have suggested he use if for 2 months. He was given the car seat test where he sits in his car seat for 90 minutes with his monitors on to check his vital signs. He passed so he was allowed to come home. We are so glad to have him home and he is doing really well. He eats and sleeps and just looks around. He is still pretty spitty but that is normal with the acid reflux that he has. He takes medicine every day for that to help with the spitting stuff. He is doing really well and mom and dad are sooooo glad to have him home. Sid flew in today and so we will spend the next few days helping them in any way we can. Check Kandis's blog to see updated photos and her point of view! Kandis is doing great and feeling better every day. Nic needs to get some sleep so he can get back to work and school rested and ready to go!! We are so grateful for a wonderful new grandson and love to see what good parents Nic and Kandis are becoming.

Todays update

2009-02-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Nixon had his sensor removed at about 2 am so he was finally comfortable for awhile. It was a 12 hour test so we are glad that is over. Kandis was released from the hospital at about 8:30pm so she came home took a shower and changed into normal clothes. The hospital suggested that she stay in one of the complimentary rooms reserved for ICU patients parents and especially since she is nursing they could just walk down the hall and wake her up. We jumped at the chance to use those rooms so Nic and Kandis spent the night at the hospital last night and will do so again tonight. The Pediatrician came in and read the results and said it was inconclusive enough to not say that reflux is the cause of the problem. Soooo they said they want them to be trained on the monitor and learn baby CPR before going home and they will send Nixon home some time tomorrow with a monitor for a month. Also he will be taking some kind of medication for acid reflux for a month just to be sure that he will be OK. They have classes today at noon and again at 6:30pm and then will be sleeping next to him with the monitor attached for a minimum of 8 hours so they know they are confident with the set up to take him home. They will be required to sleep in the same room with him at night for a month so if you know how small their rooms are that will be fun!! We just hope all goes as scheduled today and he continues to get better. He has maintained his weight and counts so that is in his favor. He just gets cuter and cuter and when he gets home I will post some more pictures with out all the stuff on him. He is a real chow hound but what do you expect if you didn't get any food for the first 24 hours of your life!! Thanks again for all of your support and prayers in their behalf. We feel all of your love and appreciate it.

Nixon update

2009-02-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

Nixon has continued to get better each hour and we are so grateful for that. He has been moved to the less serious side of the NICU (there is a high risk side that he was in and a lower risk side) so we are excited about that. He will undergo some more tests this morning. They are going to put a tube through his nose and into his stomach to measure the acid in his stomach and determine if he has a acid reflux problem that is causing the issue. If so we will treat him for acid reflux and see if he breathes better. He only had a couple of "episodes" yesterday morning and did great all afternoon without any problems. We gave him his first bath around 10:30pm and he was quite upset about that!! Kandis nursed him after that and he settled back down. His levels looked good but they continued to watch him through the night in the high risk side of the NICU. This morning, like I said they moved him to the lower risk side and have continued with the antibiotics. Kandis continues to nurse him every 3 hours and this morning they gave him some formula to supplement her lack of milk at this point. He kept that down without throwing everything back up so that is another really good sign. He is so cute with his long dark hair and we still don't really know who he looks like. He still has that squishy face from being born! I think he tends to favor the Kelly side!! His nose is a little flared from the breathing tubes and problems. He is so chunky and looks like a giant next to the tiny preemies in the other beds. They all think he is adorable. The nurses just love him and say he is such a good baby. He is strong and holds and moves his head to look at his mommy and daddy, much to their delight. Kandis and Nic are doing really well with all of this knowing that he is in the best NICU unit in the State of Utah. They life flight babies here for care so we are just glad we were delivering Nixon at this hospital. Kandis will be released tonight to come home and take a shower in her own place! We will be going back and forth to the hospital to feed Nixon every 3 hours but that is OK. That is why I am here to help I guess!! My job is to keep Nic and Kandis fed and rested so they can help Nixon get better. We are optimistic that Nixon will be home by the end of the week if the tests results are favorable. If Nixon can go through a day without an episode of not breathing that will be just GREAT!! Thanks for all of your prayers and concerns. We love you all and hope to have baby and parents in one place soon!!! I hope this helps you all know what is happening with everything. It is hard to explain all the details of everything when the doctors are just puzzled by his condition.

Nixon pictures

2009-02-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Kandis and Nixon looking at each other!! He really loves to look at his mommy. Look at all those muscles on his arms. He is really a chunky monkey.

All bundled up!! Nic can really get him swaddled up. He likes to be like this.

