Jamie's Christmas Party...(still catching up)

Wow, I am so far behind. It has been a busy month.

On Saturday Dec. 18th Jamie hosted a Christmas party.  It was attended by Leslie and her family, Angel, Charles and Debbie, Jamie and her boys (of course), Patrick, myself and JOE and his fiancee Jessica!

I have not seen Joe in little over 10  years. Here is a picture of our meeting.....he actually cried (yea, and so did I)...

We've chatted on FB but it was so good to actually see him and meet Jessica.  They are so twitter-pated with each other.  We teased them about how mushy they have gotten on FB.

Jamie made a Vietnamese spread....spring rolls and beef salad, rice and french bread (okay so that wasn't Vietnamese).  Yummy!

We had fun exchanged good conversation and of course gifts. Worst part...I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!! I never forget it and both girls were surprised. So I have stolen from Debbie's pictures from her FB page. Jamie and Leslie haven't posted theirs yet.


Here is my present from Jamie....a copy of OUR movie "Mommy Dearest".  We watched this together when Jamie was a teenager and since that time she has aways called me Mommy Dearest and I call her Jamie Darling.  What can I say....."no wire hangers!"

A good time was had by all and Jamie did a great job!

Still catching up.....

Tuesday Dec. 14th.....

I had made a hair appointment last week for today at 4:15 forgetting that the Relief Society Christmas program was at 6.  So I called Jen and asked her if she could move it up any ( I REALLY needed to get my hair done) She said she could have me come at 2:30, YAY!  My bosses are so great and they let me burn a couple of hours of vacation so I could go to my "appointment" (that's all they needed to know).

I love going to Jen's salon "The Best Little Hair House".  They had it all decorated for Christmas and they were all wearing Christmas tshirts with funny sayings on them. When she got done with the color and cut she asked me if I wanted her to style it....duh....of course I did.  My hair looked fabulous.  If I had all the money in the world I would hire someone to do my hair and makeup everyday.......oh and of course someone to clean my house.  But if I couldn't afford both I would definitely hire someone for hair and makeup.

The Christmas program was very nice.  Carol asked me to play Christmas music (anything I wanted to) for a half hour while the ladies looked at all the Nativities that were on display. There were some Nativity sets from all over the world that the ladies had brought. 

I love playing 'background' music because I do not get nervous because I figure no one is really listening to me play.  But as they all got done looking at the Nativities they came into the chapel and sat and just listened to me...then I get a little nervous.

We have some very talented people in our ward.  Mary R played "O Holy Night' on her sax with her brother in law on the piano.  I played for Jodi and her sister Amber as they sang "When Mary Sang Her Lullaby".  Rhonda played her guitar and sang "In the Bleak Mid-Winter".  My favorite was Martha playing the piano and singing "Silent Night".  She has an absolutely knock out voice!  There were several other performances all very good.  Those were just my favorites.

Afterward we had refreshment....everyone was asked to ring their favorite cookies. I live in such a fun ward and have some great friends.  It was a nice evening.

Doing some catching up............

Sunday Dec. 12th.......

So my Sunday mornings are pretty lazy with church not starting until 1pm.  I rarely am dressed before 11.  So today I laying around in my jammies.  I had just finished my preparing my Primary lesson and had checked the music schedule to see what songs I would have to play at the organ today (Christmas songs...piece of cake) when my phone rang at 10:15ish.  When my phone rings on a Sunday morning it is usually not a social call and this time was no exception.

I looked at the caller ID and it was Carol.....and yes I answered it (I can be a glutton for punishment sometimes).  She then proceeded to explain to me that she got a call telling her that the person that was doing the musical number for Sacrament meeting was sick and could her family (all her kids were home for Jed's mission homecoming talk today) provide a musical number. So then she continues saying they were singing an arrangement of Silent Night and Hanna was playing the violin, and Jed, Caleb, Emily and Jenny were singing.  Her mother was trying to play the accompaniment but she only plays by ear.

By now I was giggling and told her that is sounded like she had everything under control.  I do love to torture her.  So she told me to asked if I could come over right now and play for them today.  I told her I was still in my jammies, she said they would be waiting for me. Whatever happened to that shy reserved Carol that I loved so well?

So I had to hurry and get ready for the day.  Yes I know I could have just thrown on some clothes and pulled my hair into ponytail but....Her family (knowing them the way I do) were all dressed and ready for church looking polished and beautiful and I became a little vain and did my hair and makeup and put on my church clothes.

I walked over and I was hoping it was an arrangement I had played before but no I could not be that lucky.  So I put my super powers of sight reading to use and we ran through it twice.  It was beautiful and I do love playing for Carol's children when they perform.  Carol's mom came up and thanked me profusely for saving her from the piano (it can be a vicious instrument).

