Grant doing his chores



Those slotted spoons are always hard to give up.

We haven't seen Grant and Rich in person since August  :(
but Richie is coming here in just 2 weeks!
So I will get to take my own videos of him then.

Some people are in the wrong line of work

So I thought I would do a little catalog Christmas shopping last night from a company
I'd never tried before, After taking my order over the phone,
the salesman informed me that I could get
15% off today's order plus save on the $20. shipping by purchasing some card from him.
He said it would allow me to get many gift cards 20% off from places such as Target.
So I'm thinking .....20% off gift cards?...
Den and I were just talking about maybe giving gift cards this year, so I asked,

"So how does this work?'

"Uh.....hmm...uh, can you hold on for a minute?"

"Sure"

I could hear him still breathing on the line so I'm thinking he was going over his script.
Then he says to me, "Well, uh, if you are not satisfied with it, you can get your money back."

"But why would I purchase something if I don't even know what I am buying?"

"uh..." then silence.

"Let's just forget about that card, and you can go ahead and total up my order, okay?"

So he does just that, and gives me my total.

Then I said, "Have a very Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, okay."

Poor guy. He didn't know what to do with Merry Christmas.
I'm sure his script said, "Happy Holidays."





A Vintage Christmas

I was talking to a friend of mine today 
and she shared this great idea. 
This Christmas all of her adult children, 
and of course grandchildren, will be with them. 
So....her kids and grandkids will exchange gifts 
Christmas morning, 
but all the gifts will be vintage.

So this means they will give something they already have, 
buy something at a garage sale or thrift store, or make something. 
What a very interesting Christmas morning they will have, for sure!


Something tells me they will look happier on Christmas morning than this random family from the 1950s.

Christmas Day 1986

Tyler and Karen were interested in what Tyler looked like back in the day
when he was about Richie's age.....
so I went through some videos and found this one in 1986.

Apparently that morning 26 years ago I woke up in a pouty mood, as you will see in the beginning.



And in case you were afraid to ask... yes I did cut my boys' hair,
and yes, bowl cuts were popular back then.
I hope so anyway.

I also thought my sons might enjoy hearing their Dad's voice again.
Yesterday marked 16 years since he died. Much has changed since then,
but I still dream about that house, and my babies.






Skyping is a good thing, and a bad thing...

We get to see our family from out of state. 
(btw, Tyler was there too, just not in that shot)


The McKs played 4 board games together, just the 2 of them. 

We get to see our grandbabies walking....
We get to see them in their homes.


But it's hard when we say goodbye, 
With one flick of a switch...POOF, they are gone.
That's the part I don't like.

But we did get to spend in person time with some of our family...


We even got this picture sent to us of Den's Mom in southern Cal.
Modern technology is such a blessing. 
Besides, I mustn't forget, that's how I met Dennis.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

And okay, so maybe the Romneys aren't family, but I love this picture taken of them yesterday.
It looks like they just rolled out of bed, like any other couple on Thanksgiving morning.  

PS  If I should be so lucky to get more family pictures of today, I will post them here.

This may work better for you than it did for me...

While making dinner I usually listen to John Tesh.
So on his program not too long ago he gave a list of 5 questions.
He claimed that if you were to ask your Dad these particular 5 questions,
you would learn a lot about this man you have known all your life.

Okay, so I took the challenge and asked my 82 year old Dad.
It was fun, but I can't say there was anything earth shaking about his answers:

1. What was dinner time like as a child?
"Clean your plate."

2. What is your favorite movie?
"Treasure of the Sierra Madre."

3. Who was your best friend growing up?
"My brother Gene."

4. What was the greatest game you ever saw?
"Stanford and Cal.....25 years ago."

5. Have you ever hit anybody?
"No."

My guess is that most from my Dad's generation would have answered #1 as he did,
which I think is sad. ...what if they weren't hungry?
And #2 I had never heard of but then I discovered it was made in 1948.

And in case you missed it.....especially if my Dad missed it, 
I am going to include something my brother Scott put on Facebook yesterday along with his caption.

Scott: "This bread has a mascot who has an uncanny resemblance to my Dad."

It looks so much like our Dad that I thought surely it was photo shopped.

Helping Hands in New York

I'm in awe over all they have done, but at the same time, it doesn't surprise me at all.

This was filmed last Sunday...right after a quick church service in the dark.



Because it's the way we like them

If you were at our house last week, which you weren't, but if you were,
this is what you would have been served:

Roasted Brussel Sprouts on Sunday
Roasted Broccoli on Monday
Roasted Green Beans on Tuesday
Roasted Cauliflower on Wednesday
Roasted Brussel Sprouts on Thursday
Roasted Broccoli on Sunday (yes we did skip 2 days)

You get the idea.

At first I would use this winning recipe. Read the 1,556 reviews
and you'll see what I mean.