Isn't he so cute. He is still hooked up to everything but at least we can hold him now.

This is what he looked like for the first hour of his life. It was hard to see him like this but he really is doing much better now. We are hoping to bring him home in a couple of days. Kandis will be released Wednesday afternoon so we will be coming back and forth to feed and be with Nixon during the day.

Today has been a better day for little Nixon. He has been in the NICU unit all day and will probably be there a couple of more days. They had run many tests today to find out why Nixon stops breathing after crying or getting upset. He has done much better this afternoon and has not had any more episodes most of the afternoon. He has nursed a couple of times and has done really well with latching on. He had a echo cardiogram today and a spinal tap to test the fluid for any signs of blood. He was started on antibiotics for 48 hours and they just have him hooked up on monitors to see what the level of oxygen is when he gets upset. They have not even given him a bath yet because they don't want to stress him out to much.

Nixon Scott Bennion has arrived

2009-02-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

Well, after a long day of labor for Kandis starting at 5:30am with a phone call from the hospital asking if she could get there at 6:15!! Nixon Scott Bennion arrived at 11:38pm weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long!! He is a real chunky boy. He was having some breathing problems so they took him to ICU to be put and monitored on oxygen. He looked good and was looking calmly around while hooked up to everything. Kandis was sad that she could not hold her baby but they let her go into the ICU before putting her into her room for the night. Nic expects Nixon to be out soon and in the well baby nursery by a couple of hours. The nurses seemed to think that would happen. Everyone was shocked at the size of Kanids's baby. She was really all baby!! She did great during the labor and pushed for about 1 1/2 hours. She has a new respect for me now!! Especially since I had my kids natural. She asked me how I ever had 6 kids!! (hee hee hee). Nixon has lots of hair!! I am on Nics computer and can not down load pictures at this point but will try and do that tomorrow afternoon when I go to the hospital again. Since Nixon was in the ICU they will probably want him to stay 2 days in the hospital before going home. I will keep you posted.

No Baby Yet!!

2009-02-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been in Utah for a week and still no baby. Kandis is scheduled to be induced tomorrow (Monday) if she does not go into labor herself today!! She looks good and feels good but the baby just seems to not want to come yet! I guess she is taking after her mom on this one. We are to call the hospital tomorrow at 6:00am and then they will tell us what time we are to show up for the induction. The room is ready and waiting and we can hardly wait to hold Nixon in our arms. We will post pictures when he arrives and let you all know how it is going.

Quick Trip

2009-01-27T09:05:00.001-08:00

This is supposed to be a video of Wayne and Jessie playing gestures with the family but it came out as a picture. I will try again and put it up as a video so you can see how much fun we were having at Wayne and Laurie's house.

I just had to put a picture of cute Kandis being 38 weeks pregnant. She is ALL baby and nothing else. Can't wait to hold this little guy in my arms in a couple of weeks.

Bryson loves this little rocking horse. If you squeeze his ear his tail moves and he makes noises like he is running!! the head also moves around and it is really quite cute.

This is the only picture I have on my camera of Laurie, Jessie, Alexis and Bryson. They were eating a cookie so it is a little strange!! Sorry about that. It was so good to see Jessie doing well and improving each day. He is a real trooper! We had a wonderful time touring the Draper Temple and seeing what a beautiful temple it is. Also Lauren did a fantastic job on her talk for her farewell even though Pres. Ukdorf was there!! Val has about 7 -10 general authorities in her ward!! It was a great trip and we had lots of snow the day before I came home. Kandis and Nics new place is really cute and I am so glad they let me stay with them while I was there. Can't wait to return and help with the Nixon!!

Off to Utah

2009-01-22T10:47:00.000-08:00

Well, today I leave for Utah to attend my wonderful sister's (Val) daughters mission farewell. We are excited for Lauren to serve a mission and are so glad she is happy to serve the Lord. She will be going to Charlotte North Carolina. I will be staying with Kandis and Nic and be able to see Alexis and Bryson because they are still in town from Alexis's grandmothers funeral. Laurie got tickets to the Draper Temple open house on Friday so that will be a fun thing to do with their family. My father and Marge will be in town for the farewell so I will get to see them too!! Anyway I will post pictures when I return and then the next time I will be going to Utah will be Feb 5th to help Kandis with her new baby Nixon!! Can't wait for that trip!! I hope I can stay warm in Utah!!

I just need to VENT!

