Hidden Talent~

Cody took a pottery class at school this past semester.

Little did we know how creative he was!

 The ceramic vase is done in several layers

and has a lot of design detail to it.

I put flowers in the vase that match my kitchen colors

since it sits right next to my kitchen sink.

The project Cody finished the semester with, a level two project 

which you don't usually do unless you take a second semester

of pottery, was making these awesome coasters.

Each one has a different leaf pattern on it, and they are housed

in a coaster holder.  It's already been put to good use!

Kinda cool that my last child gave me one more art project

to go out on with all my kids soon on to college.

New Year's Celebration~

Jim and I were invited over to Bob and Kelly's friends home 

to celebrate in the New Year of 2013.

We enjoyed delicious food (I even got a new recipe), 

games and good conversation.

I can't think of the last time we were with Bob and Kelly 

for New Year's Eve.  Most likely at Lloyd and Dona's

when our oldest were much younger and certainly not

all our children had joined our families yet. :-)

Another fun memory to share with them! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

What a great year we have ahead of us!!!

Chillin' at Bob's~

We enjoyed our time hanging out with Bob's family

in Draper, Utah.

The 0 degree weather and snow didn't stop us

from having our fun.

 Before the fun and games started we got the important

business taken care of-writing to our Elder Kent Engstrom!

 Of course "Settlers" was played, but we did manage

to work in a couple of rounds of Bryce and Jessie's 

new Christmas game "Ticket to Ride."  

Jessie and I much prefer their new game, especially

since we may have a chance to win it sometimes!!!

 The cute newlyweds!

Yes, that is Bryce....

The exciting moments of our game day was Sarah

winning "Settlers" TWICE!!!!

YOU GO SARAH!!!

Gifts of Love~

Well, Christmas is a wonderful time to give those

you love things that you want to make them happy.

I hatched a plan to make a gift for Bryce and Jessie.

It was a big plan for me since I learned a new skill.

My sweet friend Gayle Durney helped me sew my

first ever quilt.  The sentimental thing about this quilt is

 that I used the fabric that decorated the tables from the

Wedding Open House we had for Bryce and Jessie.

 Gayle helped me every step of the way even loaning 

me her quilting frame.  She was cute and commented

at one point that most people learn to quilt by doing a 

small quilt throw, and chuckled that I had to start big

by making a king sized quilt.  Weeelllll, I can't help 

it that Bryce and Jessie have a king size bed!

And the funny thing is I still have fabric leftover!!!

 Here is the finished product of my first 9 patch quilt!

At Thanksgiving, while Chandra was here, she was

able to sew about 3 of the 9 patch blocks too.

 It was SO EXCITING for me to give Bryce and Jessie

their quilt.  I hope it keeps them warm and cozy. 

 Chandra, Bryce and Cody came up with the clever idea

of giving Jim a grill "plate" to use on the outdoor grill.

Fish and veggies will come back into the house in one piece. 

I LOVE the lululemon yoga jacket all my kids gave me!!!

It is so warm and cozy and soft.  I wore it so much

while in Utah with the freezing weather.  It also 

helped keep me warm on the icy airplane ride home.

The plane had to be warmed up for at least an extra 30 minutes

before we could board.  And the captain told those wanting

their morning cup of coffee weren't going to get it since it was still

in the frozen part of the plane! Haha! 

Day in the Arizona Desert~

Thursday, December 27, we headed out

to the Arizona Desert.

Despite the cool weather we had a lot to do.

 The main activity was ATV riding.

Jim and Cody got in quite a few fun rides together.

 While others waited for their turn to ride the ATV's

there was a fire going and horseshoes to play as 

well as some competitive Bocce Ball.

 Cody and Brooke's fiance, Trevor, made

a good Horseshoe team.

Jim and I had a great ride on a run 

that at times got our heart rate up,

thanks to Bob's leading the way. ;-)

Mesa Temple "First"~

Our nephew Bryan was able to attend the Mesa Temple

for his first Endowment session on December 26, 2012.

 Here he is with his parents Kelly and Bob.

Joining him as well was Jim and I, his Uncle Ralph

and Aunt Patsy, and cousin Bret and his wife Liz.

CHRISTMAS 2012~

Our Christmas Day 2012 started off in the best possible way-

A phone call with Elder Kent Engstrom!

Called to serve in the Czech Republic Mission beginning March 2, 2011

he actually was speaking with us from Slovakia this Christmas.

Elder Engstrom is now serving in Zvolen, Slovakia for this transfer.

He traveled 10 hours to his new city and began the work having to

learn a new language as well.  Our 45 minute conversation with him 

was upbeat and rewarding.  Even though we were all in different 

locations Jim, Cody and I in AZ, Chandra and Tyler in CA and 

Bryce and Jessie in UT we all were able to hear Kent via cell 

phones and computers.  At one point Bryce and Elder Engstrom were 

chatting away at each other, the problem was Bryce was speaking 

Russian and Elder Engstrom was speaking Czech or Slovak 

and the rest of us were out of the loop with our boring English. :-)

 Here is a photo Elder Engstrom sent of himself 

in front of the Christmas Carp tubs.

Glad I wasn't there to see all the DISGUSTING fish scales all over

 the sidewalk.  Just thinking about them makes my stomach turn!

After our phone call we had Cody open up the remainder of his

Christmas gifts.  He had already received new golf clubs before
coming to AZ for Christmas-Jim and Cody
had to try them out before bringing them.

So here we are after our 17 Holes of golf.

We had to give up playing the last hole 

since we were late for Christmas dinner.

After good food it was a fun night of games for everyone.

Here's Jim with his brothers Bob and Ralph and nephews

Nathan, Bryan and Bret playing a couple of rounds of "Settlers."