Playing Catch Up - December

It's been 4 months since I've made a blog post. I had to think twice about what my password was to even sign in! We've had such wonderful news happening in our family the past few months that I decided I better catch up a little and at least mention them and post a few pictures for the record.

December 19: Justin and Stephanie get married (guess I can take the ticker off the blog now) :)

Coming out of the Mesa Temple

Proof we were all there! All of our children (and spouses) were able to be there except for Jordan (in Mexico), and Andrew, and Starrie, since Starrie was due with Jocelynn about a week later.

Emily carrying the train

Groomsmen, bridesmaids, Emily, & Alyssa

The reception was held in Stephanie's home and backyard - everything was absolutely gorgeous. Her dad made homemade Mexican food (yum!). Perfect December Arizona weather (73 degrees) for a perfect day!

Cutting the cake

Emily all tired out

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Christmas 2009:

We are so blessed to live close to Bill and Karen! One night we met them in Salt Lake City, enjoyed dinner together, then went to see a gingerbread house display. There was also a nativity display and a tree display there. So pretty!

Bill and Karen at the Christmas display

I can't believe it, but this is about the only picture we took on Christmas day!!

Kathy and Emily sporting the new aprons that Caitlin made for us!!

December 28: We became grandparents again!! Beautiful Jocelynn Autumn Whittle was born to Andrew and Starrie, at 10:25 a.m. Weighing in at 7lbs 12oz, 19 inches long.

Jocelynn and her Daddy

Aunt Emily and Jocelynn

Grandpa Whittle & Jocelynn

Jocelynn's little family

We feel so blessed to live close by and be able to enjoy Jocelynn as often as we do. It's a joy to watch her grow, smiling all the time now, and starting to interact with people. I was sick for over a week and had to stay away from her and not hold her - not fun!!! Dave and I love being grandparents!

"Chillaxin" in the snow!

Sunday Dave looked outside and saw Emily just sitting in the snow, "chillaxin" with some crackers and a yogurt. Too cute!

Surprise Breakfast

This morning Emily was ready for school a little early and didn't want me to come downstairs for quite awhile. I needed to get ready for work anyway, so I didn't mind. I could hear noises coming from the kitchen so had a little clue about what might be going on. When she was ready, she had me close my eyes, led me down the stairs and into the dining room where I opened my eyes and saw this:

On the menu:

blueberry bagel w/cream cheese; orange juice smoothy
made with orange juice & berry yogurt mixed together

She had made breakfast for me! Notice the creative "coasters" under the mugs (paper towels). It's hard to see, but she made little name cards for each of us, Mom's Place and Emily's Place, written in her version of cursive (which is actually pretty good!). Of course the inside of mine had hearts decorating it and telling me she loved me. A melt your heart moment - really special for me. After hugs and a prayer, we enjoyed our little breakfast together while reading about Helaman and his army.

Apparently, she had done the same kind thing for Dave this past Saturday while I was at my sister, Karen's. I know why she is doing this thoughtful deed - it's from years of watching her older brothers and sisters make breakfast for us on Mother's Day & Father's Day, and sometimes just because, in addition to doing lots of other thoughtful things for us on a regular basis. (I seriously have the best kids!) So thank you to her sweet siblings who have shown her such a great example!! And thank you Emily for a your love and a yummy breakfast!! Love you!

The Wicked Witch of the West

Emily wanted to be something "scary" this year for Halloween. She said she had always been something "good" and wanted to be something bad and scary this year. Dave did her makup the first night for "trunk or treat", and I did it the 2nd night for trick or treating. I was really pleased with her outfit. Got the dress and cape at DI for $4.50 and the hat at Big Lots for $3.49. Here's our own Wicked Witch of the West:

She insisted on wearing fangs part of the time

Without fangs

Gardner Village

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call letting me know my niece, LaNita was in town with her hubby and little boy, clear from Oklahoma! We wanted to get together, and since Emily was off from school for fall break and I wanted to do something fun with her, we decided to meet at Gardner Village - it was great to see LaNita, and her little Dallas is just the cutest, most handsome little guy!


If you live in the Salt Lake area, you MUST go to Gardner Village. Such a cool place. My description wouldn't do it justice. It has lots of shops with way cute stuff, mostly home decor, but so much other stuff too. Way cute stuff. They go all out for Halloween, so the atmosphere is just so fun. We started with pony rides and a petting zoo:

Dallas McDonald

Emily and her friend, Maddie

With Emily's love for horses, this pony got lots of attention!