Jenny wasn't there so Emily asked if I would be able to run through it again right before the meeting.  Well since I was playing the organ that day and would be in the middle of playing the prelude, that was going to be a little difficult. I just haven't mastered being in two places at once.

Well as I was just setting up the organ to begin, Jenny and Emily came in so I quickly went to the Primary room so that Jenny could run through it once.

The musical number was absolutely beautiful.  They are so talented.  It gave me goose bumps while we performed.

Church went well the rest of the afternoon.  I managed to conquer the organ once again, taught my Primary class (love those kids) and played for choir practice after the meetings.

Gary and Bill, my home teachers, came over that evening and brought me a pretty poinsettia.  Then Jodi and her sister came over so we could practice the song they were singing Tuesday night for the Relief Society's Christmas program.

And they say Sunday is a day of rest.......

Annual take the grandchildren Christmas shopping.....part 2

Today started out with our ward Christmas party.  We usually have it in the evening and have turkey with all the trimmings but this year they decided to have a breakfast instead.  Don't they think any of us like to sleep in?  I love a good breakfast but I usually have it for dinner.  I sat with Carol H. and her family.  The company was good, the program was good.  I got to accompany Carol's daughter Emily while she sang (beautiful song, beautiful voice). 

The food........not so much as far as a GOOD breakfast is concerned. They served french toast sticks (the one you buy in the big boxes in the frozen section), scrambled eggs (powdered eggs) with ham and cut up red and green apples.

Today was also the day that I was taking Jax and Trevon to do their Christmas shopping.  Jamie and the boys got here about noon.  We went to lunch first at Subway (sniff, I sure miss Taco Time, sniff).  Then I took Jax shopping first.

He is growing up so fast.  He is almost as tall as I am.  He knew exactly what he wanted to get everyone.  Once we were done getting every one's gifts he of course wanted to look around to see what HE would like.  This was very helpful when it came to helping Trevon decide what to get him.  Every time we saw anything Justin Bieber he would tell me that he wanted it so he could run over it with his bike :). 

Then it was Trevon's turn.  He was a lot quicker than last year and knew pretty much what he wanted to get everyone.  He wanted to get Patrick a movie so we went over to the electronics department.  He told me to go over to the $5 movie dump (he was riding in the shopping cart).  So I pushed him up, expecting him to start digging through the movies.  Nope, he just stood there, staring at the bin.  He did this for a couple minutes, didn't move just stared at the bin of movies.  I'm pretty sure he was using his super powers in hope a good movie would pop up magically.

When we got done with his shopping he then told me that he wanted to buy his present now.  I think I had this conversation with both Gunner and Braxton too.  He (also like his cousins) immediately told Jax what he got him the minute he saw him.......  Does no one know how to keep a secret?!

We came home and they split up to wrap their gifts.  Jax wrapped by himself.  He does a really good job to.  I want him to wrap all my presents.  Trevon needed a little help, but he was great with the tape.  

They had to leave right after that because Mister (their dog) had surgery and Jamie needed to get home to him.  Poor puppy :(

So now all the Christmas shopping is completed.  Except....... I still have Paul and Patrick, they are the hardest ones to get gifts for.

Annual take the grandchildren Christmas shopping....part 1

So a couple of years ago I started a tradition of taking my grandchildren Christmas shopping for their families.  It has been so much fun and I get some one on one time with each of them.  This last Sunday I took Cambria, Gunner and Braxton shopping.

I took Gunner first because it was his first year to get to go shopping.  He was quite excited but he's 3 and he doesn't really get the 'giving' part of the season.  Leslie had given me list to help me help him choose gifts for everyone. 

So we started off with getting his mom's present.  She wanted new drinking glasses for her new house.  So I asked Gunner if he wanted to get his mom glasses, and he of course said yes.  We go over to the housewares aisle and I find the glasses that Leslie had told me that she liked.  I picked up the box and showed them to Gunner. This is our conversation:

ME-Do you want to get these glasses for your mom?
GUN-No those aren't glasses!
ME-yes they are
GUN-no they're not
ME- Yes they are (and I pulled one out of the box to show him)
GUN-those aren't glasses those are CUPS!
Now I am getting the problem we are having, he is thinking glasses, as in what you wear.
ME-so do you want to get these CUPS for your mom?
GUN-No I want to get her glasses!

Oh My!

When we had picked out a present for everyone I told Gunner we were all finished and now we could pay for them and go home and wrap them.  He gave me the saddest face and said "We didn't det(he says d for g) my plesent!".  Oh dear.....So I remind him that he is getting presents for his family and that they will get HIM presents when they go shopping.  That didn't help.  So I asked him if he wanted a treat.  That made him smile, little did I know that it would take us almost a half an hour for him to pick out what candy he wanted! Talk about pushing my patience to it's limit......

