It has been months since I added to my blog. All I can say is, it has been a full chunk of time, with many happy and memorable events! We have had a daughter move to CA and back to SLC, a wedding and a new son in law, a son come home from his mission to Albania, a new grandaughter born, and that's just the "BIG" news! But, mainly, it is always reaffirmed to me each day, how much I love my family and how truely blessed we are to have each other. I can never get enough of them!!!! I love each and everyone, for their own strengths and weaknesses, and for their spirits!! Lucky me! I love them.

PREDATORS, PARIS, and PIXIES

Our little "pixie fairies" with their fairy house at our house. I have been able to spend a week with Kate and Ruby and Sadie this past month. (Of course, no camera with me at Amy's), but these three little girls bring such joy into our lives. They each have a special place in my heart- Kate-the toy organizer, computer whiz and Littlest Pet Shop pro
Ruby- the thinker, creator, and "pocket" girl
Sadie- snuggler, lover, and "binky" beauty.

I love them all! Lucky Grandma!



Yes, Tara and I went to Paris! What can I say- Opportunity knocked and WE ANSWERED! We had a wonderful trip with 2 girlfriends and wayyyyyyyyyy to much info to share in a blog. This is in the unbelievable pretend world of Interlaken Switzerland (oh yeah, we took a side trip to Switzerland!)




This is at poor little Marie Antoinette's play area village near Versailles. (Oh yeah, we took a side trip to Versailles)




The Eiffel tower is FOR REAL!! Who knew??


Finally, this a lake in Albania where Troy is serving his mission. Some one's got to serve in these ugly parts of the world. HA!

I have no picture of my other adventure because it was fairly top secret! My brother retired from the Air Force and we went to his retirement service at some unfamiliar base near Vegas. The ceremony was amazing and I saw a side of my brother that I had never gotten to experience before. I have a renewed respect for him and his accomplishments in his life. He did sneak us in to see the Reaper (which is a larger version of the Predator) All top secret and I can't reveal more than that!!

January and February Camera Regrets!!

Elder Troy Shields and his first companion. The first pictures from Albania.






Washington DC- Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

JANUARY/FEBRUARY!! What can I say?? I am PATHETIC! My life is so full of activities, church, phone calls, work, that one of the favorite parts of my life gets pushed to the bottom of the list! I love pictures of my family, friends, vacations, places I visit, and yet, very rarely do they make it onto the camera--let alone, from the camera to the computer to the blog to the albums or file!! Perhaps, when I die, I will be put in charge of "picture taking" in the next life, and THEN, I will become the expert! Although, Troy lost his camera on the way to Albania and I dropped Amy's very expensive camera in the pool, so, on second thought, since our family seems to be fairly unlucky in the camera dept, maybe none of us will be put in charge in the next life!!

These two pictures explain the highlights of the past 6 weeks!

No. 1- Troy's arrival and letters from Albania!

Troy made it to Albania about 7 weeks ago. Whew! It has been a joy to receive his letters and hear his perspective on all the teachings and people that he meets each week. I would say that I have had more communication from Troy in the last 4 months than the last 4 years!! It has been great to see his "wit" and share in the experiences and the growing of his testimony. He seems to find joy in everything he is doing (or at least that is what he is trying to make us think!). I did get to talk to him for about 10 minutes from the airport as he flew over to Albania. It was funny though, because I happened to be IN Washington DC visiting, when he landed there for his stop over to Albania. There was a huge blizzard that day, and I truely thought he would be stranded in DC, and then, I would have seen him for SURE! But, he flew off, and we look for his letters every Monday!

No. 2- Visiting Washington DC

We live in the best country in the world! We are blessed beyond what our forefathers ever imagined. Visiting Washington reminded me of our past and the greatness of our history. I am so thankful to live here and to have had ancestors, and even a brother now, that keeps the place I live safe and free. I loved all the Smithsonians, all the monuments (and yes, kids, I DID cry in a few of them), and the spirit of greatness that I felt there. I will go again!! Maybe that should be the trip that I take each of the Grandkids on---That sounds relaxing!!