2009-01-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

I was just sitting down to eat some lunch when the door bell rang. I got up to answer the door still in my walking shorts and dirty top and no shower yet! At the door was the animal control officer in full uniform. I thought to myself, what happened to Rusty and then I thought maybe someone complained about his barking again. (I had just put the shock collar on him that morning because he was barking a lot at the UPS trucks and I thought the neighbors would be mad) I digress! Anyway, the officer said he received a complaint that we were abusing our dog. What the heck did he just say??? Abusing??? Abusing our DOG????? Did he just say we were not taking care of Rusty??? He proceeded to tell me that they are supposed to check out every complaint but could see that the people that reported us were not fully aware of Rusty's living situation. He asked me if he could inspect his living quarters and check the dog for any abuse! I have never felt so embarrassed in my life. We would never abuse our dog, especially not Rusty or any other dog for that matter. I told him that Rusty was my husbands hunting dog and that he was about 11 years old and still hunted with my husband. He asked me if we every let him out of his kennel and took him for walks?? I told him that we walked him daily and that he had a freaken half acre to run in all day and all night long. He asked me if we took him in at night or if he stayed outside. I told him that he was allowed in the garage if we thought the weather was to cold at night and he had water and blankets to keep him warm. I still could not believe he was asking me all of those questions. He had me take Rusty out of his yard and he looked and petted him and commented on what good teeth he had for an old dog. I am still in shock as my neighbors are driving by and wondering what is going on with the officer and me. I asked him who would make such a complaint and he said he could not tell me. He said since we live on a busy intersection a concerned citizen thought the dog was just left unattended 24/7 and was abused. Holy Hannah!! I am still in shock. Rusty has got to be the most spoiled dog in the world. He is truly in dog Heaven on his own half acre to run and play and just laze around all day. What are people thinking????? The officer said he could see that Rusty was fine and thanked me for letting him see the dog. I told him that when Sid comes home he is allowed in the house and is quite content to just be around Sid. I kept finding myself trying to defend myself for nothing. Awkward for sure. I just had to VENT!

Today is Sid's Birthday

2009-01-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well, today is Sid's birthday and I got the flu last night and had to sleep in a different room so I would not get Sid sick. I think I must have eaten something that did not agree with me. I was fine all day until around 7:00pm and then wham it hit me hard. You all know how much I HATE to barf so it was not pleasant at all. I am feeling really weak today but managed to get a cake in the oven so he will at least get a birthday cake. The girls at the office are taking him out for lunch so he will get a big lunch. I called in sick to the temple so I won't be working there tonight.

Sid turns 55 today!! Does that mean he qualifies for the senior discount??? Age does have its privileges. Sid is such a great husband and I love him soooooo much. He is such a good father, grandfather and provider. He is the worlds most obsessed hunter and used to be the worlds best skier!! He makes me laugh and even though we have our moments he is the best thing that ever happened to me. Show Sid some love and wish him a happy birthday today!!

Whatever you do, don't spoil my hunting dog!

2009-01-04T15:24:00.001-08:00

I know you are wondering what you are looking at!! Yes, that is Rusty on the couch trying to get me to cuddle with him!! Sid says I am spoiling his hunting dog. I just miss Pepper and feel sorry for Rusty all alone outside in the cold. I know he should not be on the couch but he wormed his way up on the couch and Christy caught it on the camera.

He knows who loves him!! He was mad at Sid for not taking him goose hunting that day and was very cuddly with me to make Sid jealous! (he got off the couch just after this was taken! I Promise)

Happy Boys!

2008-12-29T09:48:00.001-08:00

Here is Thomas with his gift card making the excited face. He was so much fun unwrapping presents. He says his dad takes a lot of pictures on Christmas so he learned to pose and wait for the click!!

Sid does not plan on sharing his loot! He is set to watch all of his hunting shows now. All 4 years recorded shows on the big screen. All he needs is his popcorn, soda and peanut M&M's! Don't try to ask him to share because he won't do it!

After we opened up the gifts we hung around the house and then called Grandpa Kelly and found out he was all alone so we took our ham dinner up to his house and enjoyed the dinner with him and Abby. Thomas had never been to his house so it was a treat to show him the chickens and let him pick mandarins right from the tree. Thanks Grandpa for letting us come up and visit with you!

Christmas Morning

2008-12-29T09:41:00.000-08:00

It was around 9:45 when we heard the kids up because they were supposed to get over to the Meyer house at 10:00am. Here they are in the hall waiting to see the presents.

Ava smiling at Grandpa! She loved to give him big smiles, it is just hard to catch them on film.

Ava seems excited to see the presents and start opening her loot!

Here is Grandpa with Ava in her cute Christmas outfit. She is getting so cute!