When we got back to my house Cambria was waiting in the kitchen for us and Gunner went right up to her and said "Tambia, I dot you a shirt!"  I told Gunner that it was suppose to be a surprise. He just proceeded to tell everyone else what he got them.  He told Leslie that he got her some glasses and that she could drink out of them and then wear them.......we are going to have to work on that :)

I left Gunner with Leslie, so she could help him wrap his gifts and I took Cambria next.  She and Braxton had been fighting and she was mad at him.  I told her he was just being a normal little brother.  Her reply; "if my mom has another boy, I'm running away from home!"  First just so you know Leslie is not having another one right now.  I asked her where she would go.  She told me probably my house and then she said that Gunner feels the same way.  Poor Braxton.....nobody appreciates him.

When we got back home Cambria was showing her mom what she got Gunner and Braxton and Gunner walked into the kitchen and saw his gift.   He was so excited and told Cambria that he wanted to help wrap it.  She is such a good big sister that she took it in stride and let him help her.

Then all that was left was to take Braxton.  So Braxton and I were talking about the new house that they are building.  His and Cambria's bedrooms are going to be downstairs and Braxton is a scaredy cat and Leslie doesn't think he is going to sleep in his own room.  So I asked him if he was going to sleep in his own room.  He told me yes because he was going to have DISH TV!  He really is asking for DISH TV for Christmas.  I asked him why and he said because if he had DISH he could change the channels instead of watching movies.  I'm not sure why that is better, but of course I don't think like a 7 year old.

I asked him what he wanted to get his mom and he said that he wanted to get her a new frying pan.  I suggested that we look around a little bit.  We were walking down the gadget aisle in housewares and he picked up a whisk.  He held it up and looked at it and said "my mom needs a new one of these" and just threw it in the cart.  I put it back and told him we needed to keep looking.  He kept picking up the oddest gadgets and I kept telling him to put them back so we could keep looking.  He did end up getting her a frying pan....

While we were shopping for Gunner's present, Braxton would say Gunner would really like this.  Then he'd look at me and ask me if I would PLEASE just buy one for him too.  When we finished his shopping we stopped at Subway for some dinner for everyone.  I was ordering the sandwiches and turned to ask Braxton...
ME-Braxton what do you want on your sandwich?
BRAXTON-turkey and crumbly (shredded) cheese
ME-okay, what vegetables do you want on your sandwich?
BRAXTON-pepperoni..
ME-that's not a vegetable (pointing at the vegetables) which one of THESE do you want on your sandwich?
BRAXTON-I just want mayonnaise.....

Braxton and Cambria wrapped their presents by themselves this year.  Braxton did have to come out and ask me to help him wrap his moms.  Frying pans can be tricky to wrap......

Gunner wanted to open his presents right now and we had to keep telling him he had to wait for Christmas.  Leslie left all the presents at my house.  She didn't want to worry about them if their house sells and they have to move out before Christmas.   

Monday I got a call from Leslie.  She told me about the conversation she had with Gunner that morning.
GUN-is dramma at wort?
LES-yes
GUN-can we go to her house and det my plesents?
LES-no, not till Christmas
GUN-if dramma is at wort then I can get my plesents.
LES-no Gunner not until Christmas

Somehow he is thinking that it is my fault that he couldn't open his presents the other day so if I wasn't there he could get them and no one would stop him.  Don't you just love the mind of a 3 year old?!

I'll be taking Jax and Trevon this Saturday....stay tuned for more shopping adventures!

Girls day out..........

So yesterday I went with Jamie, Leslie and Cambria on a girls day out.  We met Jamie in Riverdale and shopped all afternoon.  The reason behind the shopping trip I came to find out (on Thanksgiving) was because my girls, Angel, Charles, Debbie and my parents had gotten together and given me $3oo to spend on new clothes for Christmas.  Mainly because all the clothes I have are now too BIG for me (that's a good thing by the way)!

Honestly I just have not been clothes shopping for myself in eons, mostly because it was never fun for me.  Nothing ever fit and I would just get frustrated and not get anything.  This being said Jamie, Leslie and even Cambria took the situation in hand and were busy finding outfits for me to try on.  The best part is I had to keep getting SMALLER sizes than what we thought would fit! 

Here I am at Maurice's...........

After Maurice's we went into Cambria's favorite store Justice.  I needed to get her Christmas present and I wanted her to show me what she wanted.  What I found out is Cambria shops like her mother.  She just keeps looking and looking to make sure she has not missed anything that could possibly be better.  Even as she is telling you she likes what she has picked out she is still scanning the store to make sure she hasn't missed anything. 