Speaking of pictures and Washington DC, I took some others, but this is basically the only one that is not turned sideways, head cut off, blurry, or soooooooooo far away that it looks like a pic of LegoLand.

No. 3- No Picture - Just Stress!

This past month, I had to speak in Sacrament Meeting, teach a big lesson at church, be in charge of an Enrichment activity, have Relief Society Board Meeting at my house, do 3 to 4 presentations a week in front of people for schools and I am starting to get "major anxiety" about getting up in front of people!! I think it is because now that I am older, I think I should have "alot of knowledge" to share, but I finally figured out that I really don't much of anything!!

So, I was just feeling relieved about not having any big things this week, and today in Sacrament Meeting, the Stake President called me to come up spontaneoulsy (no other adults in the ward!) and share my feelings and testimony!! Well, maybe 5 years ago, when I knew everything that would have been easier, but now that I get all stressed about this, I truely thought I was going to have a heart attack! Randy had to basically push me up there!! Oh well, I survived, and I REALLY better be off the list for a longggggggggg time!!

N0. 4- No pic here, either- Just missing my family!!

I am starting to have the withdrawals of not seeing my family! I was ready for the quiet after Christmas, but that only lasts about 6 weeks, and we are moving into about 8 weeks! I need to see my children, grand children, brother and sister, and parents, soon! March is almost here, and I will get to see them all in March! Sounds like a good plan to me! We did get to see Matt and Amy this past few weeks, and Bonnie and Sam--so, I had a little fun with them. This has inspired me too---I will take pictures at the events this next month!! One thing I regret not taking pictures of is, we went to the Getty Museum for our Valentines Date (great date, by the way) and we stood on this bluff, on a gorgeous clear day and could see from the ocean to the San Bernardino mountains (Hollywood sign in clear view), and it was breathtaking!! Once again, reminded me of the beautiful country in which we live!!

March Madness here we come, Camera and ALL!!!

FAMILY, FRENZY, FUN, FREAKING OUT OF CONTROL MONTH!

FAMILY FILLED OUR HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!!! Lots of laying around and visiting!
Matt

Lots of fun, excitement and anticipation!

Kate, Ayana, Sadie, Ruby

Lots of fun, lots of eating, lots of presents!

Lots of late nights, lots of mess!

Grandma's attempt at gingerbread houses!


Sally and Dave from Arizona

Tara (happy to be awake early for Santa)

Troy H. and Shannon

Miles and Rhoda

Nate and Nachelle (newly married, new to the fam!)

MOSTLY LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE !!!!!!

Thank you, family- for all the gifts, love and joy that you bring to our lives.

The Famous Troy Kick goes to the MTC-Albania!!

These pics capture the essense
of our past month. Much of our
wonderful family shared in the
activities of this past month-
We loved having you all with us!

Seeing Troy off to the MTC for
11 weeks.

Whirlwind trip to Hawaii for our
10th Wedding Anniversary!
(a great surprise, by the way!)

A great day at the spa with my
sister, mom, and daughters-celebrating
my mom's birthday!!

Schools calling me "non-stop"
for technical support (another
funny joke in the fam!)

BYU, BYU, BYU Football! (Christy)
USC, USC, USC Football! (Randy)

Relief Society Enrichment
Counselor- here we go again!

Tara-off to NYC

Grandaughters, Love
Grandaughters, Love
Grandaughters, Love

Prop 8
Prop 8
Prop 8
(Which state can we move to where "rational thinking" takes place???

Troy's Mission Farewell

There is soooooooo much to share, and so little time! But, I wanted anyone who is interested to know that Troy will be having his farewell talk at our church on Oct.19th at 1:00 pm. The good news-it is late start, so, Troy might actually be awake and there!!! The bad news is, Troy will probably have a short talk since two of his friends will be speaking, too! Actually, that is probably GOOD news for Troy!

Hope to see some of you there, but if not, thanks for all the love and support! He will appreciate it and need it, as he struggles to learn this hard Albanian language.

