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....