Here is my little fashionista with her Auntie Jamie at Justice...... 

After we had hit a couple of other stores with no luck finding anything good we decided to grab something to eat.  We ended up at Souper Salad.  It's just a little place with a huge salad bar and soups (kinda like the name.....).

Here is Leslie and Cambria standing in front of this poor unfortunate silver tinsel tree at Souper Salad.  I don't know who decorated it but I was embarrassed for it........ 

 Here are my two beautiful daughters (now blocking the poor tinsel tree)..........

Then it was off to do some more shopping.  We went to Old Navy next. Here we are (I think at this point we were all getting a little silly tired)............. 

We finished up at Ross's and then called it a night.  I finished up Christmas shopping for all my grandchildren (YAY!) and came home with (for myself) a pair of jeans, a pair of brown pants (for work), 3 shirts, a vest, a light jacket, a really cute sweater dress, a black skirt, a pair of shoes, a sweater, a pair of sweat pants, and a pair of slippers.  I still have money left from the $300 that I stared out with.  Jamie and Leslie are great at finding the best deals.  We had a great time and I love them so much!

THANKS to Charles, Debbie, Angel, Mom, Dad, Jamie, Leslie, Paul and all my grandchildren for the great Christmas present!  I love you all!

Thanksgiving and other stuff......

Wow!  The month of November is almost gone and I have been a huge slacker on my blogging.  Not that I've had much to blog about, but I could have tried a little harder I guess.  My life has been focused lately on making some necessary changes and I do have another blog that I update at least once a week if not more.  I have only shared that link with a few trusted friends and family members. I will try harder to pay more attention to this blog.

Like I said before not a lot of anything really happened this month.

Friday (the 19th) Braxton had a school program.  So I took the afternoon off (I know, I make such sacrifices) and went out to watch.  On my way out I called Leslie to see if they had eaten lunch yet, and they hadn't so I stopped at TACO TIME (yes they have one) and bought us lunch..  Aaaaaaa that Casita Burrito was sooooo good, not as good as the (sniff) Brigham Taco Time's but it will do.

Braxton's program was very cute.  Braxton loves to sing and he didn't miss a beat.  There are more pictures that you can view here on my here on facebook

Braxton is right in the middle of this picture (right below the kids in the orange shirts).  Isn't he so cute?

Last Saturday (the 20th) was the dreaded Bear River/Box Elder Wrestling Meet.  So of course I had to go and cheer Braxton on.  He unfortunately lost his first match but he did win his second match.  For all of you that would like to watch it, I have it right here for your viewing pleasure.......

He came in second place for his age/weight.  Here he is proudly wearing his medal.....

After the meet I took Cambria, Braxton and Gunner home with me so that Leslie and Paul could go Christmas shopping.  On the way home I was telling the kids that I had driven out to Tremonton 3 days in a row.  Which brought on this conversation:

Braxton- You should come out tomorrow too

Me- Why?

Braxton- to watch the Steelers/Raiders game!

Me- Go Raiders! (Paul and his kids are HUGE Steeler's fans)

Braxton- no way go STEELERS!

Me- Your grandpa Kelly was a huge Broncos fan

All the kids- ewe!!!!!!!!

Me- I even have his Broncos jacket still hanging in the closet

Braxton- Well don't show it to me or my eyeballs will fall out!

This last week we had our first major storm system come through the area.  All day Tuesday there were high wind and blizzard warnings and the temperatures dropped into the single digits.  I made it home just as the storm hit us.  It was snowing sideways for a while and we got about  6 to 8 inches of the fluffy white stuff.  The down side-there was a layer of ice under the snow.  It was actually more scary to walk across the parking lot at work than it was to drive there.

Because of the storms Dad did not want Angel to come down (to St George) for Thanksgiving.  She came to my house instead.  She got here Wednesday afternoon and when I pulled up to the house she was busy shoveling my driveway.

She had made a crock pot of potato soup that she brought with her for dinner.  It was very yummy and I wrote down her recipe so I can make it.  Then she went and got us dessert, an apple pie! 

We watched movies that night until we fell asleep. During the night I kept hearing her dog Puddy get up and he would come up and check on me then go back downstairs.  I don't think he slept at all that night.

Here is Angel on Thanksgiving morning proving to me that Puddy is a lap dog......

Here is Angel and her 'baby'....

Jax was in town spending Thanksgiving with his dad.  We were sitting in the kitchen when I saw these two kids walking up my driveway.  I didn't recognize them (they were all bundled up).  I told Angel that I didn't know who they were, but when they walked up to the side door and started just coming in she said that they obviously knew me.  It was Jax and his friend!  They were over at John Adams park sledding on the hill and he had come over to say hi.  He is such a good boy!