Also, we had a great, fun time at the beach with all of our family a couple of weeks ago. They are so much fun, and we had some great laughs. It was my birthday, too, and of course they treated me amazing. I added this photo, but I will add some more when I don't feel so overwhelmed. It takes me a half hour to figure out how to download one! (Computer expert-you, know!)

Troy's Mission Call- ALBANIA Tirana

Excitement at our house tonight! Troy had put in his mission papers about 3 weeks ago, and we were waiting with anticipation for his call to come. Well, today was the big day and he shared his mission call letter with the fam tonight! He read he would be serving in the Albania Tirana mission and will report on Oct. 22 to the Provo MTC. Wow, fast! At first, I didn't even know where Albania was!!! So, we quickly checked out the map and found it above Greece, next to Kosovo, across the Adriatic Sea from the boot of Italy. Who knew!!! He will be learning the Albanian language, which will surely be tough, and may even need to be in the MTC 3 months. But, he can handle it, and it's about time he gave that smart brain of his a work out!!

Well, Troy's older brother, Matt, was a great example of sacrificing 2 years of his life for the Lord, by going to Michigan. And now, Troy will follow along in the same path. When he was getting ready to open his letter tonight, it just really hit me, how willing and faithful our youth are that choose to give up 2 years of their life, to go someplace remote like Albania or somewhere in another corner of the USA. What a gift for them and for those they teach. Well, now I know what we'll be doing for the next 5 weeks! Busy-Busy!!

Sadie and Ruby at Sea World

Summer is a great time. To quote Ruby----"I just love this time of year!" We have had fun spending time with family, enjoying our pool, helping Troy get his mission papers in (We'll post that news when it comes!). There have been trips to Colorado Springs, trips to Gilbert, and a stop over in Prescott. We're getting ready for the up coming fall "pluthera" of activities. My schools are in great demand for my services, football becomes a highlight, olympics, and we are having a beach reunion with the kids. So many activities-so little time.

Randy and Ruby Stomping Grapes

Summer Summer Summer!!!

No Frills, No Pics, Just Extended Editions!

I woke up this morning thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful extended family. My children, my grand children, and Randy and I find most of our joy in our lives from sharing it with them, their personalities, and the things we do together. This is not an attempt to talk about them all, but I have had the joy's of thinking about some of them this morning and I am thankful for:

• A fun sister and her sweet husband (Alyson and Jeff), who went out of their way to include, create, and MAKE SURE we had a fun time on our vacation to Arkansas. They always want us to have a good time, and I have noticed that it is sharing that fun, that makes it fun for all of us!!
• A Mom and Dad and a Mother-in-Law and Father-in-Law who have instilled in us the joy of our heart swelling on July 4th because we love our country.
• The simple enjoyment of my in-laws to drive through Oregon and share in their heritage and home.
• A Mom and Dad who open their home all summer long to the comings and goings of close, distant, and virtually unknown relatives!
• Brothers on both sides, who laugh and share their great sense of humors with us.
• A sister in law, Jennifer, that has endured tough cancer treatments this year, and is emerging stronger and more beautiful than ever. (And the tender side of her jock husband, Kirk)

I realize many people don't have much extended family. Wow, was I blessed to have more than anyone could ask for. I love them all, and as the years go by, I'm sure all of them will end up on my blog at some point or another. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles,-wow-I am lucky!

Beach, Arkansas, Fun, Uncles, Water-How do These Words Go Together??

It's mid July and summer is going, going almost gone!!! I wish I wanted or was willing to share the great beach and lake vacation shots of me in my bathing suit- but, alas, you may never return to my blog with that shock!! So, instead, enjoy the smiles and joy that come with summer photo shoots!

5 Great Things About Ruby's, Sadie's, and Kate's Uncles-

1. Willing to lug all stuff to beach and look for sea shells- all day!

2. Will throw you up into pool over and over and over and over and over and over.........

3. Loves you no matter how many times you won't answer "Whose your favorite uncle?"

4. Very handsome- and if the girls could see you "hang out" with your nieces, their hearts would melt.

5. They laugh and think no matter what the 4, 4, and 2 year old say is amazing!

Ruby, Sadie, Troy, Sally, and Mom -at the beach---SHELLS!