Around the village there were lots of lifesize witches, all throughout. They had a scavenger hunt which was fun for the girls (and us) to do, going around finding the different witches listed on the hunt. There were clues to help them know the different witches to look for. Great fun for all of us. We didn't spend too much time in the shops since there's was LOTS for little kids NOT to touch. But it was fun to look here and there.

The witch who was "ready for a hug"

My own little witch

Dallas & LaNita

We found all 14 of the witches and went to the bakery to redeem our chocolate chip cookies for turning in our completed scavenger hunt sheets. What a fun way to spend the afternoon. The weather couldn't have been better, and it was wonderful to see LaNita, Josh, and Dallas again!

Locks of Love

Earlier in the year, Emily's friend donated her hair to Locks of Love. Ever since then, Emily has been wanting to donate hers too. So finally, it was long enough.

Pre-haircut

She was SO excited!

Cutting the ponytail

First smiles after the haircut

Nicia came for moral support

Such a cute hairstyle on such a happy girl!

Emily and her hairdresser, Jennifer

We're proud of you, Emily, for helping to make the difference in another child's life!

July Memories

Just wanted to post a few pictures to remember, since there were lots of events all month long. Not a lot of narrative, but there are LOTS of pictures!

4th of July Freedom Parade:

Emily and Justin

It started to sprinkle, so some of the gang got really creative:

Stephanie Garrison, Justin, Caitlin, Ben Jolley

Aunt Jen, Heather, & Emily hanging out on the side line

Caitlin and Ben Jolley get engaged:

Wedding date is set for September 19th in the Manti Temple

Scottish Festival:

Emily and her good friend, Sara Hatch

Emily getting ready for the swordfight

Emily wins the battle!

Puppy Emily:

For several weeks Emily kept pretending to be a doggy. It was pretty funny to watch!

Playing dead

Breakdown on I-80:

Waiting for AAA to come tow the car

Our tire had a chunk come out of it about six miles from the nearest town in Wyoming. We limped along on the side of the road till we got to the town of Point of Rocks. The only thing in the town was the gas station/small convenience store and a few trailers. But lo and behold, there was even a post office right in the store! I was really glad I had Caitlin with me.

Point of Rocks Post Office

Kathy's sister retreat in Washington:

After dropping Emily off at Nicia's in Wyoming, I got to head for Washington state to be with my sisters for a week. I joined Karen in Salt Lake, and we met up with Annette in Twin Falls. We stopped at Mom & Dad's home for the night. Our visits to Kuna are never quite complete unless we go to our favorite Mexican restaurant in town:

Annette, Mom, Kathy, Karen, Dad

The next morning we went to pick green beans with my brother, Jim. When we came home, Dad had set the table and was fixing breakfast! We had waffles with strawberries & whipped cream, and eggs. It was awesome to see my Dad well enough to be up and around, and cooking breakfast!

We also stopped to visit my brother, Aaron before heading up to Washington. He has started a plumbing repair business, and has the most awesome looking truck. His business card says Owner/Hero on it. Really creative! Gotta love it.

Aaron's Rescue Plumbing

(notice the plunger on the right side of the truck in the dark blue star)

We traveled up to LaNita's the next day and just had a marvelous week together. All her kids were farmed out except for Allison, and none of us brought our children, so it really was a relaxed vacation for all of us. We completed some projects, sewed, watched a movie, played a game, visited, went shopping, went out to dinner, went to our favorite town, Leavinworth, and just had an awesome week! Definitely ended too soon. Thanks girls, for such a great time together! I love you all!

LaNita & Kathy painting the office

Annette, LaNita, Karen, Kathy

Trip to Wyoming to visit Nicia, Joe, & Alyssa:

We feel so fortunate to have Joe & Nicia close enough to visit easily. We spent a little over a week there and just had a great time. Thanks, guys, for a great time!

AWESOME FIREWORKS - WYOMING STYLE! (the big illegal kind) :)

GEOCACHING

GUESSTURES

LEARNING TO PLAY THE FLUTE

BOWLING!

Talise Dubois, Caitlin, Nicia

LOTS OF TICKET TO RIDE GAMES

(Dave - black, Kathy - red.....sorry Dave!)

TERRY BISON RANCH

We took a train ride that wound through the ranch. At one point, the train stopped and a whole herd of buffalo came right up to the train so we could feed them. Very cool!

Cowgirl Emily

Issy and Boo riding the train