We actually had our Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving this year.  Leslie and Paul always go to his family's but Leslie said that they would do both.  I was very excited  for everyone to get here, we ate at 5:00.  I cooked a spiral ham, mashed potatoes, a yummy sweet potato dish with orange glaze and pecans, made a green salad.  Leslie brought a berry pie and a banana cream pie, corn and rolls, and Jamie brought her famous macaroni and cheese and deviled eggs.

Everyone was here except for Jax and Patrick.  Leslie and Paul brought their nephew Tyson along.  We had good food and lots of fun!  At one point Gunner came up with a sad face and an empty plate, Leslie asked him if he wanted more and he told her in a sad voice "the dog ate my dinner!"  Bad Puddy :)

After everyone left I cleaned up and went to bed early since I had to be to work at 4am.  My assignment for Friday morning was checking and marking receipts at the doors.  It was fun and went by very fast.  I even managed to get the printer I wanted, Yay me!

Today's plans...clean up the house and I think I will start putting up my Christmas decorations.

Halloween weekend.....

In the state I live in when Halloween falls on a Sunday it is celebrated on Saturday.  The kids don't seem to mind, just as long as at some point in the month they can go trick or treating........

Halloween Eve (Saturday) my day started out by going to Braxton's first wrestling meet.  It was at Bear River high, in Tremonton.  It was also at 9AM (did I mention it was a Saturday?)  Personally I wouldn't pick wrestling as one of my favorite sports to watch.  In high school I did have a crush on a guy my junior year, and he was on the wrestling team. His mother talked me into joining the wrestling boosters, which of course I did.  Hey, he was really cute.....I know we went to the meets, but I don't seem to remember too much about them (except when Ron was out on the mat).

So I wasn't sure what to expect  when going to a match where the boys ranged in ages 7 to 12.  When Braxton's turn came up he showed no fear and was all business.  He was only on the bottom once and he almost pinned his opponent twice.  In the end he won his match.  All that wrestling with his brother has apparently paid off :)  Here is a picture of Braxton in his new wrestling shirt (still beaming from his victory) You can go to my facebook page and see more picture of the meet.

Later that evening our ward had their Trunk or Treat.  Of course it decided to rain but we still had a stellar turnout.  In fact we had a ton of people that most of us had never seen before and almost everyone ran out of candy.

You are always hearing me talk about how great the kids in my Primary classes are.  So I took some pictures of a few of them.

This is Parker W.  I actually taught him 3 years ago.  His Sumo-ballerina costume was a hit with everyone..... 

 This is Chloe W.(Parker's little sister).  She is one of the cutie-patuties in my class this year.

 This groovy chick is Sydnee P.  She is another one in my class this year.

 This is Amelia N.  She is also in my class this year.

 And this Micheal Jackson wanna be is Zach H.  He was in my class last year.

So you can see that I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I have the cutest kids in my classes.

The sad part of the day was that I did not get to see any of my grandchildren in their costumes.  Jamie was good enough to send me pictures of her, Patrick and the boys which you can see here. 

Today at work I got to help decorate our two 12 foot Christmas trees in the front of the store with Jeanell, Dave and Tiff.  Bart had put them together and he will never be allowed to do that again without supervision.  When we went to connect both of the trees to the power cords only one section would light and then poor Jeanell and Dave would have to try to figure out how to get the whole tree to light.  They had to do some very creative extension cording to get them to light properly with out taking them apart and starting from scratch.  I pity the person that has to take them down.

We had a lot of fun (good thing the ornaments were plastic).  But after the first tree was done, I wanted to take a gun and start shooting people if I heard "Ugh! Christmas already!"  OR  "When you get done here you can come over to my house and put up my tree."  To the second one..yea, only if they paid me more than Walmart and then only maybe would I do it.

What I am reading now... "Before my Heart Stops, a Memoir"  By Paul Cardall.

A sad sad day.........

Last night around midnight the Brigham City Taco Time caught on fire. The inside of the building was gutted by fire and the roof collapsed.  I am sad not only for the fact that Taco Time is my favorite fast food restaurant but the memories of the place.

Taco Time came to Brigham the summer of 1975.  I was hired on as part of the crew that would open the place for business. It was my first job after my graduation. We trained for one week at the Ogden Taco Time.  It is owned by the Bigler's.  I went to school with their son's Dean and John who were good friends.

Mr. Bigler and his wife both sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at that time. He used to sing to us at work.   In fact every time I came in to work if he was there he would sing the song "Juanita" to me.

I worked there until March the next year.  I was made a shift manager and I really loved the people I worked with. Jeff B. was (and still is) our manager and he and his wife Claudia would have parties at their house for us.  It was like one big family.