Matt- Keeping the girls happy with entertainment!

Arkansas-Who knew??? It is a great place to visit, wake board, boat, go to funny parades, and just HANG OUT!!! We had a great July 4th-

Shooting illegal fireworks through the tall trees-a "boys" dream come true

Seeing the "Jesus of the Ozarks" statue loom above the trees

Armadilla's

Deer

Spectacular wipe outs by Amy and Troy on the Wakeboad (you may see them in a wakeboarding magazine, soon!

Lightning Bugs

Thunderstorms and Lightning-Awesome!

Mullets

But, I missed the rest of the gang-another trip to the state someday!!

Expectations of Mother's Day Change!!

What a great group photo op!!


Cousins at Mark's Wedding dinner- they are all grown up (kind of!) and
still causing the family papparrazi to go "crazy".

As a young mother, my Mother's Day expectations consisted of getting to sleep in, breakfast in bed, not making dinner, and definately NOT doing the dishes. Quite often, those expectations weren't able to be met. How life changes------- NOW my expectations are just one simple amazing request----------TO BE WITH MY FAMILY! How lucky I was this year, to be with,
my father and mother, Amy, Kate, Sally, Dave, Tara, Ruby, Sadie, and Troy. I missed Matt and Randy and his boys, Miles and Troy H.-so, next year, I will have to HOPE that everyone can be there. WOW am I lucky!

Cute grand daughters- Sadie, Kate, Ruby!

I am so lucky to share Mother's Day with them!

A smile is all I need to make my day!

Sally and I at the wedding. My jacket disappeared
at the reception- I must have amazing taste!

The flowers at Temple Square - I wish I
had their gardners! (Oh yeah, I do-RANDY!)

There are NO words to describe a TROY sandwich!

The Day We Have All Been Waiting For!

Tara graduated from BYU in Graphic Design this past week and it has been quite an education!! First of all, Randy and I found out for the first time ---just exactly WHAT Graphic Design really entails, and we have gained a greater appreciation for all the talent, creativity, thought, ingenuity, and HARD WORK that goes into any magazine cover, book cover, poster, etc. that shows up in our house. We loved seeing the displays the students had set up, watching a presentation about the loves and hates of Graphic Designers (by the way, they all love MAC and hate Microsoft!) and seeing a great photo video of all the graduates (12!) in their group doing all their adventures of the past couple of years. Needless to say, we are very proud of Tara, and her Professors had wonderful words of praise for her abilities. She also put on an Indian dinner for the group, parents and guests that were at the graduation. We think she has decided she doesn't want to be a caterer!!

We also had the chance to be with our cute grand daughter Kate,(both Randy and I had a little quality time babysitting!), Amy, mom and dad, my sister from Dallas, my brother Kirk, sisters in laws, and many other nieces and nephews. We really feel blessed to have so many family members that we share our lives with. Randy took me up to visit my brother's grave in SLC, and I hadn't been there for awhile. It brought back a flood of emotions, and I wish so much that I could share my life with him now, and he could share his with me. We miss him so much! What a fun, handsome, man he was.

Troy also packed up his very SCARRY dorm room. I can't even tell you how many dirty clothes there were. I have definitely missed some "mother training" somewhere! Oh well, we have all summer to work on him! But, that brought another flood of emotions, because I realized we are done moving children into dorms! It makes me very sad--it is such a joyous time in a Freshman's life. He had a great time and last night here at home, we had to close down the "new dorms" in Murrieta at 3:30 AM!! Wow, it could be a looooooooong summer!!

I also came home to a few surprises! Randy had installed an "interesting" light fixture and had done some much needed repairs in our home. I loved the projects being done--yeah! I didn't need to ask! I will add a photo of the light fixture next time and take votes on if we should "go with it or not". The reviews have been mixed!

I am going to try to add some pics-they may be a bit random, but I will try and improve!

Tara and Kate

The Graduate

Tara and Amy

Mom and Tara

Proud Randy and Christy