Highlights of 2014

2014 was a busy year for us.  I was sick much of the spring and haven't stopped much since school got out.  However, it has been a good year.

Adie and Sabrina visited for a dance competition in January.

My parents turned 80 years old.

My siblings and I stopped long enough for a picture at the party.

 Sabrina, Brett, and their family moved to Utah in June for employment, and they lived with us during the summer.  It was great to get to know their family better.  We bought Connect Passes and had many field trips around Salt Lake.  Debbie and the kids visited too. 

We took a hike around Silver Lake.

The planetarium is lots of fun.

Red Butte Gardens was beautiful, and we loved the hike.

 I was able to visit Texas in July and October and see Trent, Amelia, and their kids in their new home.  Texas is a fun place to visit.

We visited the largest cave in Texas and saw animals up close from the truck.

We were able to eat some delicious meals.

It was fun to go to TJ's game and watch him the next day in his primary program.

Kameryn made the decision to be baptized at the end of October.  We are so proud of him. 

This has been a great year, and we still have 6 more weeks and a new baby to come to finish up the year!

Quick trip to Boise

Sweet Cami turned 8 and was baptized yesterday so Wes and I made a quick trip to Idaho to be with the family.  

Cami was an angel and enjoyed being the star of the day.  She was busy hugging everyone, one of her many talents!

Cami asked to have a picture taken with me.  She is always so loving.

She also wanted a picture with Grandpa.  Braden and Caitlyn wanted to photo bomb.

It seems like just yesterday these two went with me on lots of outings.  Time flies.  They are both grown now and being great young men.

Caitlyn and James played a beautiful song on their cello and violin.

Bryson enjoyed the cupcakes.

Debbie was radiant as Cami's assistant. 

What a nice family!

Home for the Holidays

Amelia's friend was married at the end of December, so their family packed up and headed north for a week or so.  TJ loved playing in the snow, Ayla not so much.  However, we all had a great time spending time together despite the cold weather.

We traveled to Morgan for the annual Heiner family Christmas party.  We made sure to take a four generation picture with  Grandma Heiner, Grandma Doodle, Trent, TJ and Ayla.

While their parents went to lunch with friends, TJ and Ayla went to the Children's Museum with Grandma.  TJ loved being a construction worker.

Both children drove whatever they could!  It's a good thing they had two steering wheels because both kids wanted to be in charge.

Grandma needs to give Ayla riding lessons: Don't use the horn of the saddle, sit up straight, and smile!

TJ started the helicopter and they were ready to take off.

The kids made some tasty cookies for Santa.

TJ tried his hand at skiing and snow boarding.  He was amazing and has no fear.  His parents had to run fast to keep up with him.

This was a fun way to spend Christmas Eve.

Santa found the kids in Salt Lake, and they were thrilled with their haul. 

We had visitors all day, and were able to eat a delicious holiday dinner.

It was a fun, busy Christmas.  I loved having this family to spend the holidays.

Terrific Turkey Time

Our dreams of spending time in a warm sunny place came true...eventually.  

The first morning was a bit brisk as Trent and Amelia ran in a 5-k and pushed the little ones, but it was still lots of fun despite the chilly (for Florida) temps.

We decided to let someone else cook for us and joined Amelia's parents for dinner at a restaurant. 

 

Ayla enjoyed her Thanksgiving dinner.

T J had a good time too.

Grandpa loved pushing Ayla around a museum.

We visited the Tallahassee Museum on Friday.  The museum teaches history, has a farm and a zoo, and is such an interesting place to spend the day. T.J. was able to go on a zip-line and loved it.  I have some great videos of him sliding around.  However, the videos are not loading today so I will add them if things change.

On Saturday we went bike riding and Sunday we went to a beach and had a picnic with some gnats.  The gnats were victorious and made us leave their territory.  I can't get those pictures to upload either, so maybe someday I will add them too.

What a fun Thanksgiving!  Wes and I loved spending time with our family, and it sure was tough to arrive home to a huge snowstorm.  We hope to spend winter in a warm place some day.

Get Ready, Get Set

This holiday season was a whirlwind.  We are just now starting to catch our breath. I will divide this holiday into at least three posts and it may take a few days to get them all written.

 Everything started the week before Thanksgiving when Debbie and three of her children came down for her step-father's funeral and stayed for five days.  It was wonderful to see them, but unfortunately I had to work much of the time and they had funeral things to do.

Finally on the weekend we were able to go to dinner with Rob and his family and hang out a bit.  We decided to decorate the house, shop for Cami's birthday, and do some baking.   I finally remembered to pull out the camera.

James and Bryson made sure all the ornaments were distributed equally.  

Debbie helped out too even though she had to put up her own tree later on.

We went shopping for Cami's birthday and Bryson was hoping for his own doll. 

Cami thought she wanted toys, but she settled for some cute shoes and a jacket.    Mom was happy about that!

Cami helped make some delicious cookies in her new jacket.

Now we were ready for the holidays!

Fabulous Fall Break

  Wes had extra tickets on US Air, so he decided to use them to send me to Tucson.  He said it was the only place he had enough points for, but I think he wanted to get rid of me.  Nevertheless, I had a great time in a few days. 

We met Adie for lunch at her school one afternoon.

I watched the kids one day so their parents could make a temple trip to Mesa.  We rode bikes and played in the sand.

We met a few turkeys while on our hike in the canyon.

We had a little family time while we waited to pay to get in the canyon.

The kids loved collecting leaves.

The boys love to pose for pictures!

It was a fun way to spend my break and my birthday!

It's About Time

So I've been MIA lately.  Once school starts, life is crazy.  However I almost have time to breathe right now, so I'll post the highlights of the last few months. 

I spent a lot of time during August and September in Physical Therapy.  Now my leg is almost better, and I rarely think about it anymore.  I am gaining strength and can do most activities.  I am so thankful for modern medicine.  Here are some the the happenings of August, September, and early October.

My mom, Diane, Suzanne, and Tiffany drove to Salt Lake for a day. We were able to spend the day shopping, going to lunch, visiting the Church History Museum, hang out with mom's cousin, and paint our toenails.   It was fun to be with these great ladies.  I need more of these kind of days.

Austin played football and we were able to go to lots of his games.  I loved hanging out in the sun and cheering on the Olympus Titans.

Austin turned 12, and got  a new bike!

He partied at the Fairmont Bike Park with family and friends.

My nephew, Lorum, was married in the Bountiful Temple.  Their reception was in a castle.

Here is the beautiful bride, Mattie.

Lorum was able to talk with many family and friends.

David and his whole family were able to come to the reception.  It was good that Scott could make it.  On a sad note, he passed away this week after a battle with brain cancer.

Here is Kate with Doug, Chelsey, and my mom.  Chelsey is very busy in school, so it was nice of her to take so much time out of her studies to be supportive to her cousin.

We also enjoyed spending the day with Merl and Diane.  The rest of the family showed up after we left, and we wish we could have seen them too.

Debbie came down for a weekend and was able to attend one of Austin's games.  It's always good to see her, and we hope to make it to Nampa soon to see the rest of the clan.

Life was busy during August and September, but it was great to spend so much of it with family.  That's what really matters.