Mr. Bigler and Jeff were great to work for. I remember Mr. Bigler talking to us in a meeting the day before we opened. He was telling us the importance of first impressions and how he expected us to keep the place clean at all times. Some how it ended in him talking about how even the little things like the space between the tines of a fork should sparkle when we got done cleaning. He was good to work for but he expected perfection from us all the time.

I got married in March and went to work for American Greeting Cards until Jamie was born.  After she was born In January of 1977 I went back to Taco Time and was made the closing manager. I worked there until September of 1978 when I went to work for Grand Central which started my career in retail.

Kelly would bring Jamie in while I was at work in the evenings.  He would get some dinner and Jamie started eating Taco Time before she was even one.

I remember the Indian students from Intermountain Indian School, which was across the street, coming over for their meals.  It was always fun to talk to them.  It's where I learned about the connection between the Navaho's and the Eskimo's.

One time a group of bikers came in and no one wanted to wait on them (sometimes they were a bunch of prudes).  I had no problem with it, in fact I wanted to wait on them, I have a soft spot for the bad guys.  I took their orders, and got to talk with each one of them.  When they left they all came up and gave me a tip, which included some beer bottle caps.  I was a little puzzled by it at first, but later learned that it was considered a compliment.  Some were worth money because they were rare.

So I hope that the Bigler's will rebuild our Taco Time.  I don't know what I will do without my weekly Casita Burrito fix.  Here is a picture someone took last night while they were trying to put the fire out.  I asked my boss if I could take some bereavement because Taco Time was like family.  He just laughed at me....sometimes he can be so insensitive......

It finally is looking like Fall.....

We have had a warmer than usual Fall and so the trees have not been changing color as soon as I would like them too.  But in the past couple of days....wa-la.

This is a picture of my friend Carol H.'s yard.  It is one of the prettiest yards this time of year.  This picture does not even do it justice as to how bright and colorful her trees are.

 This is a picture of the Quakies in my yard, they are starting to turn yellow.  But as you can see my Maple next to it (at the right) is still very green.

At this rate I'll be raking leaves in December....

It's already October.....

Well last Saturday Braxton played his last football game of the season.  They unfortunately lost :(
When Braxton came off the field after the game he was so upset about losing that he was crying. 

During the game Gunner got into a fight with a bigger kid who was bothering him and his little friends.  He is used to fighting and wrestling with his older brother so when this bigger boy kicked Gunner, he came back at him with fists a flying!  The look on the bigger kid was priceless.  After that Gunner and the other kid just steered clear of one another and gave each other "the eye".  I have the feeling that Leslie's going to get called to the school a lot when Gunner starts.

I've been pretty busy at work too.  Last Wednesday I went with Jake (from Logan) to do a quarterly audit at the South Ogden Neighborhood Market.  Then Thursday I covered GM receiving.  It was my first time doing it solo and I managed not to mess anything up.  Good thing, because I would have had to yell at myself when I did invoicing the next day, and that would just be embarrassing.

This week I've just spent the last two days going down to West Valley for Invoice/UPC training.  Jake (North Logan), Steph (South Logan), Audra and I all went down together.  I learned a lot and was glad that Audra was there so that I could ask her things when I got a little lost.  I'm still pretty new to this so I'm still learning.  We made a new friend, Dawn from the Centerville store.  We all sat on the back row and were basically the 'bad kids' in the class.  It was great fun!

I also have started going to the Adult Religion classes again.  They started up in September and they are every Thursday.  I'm going with Carol and Letty . 

Right now I'm reading the last book in the Shadow trilogy by Brent Weeks, "Beyond the Shadows".  This is the serious that Mo brought to me to read.

Well that's about all I got.....hope every one has a great weekend!

Last weekend football, this weekend soccer. Does this make me a well rounded person?

So this weekend I went down to Layton to watch Trevon play soccer. It was a beautiful day, around 74 degrees with a slight breeze.  Here is a picture of the mountains, I wish it had turned out better, but you can still see the fall colors.  It must be time for a drive in the canyon......

Here is Patrick out giving Trevon some pointers, so cute....... 

Of course after we sat down the breeze stopped and we were just left with the 74 degrees of sun with no shade.  Here is Jax trying to make some shade for himself..... 

After a while he gave up and went behind the tennis courts to those trees back there and sat until the end of the game.  He said he could see the game from back there....u-huh......Here he is coming back.....

Here is Trevon practicing....... 

Here is Trev throwing the ball in..... 

Go Transformers (yellow) beat the T-Rex's!  I don't make up the team names I only cheer for my grandson........... 

After the game here is Trev (number 2) with his team doing their cheer before they go and high five the other team....

I'm not sure who won, no one really keeps score for this age group.  all the counts is that the kids learn the game and have fun, which they do.