*Then it became just a quick toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss. Roast in 400' oven.









We love the little blackened tips. Roasting also brings out the sweetness of the vegetables.
Last year I was more into throwing all kinds of vegetables together for different combos.
But now I like a one vegetable specialty.

And no, in case you are wondering, vegetables are not all we have for dinner.













*I steam mine a little before roasting,
but only because I probably need them a bit softer than you do.

It's just the way they are

Logan and Amy had plans for a little week getaway to go see his Grandma 650 miles away in Arizona.

The older 5 kids had school, so they just packed up the twins and they were on their way. 
Only one slight change in plans. 
Logan's friend Bryce, and his girlfriend needed help with their little girl, Natalie. 

So Amy and Logan offered to take little Natalie with them for the week.
Knowing my son and his wife as I do, they probably didn't think twice about it.
Must be like triplets. Jonas and Téa did start out as three, 
so maybe this is giving them an idea of what might have been?


I wonder what little Natalie thinks of all this.
Amy trying to comfort 2 crying little girls at the same time.

Logan and Bryce along with his other 4 friends 
have been close for the past 20 years.
But I never thought they would grow up and be helping with their kids. 
I guess I just couldn't see them as Dads back then.
Bryce, Ryan, Brad, Logan, Robby, Travis
And they are all Dads now, except for Brad, but he just got married last month.


Speaking of Brad getting married last month....

Most Organized Home in America

I need a diversion from this week, so here it is. I think this woman is a bit over the top,
and I'm not sure I would want to live like this....but,
there are a few ideas that appealed to me here.
See what you think.

Hang on Honey, it's almost over.

However this election turns out, it will be good to see it come to an end
so Dennis can start sleeping again. I've never seen him like this.
Yesterday morning at 7am I found him dozing off in his office chair.
He said he had been up since 3am.
When I asked him what was wrong he said, "What do you think? The election!"

We talked to his daughter Kris over the weekend and she sounded as passionate as her Dad.
When we hung up, Den said, "Wow, Kris is really worked up about this!"
I just turned to him speechless for a moment and then said, "Honey, she's your daughter."
Does he not see it in himself?

Normally our TVs stay off for days at a time. Sometimes weeks at a time.
But no, lately he has his office TV on, plus his computer turned to the news....
2 stations going into his ears at the same time, all the while trying to do his paper work.

Even during our MAC class 2 weeks ago during one of the debates
he was waiting for texts from his daughter, Kim
and my brother Richard, over how it was going.
It nearly did him in not being able to see the debate live that evening....


We have lived through lots of elections but none quite like this one. 
But there is something neither of us understands about it. 
Where are all the bumper stickers and lawn signs?
Normally an election brings them out in masses and we see them everywhere. 
I have only seen ONE lawn sign and not a single bumper sticker. 
What is that all about? Very different from elections past.

We already miss them!

The Sherwoods (couple on the right) were missionaries in our ward for an entire year.
I would venture to say that every single person in our ward loves them.
We wish they didn't have to go back to Riverton, Utah
but they had something like 18 grandchildren waiting for them.



Of course on the left are Todd and Tracey Dunning.
He is our bishop, and Tracey will always be dear to my heart because she was one of my counselors in Relief Society a few years back. She has a sincere caring for everybody.
 
There were some absolutely beautiful pictures all around 
the West Stake Center depicting Christ's life. 
So I couldn't leave their farewell without taking a few pictures.


I'm going to ask Santa this year 
if he can find the above picture for me. 
I think it would be perfect in our playroom.


Will God Bless America?


Things are getting scary out there an
 I've been wondering if God will Bless America, 
and then I saw this article on this very subject.
It's well worth reading.

And then this morning my sister sent me a copy of this:
It's a full page ad in today's Wall Street Journal.
I heard several days ago it was coming, and I'm glad it did.  
Now don't forget to read this article.

Love how the pictures of last night came in this morning!

I'll start with our grandchildren, 850 miles away...

In Logan, Utah... Tyler and Karen taking Little Hulk Richie 
to see his Uncle, Aunts, and cousins.

Part of Robbie, Jacob, Richie, Rachel and Kris!

Den and I keep studying the picture below 
but we can't decide if that's Matt or Robbie??
Thanks Tyler for letting us know it's MATT in that stunning costume! 

Then 30 minutes across our town we see Elora,
who was (and is I might add) a Champion future runner.


Cami: a black eyed pea!

Miss Violet AKA Pebbles
She even has her mouth like Pebbles!


Then we go 750 miles to Tigard, Oregon where Grant 
is proudly displaying his costume.
Doesn't he look like a baby model ready to walk down the runway?

And here at the homestead....
Jonas was beginning to think the sun would never go down!

Hoping your Halloween was the best!

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...