Cousins at Barker Park

Jackson and Kendrick slept over. In the morning, they both helped weed the front yard, then we went to the park Ann was there with Haley, Carson and Spencer. Nice day for the playground!

Showing off Easter Sunday

Alli,Marianne and Audrey in their Easter ruffles and Duncan trying to give them bunny earsAudrey and Marianne pose for another shot, while Duncan and Jace stand behind and give them moose ears.Rachel, wearing Marianne's flower in her hair, browses through the kids' books.

Camping bears from UGFOA

Every convention, Jack comes home with loot for the grandkids. The National GFOA Conference has the most stuff, but this year the Utah GFOA had some fun little bears with camping gear. One of the vendors sent Jack home with five dozen of the little guys. He divided them up into sets - one for each of the families with chidren, one for us and one for the ward nursery. Ü

Bloomin' daffodils!

Our crocuses have come and gone. These daffodils have been trying to bloom since the last of the croci died and finally! Blooms! Wish we had more - but these are so beautiful! I relish every one!

Off to Saint George for UGFOA

Jack and I went to St. George for his annual Utah Government Finance Officer's Association convention Tuesday night. Joann and her kids had gone down to the Barbers' Sunday night with Mike and Jeri and a couple of the cousins. While Jack was in meetings Wednesday, I drove over to Bloomington to visit. Phil and Sally have a great home - right up against the red rock cliffs. Lots of great spots for hide and seek with all the rocks in the landscaping!I took this shot of the four kids on the patio while lunch was being set out.It sure was sunny out on the patio - and what a beautiful view!Not quite two, Bo doesn't talk a lot - but he loves to point!After lunch, Jeri tried to get the kids interested in a movie, so she, Joann and Sally could paint the dining room. Ha!Of course, they had to help paint! Jeri's job was to see that the kiddos didn't do too much damage as they helped.Marianne, still shirtless from painting, did break away long enough to give me a tour of the landscaping, which includes a big lawn and a still-winterized pool.Another attempt at distracting the girls...While the grown-ups finishing painting.One last shot of the back yard! Sally says they see all kinds of wildlife there - including foxes and, of coure, lizards.

Danny and Dalena Come for Conference Weekend

Jack picked Danny and Dalena up from the airport Friday night - April 3rd. Most of the family and a few extended family members met at Jeff and Angie's where we visited until about 10:30.The next morning we got up early so we could get down to the morning session of conference. I decided to make something quick, yummy and filling for breakfast. German Pancake! Good thing I wasn't trying to impress anyone! Ü
Thanks to Elaine for getting us some seats in the lower bowl! It was Dalena's first time to go to a General Conference. We all loved it!
We talked to Jim Shupe for a few minutes after the session. Danny had walked right past him on his way to our seats. Jim said that he looked at him and thought, "Man! I should know this guy, but I can't remember who he is!"
After conference, we walked down Main Street to Vienna Bistro for lunch - closed for lunch on weekends! So, we drove to Trolley Square and ate at Rodizio Grill. Yum!After lunch, we stopped at Leila and Brent's to meet some of their family. Saturday night, we met at Gus and Sharon's while the guys went to Priesthood Meeting - then visited afterward.
Sunday morning, we watched conference at our house. Sharon brought her kids over for the afternoon session. They all played conference Bingo as they watched. I've never actually seen that done. Great idea!
Dad came over too and stayed for lunch with us after the session ended. Then...it was time to go to the airport. Way too short a visit - but fun, nonetheless!

Two Proud Moms!

I have heard a lot about how much Jeff's patients and co-workers love him, but I'd never even seen a baby he delivered - until Saturday night! Jeff delivered (his cousin) Allen and Camille Linsley's baby girl - about 3 hours before he left for a cruise with his in-laws. Whew! That was cutting it close! Camille was so relieved that she went into labor a few days early and Jeff was there to deliver. Everything went very well. Little Desiree (Desi) Amira weighed 6 lb. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long. She is beautiful!
Here's Jeff, shortly after Desi's birth, clearing her airway.
Clamping her cord
Desi looks up at the doctor who brought her into the world. Camille looks on - proudly. I am proud too!
I was thrilled to find out that Jeff was thinking of me that morning. He grabbed a clean sheet of paper, penned "The Ice Cream Scoop," and clipped it on his chart. he told Allen and Camille, "We've got to get a picture of the three of us - for the newsletter!" Ü (If you enlarge this photo, you can read his notation.)

Tagged by myself...

I checked out Joann's blog late last night and discovered a giveaway! I'm all for giveaways, so I wanted in. All I had to do was tag myself (and be one of the first 5 people to respond to her blog). I was the 4th one to do so. Whew! Here are the rules: If you are one of the first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.

The catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who respond to your blog. The first 5 people to do this, and leave me a comment telling me they did, will win a fabulous gift, home-made by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!!So there you have it! If you want me to make something for you (Hmm, what could it be? A new toilet paper dispenser?), just leave me a message.

Night out with Dad and the sibs

It was Dave and Julie's turn to organize our get-together. They chose to go to dinner - Chinese at the ABC Mandarin in Roy. I would have to say that it is my new favorite for Chinese food! I loved it all - but especially the beef and green beans! Yummy! We missed Russell (probably working) and Scott and Amber - José the painter didn't show up for work and Scott had to do the job himself, I guess.