After the game I came back home, Jax came with me so I could drop him off at his dad's house.  We stopped on our way home and got some drinks and something to eat.  I love having one on one time with my grandchildren.

Braxton is playing his football game as I type this over in Logan.  I just can't be everywhere at once :(. 

I forgot in last week's Bears VS. Bees blog to put in a conversation that happened....

This was right after Braxton had just gotten called for an off sides.  When the defensive line was pulled back in to let the offensive line go out, Braxton came running over to the bleachers and yelled...

B- "Mom, Mom!  I have a loose tooth!"

L-  "Braxton! I don't care! Get back over there and WATCH THE BALL!

B- "But mom, I have a loose tooth!"

L-  "I don't care if you have a loose tooth!  Get back over there and listen to your dad and WATCH THE BALL!"

My daughter has turned into a football mom.......:)

BEARS vs. BEES......................

So today Braxton's football team played the Bees.  He has been waiting for the chance all of his short life.  Paul played football for Bear River High.  Leslie was a Box Elder Rockette.  A match made in heaven. :)  Since my family moved here when I was a Junior in high school there has always been a rivalry between Box Elder and Bear River. 

Paul has conditioned his children to follow in his footsteps as Box Elder 'haters'.  Poor Leslie.  One day the kids were fighting over who was going to kill a bug and if they didn't they were 'Box Elder'!  Oh my.

I love to tease Braxton about this and always tell him I'm going to buy him a Box Elder tshirt and that he will have to wear it.  Last year at the county fair parade, the Bear River High football team had just gone by and Braxton turned to me and asked, "Grandma, when I play football will you be Bear River?"  Well how can I say no to that?

One of my favorite pictures that Leslie sent me on my phone was of her wearing her Bear River tshirt and her Box Elder Rockette sweatpants.  She said when she came downstairs in them Paul asked her if she was neutral.  So that is what she labeled the picture she sent me, "I'm Neutral".

So today was the big game.  I donned my red Bear River tshirt and went out to Tremonton.  Leslie told Paul she was going to wear purple eye shadow (Box Elders colors are purple and white) with her BR tshirt.  He told her that was okay, but if they lost it would be her fault.  So she didn't.

Here are the Bears coming onto the field.....

Here is Paul (black tshirt) out for the coin toss....

The face off.........

Braxton plays defense and he was on the field the majority of the game.  Bear River and Bees held each other off all through the first two quarters of the game.  But that all changed after the half.  Bear River made the first touchdown of the game!  Here is a very excited Paul, Braxton is #49......

After that touchdown it just went back and forth until the end of the game when they were tied 12 to 12.  So they went into overtime.  With this league of football overtime means that each team gets four tries from the 10 yard line to score.  Well, BOTH teams scored so we had to go into another overtime.  After the second one it was still tied 18 to 18.  That is how the game ended, a draw.  But Braxton played hard and made some very good plays.  It was a good game.

Here is Leslie with Braxton after the game.........

Here I am with my Bear River Bear!  Red has always been my favorite color, really it has!

Bear River youth football......

Saturday I went out to Tremonton to watch Braxton play football.  When I got to Leslie's house they were all busy getting ready for the game. Paul (who helps coach) and Braxton were already gone.  Cambria is putting on lip gloss (which we all know is an important part of getting ready to watch a football game), Leslie is attacking Gunner's hair and Gunner is popping bubble wrap (or at least trying to while his mom does his hair).  I too was wearing a Bear River t-shirt.....sorry Box Elder but my loyalties are having to change.

Here is Braxton's team warming up ........

Here they are running through the banner onto the field.....Leslie is out there holding the banner and Gunner.....

#49 (black gloves)...That's my boy, ready to start playing, he's on defense.

Paul giving instructions to the boys...Braxton right up front listening to his dad..so cute....

After the game the mom's form a 'tunnel' and the team runs through it after they shake hands with the other team.....Leslie is in there somewhere.

Braxton played hard and made quite a few tackles and recovered a fumble, which he proudly told me when he came off the field to let offense go out.  Unfortunately they lost this game, but they played hard and had fun. 

The game was at 5:15pm and it was still 94 degrees and no shade with the sun right in our faces.  I came home a little pinker than when I went out (yes I forgot sunscreen). 

I don't know much about football, because my girls did not play :).  When I was in high school, football games were more of a social thing than actually watching the game.  When Leslie was in high school I went to the games long enough to watch her perform in the half time and then I left.  So this will be a learning experience for me.  Every time the ref's threw a flag up I had to keep asking 'why?'.

Birthday Weekend.....

Sorry this is late, I tried to post it a couple of days ago but my internet was freaking out on me. 

This last weekend was Cambria's and my birthday, the 28th is mine and the 29th is Cam's.  We have started when possible to have a birthday sleepover. 

So Saturday Miss Cambria came over and we went to see "Despicable Me" in 3d.  It was very cute and Cambria really enjoyed it.  Then Cambria wanted to go to Walmart to look at board games.  We bought Yahtzee (I used to have it but I don't know what ever happened to it).  Then she wanted to check out the DVDs to see if there was something good for us to watch. We found "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squequel"  After that we of course had to find a snack for later, we got ice cream.  Yes I know, I'm a sucker.  But what are grandma's for?!

After a quick trip home to drop off our goodies we went to Beijing Buffet for dinner......YUM!

When we got home we played Yahtzee.  I have never rolled so many Yahtzee's.  Cambria only rolled one.  When we play we fill up a whole scorecard.  By the end of the game Cambria was getting quite creative on how she shook the dice, with just one thing in mind....GET A YAHTZEE!

After our game we got our jammies on and put on the movie and ate our ice cream.  I'd like to tell you if I liked the movie or not but Cambria fell asleep about 20 minutes into it and I fell asleep shortly after.

The first thing Cambria wanted to do the next morning was have a rematch at Yahtzee.  She declared because it was her birthday, she would get ALL the Yahtzee's.  Right off the bat I rolled a Yahtzee.  After that she was trying everything to roll one. 

She said the kitchen towel on her head gave her good luck...who knew?  She did roll 5 Yahtzee's.

Then we got ready for church.  Here she is looking quite cute, if I do say so myself.

Afterwards we went to her house were Leslie was having a family birthday party for Cam.  Cambria didn't want a regular birthday cake, she wanted either peach cobbler or apple crisp.  Leslie made apple crisp with vanilla ice cream....heaven!

When everyone went home, Leslie and the kids invited me to go to Denny's for dinner with them.  Denny's is not one of my favorite places to eat, but to spend time with my family I made the best of it. :)

My Weekend.....

I keep getting stuck watching Mister (Jamie's dog).  Friday Jamie came into town because she was getting together with her Brigham friends and their kids to have a BBQ/Birthday party for Jax (whose birthday is the 18th). She came by the store to pick up a few things and told me I could come over to have some dinner.

Hey,  I'm always up for a free meal.  I headed over to Lisa's house and got to see Jax and Trevon.  A lot of Jamie's old friends from when she was in high school were there.  It was fun to see them all grown up and with their kids. 

But I never got to eat.  They didn't get the kabobs on the grill until 8:30 and I was getting tired and they were still waiting for a few friends to get there so I went home.  But Jamie made me take Mister with me. 

First she didn't bring his leash (my yard is not completely fenced in) and she said that he wouldn't run away, and if he did he always came back when he was called.  WRONG!  He ran away every time I had to take him out and he didn't come back when I called.  I would have to chase him, he would let me almost get to him and then he would start to run again.  D@#* dog!

I tried to get him to sleep on a blanket on the floor (because Jamie said he would) in my room but he would have none of that, so he slept with me.  Jamie and the boys came over about noon on Saturday.  We just hung out and watched movies and talked.  It was nice to spend time with them. 

They are doing some remodeling to our church house.  Today was my turn to play the organ for Sacrament meeting.  When I walked in Brent W. our 1st counselor in the bishopric stopped me to tell me that there was NO ORGAN to play today.  They have torn apart the pulpit area and the organ was sitting in the cultural hall.  Aw shucks, I was sooooo disappointed.........(not).  I would so much rather play the piano than the organ.  So they had a make shift podium and the grand was still in the chapel.  So I got to play the piano for the hymns. 

I also had to provide the musical number, I played Paul Cardall's arrangement of "Book of Mormon Stories".  It went well.  Before they tore up the pulpit area when you played the piano you were facing the congregation.  It was a little unnerving to try and play a musical number being able to see everyone staring at you.  Us much as I tried to block it out I could never quite do it totally.  Today the piano was turned sideways!  Yea, I didn't have to see hundreds of eyes staring back at me while I played.  It truly helped my nervousness (word?).  I know I have played A LOT of piano solos in my lifetime but I still get nervous, I try to get in my "zone" and block everything out and pretend like I'm playing in my house.  But that is a little hard when you have faces looking back at you around the music.

It was also my week to teach my cute little Primary class.  I love them to death!

Bill (Carol's husband) and Gary (Maron's husband), my home teachers, just left a little while ago.  We have a great time talking, and they are the best.

I am currently reading "The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks.  My friend Mo from work who reads constantly (he even reads as he walks) came by my window the other day and dropped this book on my desk and said that I should read this.  It's not too bad, fantasy/adventure, it's the first book in a trilogy.