Time again for a day at the park!

We had Jeff and Angie's kids while they went to SLC to celebrate their anniversary. After listening to about 6 hours of "When are we going to the park?", I took them over to Barker Park in Pleasant View. What a great park! Tyler and Baylee took off for the west side, to play basketball, but Grace and Audrey had a blast swinging and climbing and sliding! It was a beautiful afternoon! We stayed until Audrey needed a potty break and found that the bathrooms were locked. Oh well, it was time to go home anyway! Audrey made it to the top of the pole climbing maze! (Click on this photo to enlarge, so you can see her cute face!)Grace was very good on the climbing wall!Of course, the best way to get to the top of the slide is to climb up it!!!Audrey took a turn on the climbing wall too - mostly for the photo op!

Spring has sprung!

Here's a shot of our exquisite little crocuses! They've been blooming for almost 4 weeks - even survived about 6 inches of snow. Aren't they gorgeous?!? They are from the bulbs that my siblings gave us when Grandma Arrington died. We'll think of her every time they bloom and remember the promise of the resurrection.

Making Pita Bread

I made my second batch of pita bread today while Jeff and Angie's kids were here. I made a double batch this time - 20 pitas! It's so fun to watch them bake, I decided to take some pictures this time.Here are the little rounds of dough, right before they went into the oven.Baylee checks out the baked pitas - I think they look like little Mylar balloons!
Grace is busy with her second tamale and is oblivious of the stacks of pitas waiting to be bagged and stuck in the fridge. (One of my student's family is making tamales to sell - every weekend. Our family bought 9 dozen from them last week!)

Audrey's 5th Birthday

Although Tyler says Audrey's only 1 (she's only had one real birthday), we celebrated her turning 5 on February 28th. She got lots of princess stuff, including this beautiful gown and feathery boa! What a beauty she is!
Audrey poses with her pet shop birthday cake.

Ann's Tournament Games

We had the chance to go to a couple of the games Ann officiate in the girls' high school basketball tournament. Jack and I both watched her ref a Weber High game - then Jack went down with John and Spencer a couple of days later to see her do a 3A consolation game. She does a great job and is well respected by the other officials!

Dinner and Bar J

Most of our family has been to Bar J in Jackson Hole. We really enjoy the Bar J Wranglers. Jack probably has about every CD they've made! When we heard that the FFAs of Fremont and Weber High were hosting them as a fund raiser, we jumped on it! We had the kids over for pulled pork sandwiches, salad and dessert. Thanks Ann (We love your buns!), Amy and Angie! After dinner, we headed up to Weber and enjoyed a fun night together.

Love and Logic

John and Ann were at a dental convention this week and Melissa was tending at their house. She also had her three kids there, so she couldn't leave to run Carson to gymnastics. I was scheduled to take him. When I stopped by the house, it was clear that he had been engaged in a video game and did NOT want to go to gymnastics. When all manner of coercion failed to change his mind, Nate pretty much drug him to my van. He put him in the seat, and shut the door. Carson opened the door and bailed. Nate put him in again and I pulled out of the driveway before he could escape. He folded his arms and didn't say a word, so I did the talking. I noticed that his seat belt was not fastened and I asked him to buckle up. He refused. A little way down the road, I pulled over into a parking lot and shut the motor off. I told him that we would sit there until he buckled up. There was silence for a few minutes, then Carson said, "Either we don't go to gymnastics or we go to gymnastics without my seat belt buckled. You choose." It took me a few seconds to process what he said, then I was cracking up! This little guy is clearly a product of a Love and Logic home!!! We ended up sitting there, chatting about several random subjects. Then I heard the click and we were on our way - arriving at gymnastics about 30 minutes late, but still friends.

Happy 6th Birthday, Duncan!

We picked up Dad and went out to Mike and Amy's for Duncan's 6th birthday - cake and ice cream. He got lots of toys, which delighted him and his dad! He got hot wheels and loops and track (the kind I used to whack my kids with - the kind they always hid from me). Amy made him a race track b-day cake - very cute!

A box full of sunshine on our doorstep!!!

Jack and I got home tonight at the same time. I noticed a box on the front porch when I pulled into the garage. I was expecting a package, but not a big box! Not an orange box! Jack got the mail and was at the front door as I opened it. He had my package with the mail, but the box was still on the porch. It WAS an orange box! From B&B (bigger and better) Farms! It was labeled, "A box full of sunshine from Danny and Dalena." Heaven! Oh yeah!

Dean's hot derby car!

This is one of the coolest looking pinewood derby cars I've seen! Dean put 3 coats of enamel on his car so it would be nice and shiny! Cool car! (Cool kid!)

Little Marianne Turns FIVE!

We took soup, Dad/Grandpa Grose and some of the Bolos kids out to Justin and Joann's for Marianne's birthday party on January 30th. She, and all of the other kids were excited about the gifts. Joann made her a darling birthday cake. I think Marianne and her Daddy dreamed up the idea for the cake and Jo made the dream come true. Happy birthday, Little Marianne! We love you!