Papa Don and Gramma Jacki

trip to cali...

2012-01-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

the day after christmas, don and i packed up and headed to california to see our friends, the godwin's, who are serving as mission presidents in the california san bernadino mission. they've been out for a year and a half, and still have that long to go. (at least they are at the 1/2 way mark). i am really missing ladawn!

we stopped and stayed in their home in st. george the first night. the weather was nice and i love just being with donnie. we got up tuesday morning and headed for a beautiful drive. (if you like to see a whole lot of nothing. well, every once in a while a joshua tree or sage brush would pop up) it certainly is not like driving through 'island park'.

we got to their home in etiwanda about 5:00pm. the traffic was unreal! we would be traveling about 70 miles an hour, and then all of the sudden traffic would be at a complete stop! no explanation! just a complete stop! then stop and go, stop and go. when we got there, finally, ladawn told us that craig says that NOBODY could pay him enough to live down there. well guess what craig! you live down there and NO one is paying you! well... i hope you are getting payed with blessings!

ladawn fixed us a nice dinner and we visited until we were all too tired to talk. it was so fun to visit and just be with them again!

wednesday morning we got up and had breakfast then jumped in the car for a tour of the mission. we went up the mountain to crestline and then over to big bear. don and i had never been there before, and it was a fun drive. there was actually a little snow at big bear, but the weather was warm (to us, anyway). they had snow parks, where they were tubing and having fun. the traffic was horrendous up there, for people trying to get into the parking lots at the snow parks. we stopped and had lunch in big bear. it was funny to see people all dressed up in their snow clothes... hats, mittens, snow pants, boots ~ get the picture. and then there were those who had barely any clothing on. we definitely were NOT in utah! we headed down the mountain to the lucerne valley. i think it should be called the 'desolate' valley. but they have missionaries there and said that the ones serving there, love it.

this is us on top of the mountain looking over at big bear

then of course, we had to stop at the 'pro bass' shop in rancho cucamonga

ladawn, jacki, and don

craig (or "president") and don

had to take a picture of all of the sheds, for cheyne.
(i just love how everyone "welcomes" us, the hunters! isn't that just sooo nice)

more sheds

after (long enough) time spent at 'pro bass', we hurried home so that craig and ladawn could change back into their missionary clothes, then off to meet the carter's (elder and sister) at out back steak house. yes! the real steak house, not the stake house! sorry, not a very good picture, i had one of the waitresses take this picture with my iphone.

president and sister godwin
jacki and don
elder marshall and sister trudie carter

we had a fun time visiting. remembering old times and hearing of all of the drama that goes on in a mission.

the next morning (thursday) don had planned on leaving to come home. when i went down stairs and told ladawn that, she said "but you can't go home yet! i bought all of these pork chops, and you can't go home until they're gone!" didn't take much to talk donnie boy into staying. so we just bummed around with the godwin's all day. a trip to sam's club then on to costco. we went back to the mission home and put on some dinner, then we went to the mission office with them. they had 4 missionaries that would be leaving the following monday, so they had them all come to the office, fed them, then we went into the chapel and listened to their departing devotional.

we went back to the mission home and had dinner, visited, laughed about craig running a "daddy day care", and other things. it was so fun to just be with them again! can't wait until we can all be down in fairview, together again!

craig, ladawn, don and jacki
the morning we left to come home.

ladawn and jacki.
till we meet again...

on the way home, we just had to stop in las vegas at the 'pro bass' store there. they had some neat mounts, and some not so. but we didn't spend a lot of time there. thank goodness!

we stopped at the 'olive garden' in st. george for dinner, then went back to godwin's home to spend the night. we watched some lame movie, then slept in the next morning. it was nice to be able to relax and not be hurried. we came home saturday, to the mess from christmas that we left. oh well... it was worth it! and... believe it or not, after all the relaxing and good times we had, it's great to be home!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

christmas...

2011-12-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

this christmas eve, we were blessed to have our whole family together. don fixed a delicioso prime rib and the kids brought all of the fixins to go with it. after we ate, we all went down stairs for some fun and games. we did our own version of "chubby bunny" with "we wish you a merry christmas".

ise... not so sure.
but usually she can stuff a whole cup full of marshmallows in her mouth at one time.

hunter... how many??? still has those dimples!

siona

kendyl looks like she's going to loose it before she even started.

kamryn was giggling too hard to put many in.

haley determined...

jeff, determined to beat haley.

chet... thinking he could beat them all.

george, ready to loose it!

gramma and leila
(we got to just sit and watch).

did grandpa win?

no! briggs does not have anything in those cheeks!

we even got the neighbors involved.
gunner and reegan lamb.

the kids lined up to play "santa, may i?"

after a few games and a lot of giggles, we sat around the coffee table and colored a picture of the nativity and talked about the true meaning of christmas.

then all heck broke loose when we let the kids open their gifts from gramma and grandpa and their cousins.

we had them all sit on the couch to take a picture. they all looked so cute in their matching jammies. but... what a joke! but we did get a couple where most of them were looking at the camera.

leila, kamryn, hunter, isley, siona, jack sittitng on siona's lap, ryker, kendyl holding briggs

cheyne, helping jack open his present.

christmas morning

christmas was on a sunday this year, so don, cheyne, and i, got up and got dressed for church. our ward doesn't meet until 1:00. we decided to make the rounds early, so we could see the kids before they went to church at 10:00.

first we stopped at the 'murdoch's' to see if santa had come. sure enough... he stopped there! the kids were excited to show us what he had brought them.

the murdoch's

then we headed out to saratoga springs. guess what! santa found his way out there, too.

briggs and grandpa

the hunter's

sauvao's had church at 9:00, so we went there last and waited a few minutes until they got home. beleive it or not...santa stopped there, too. and why is it that the boxes are so much more fun that anything else?

isley, playing in the boxes

siona, busy with her leapster
isley, playing with the boxes

leila, in her saucer

the sauvao's

we hurried home, and grandpa surprised me with "my fish". this is a replica of the fish i caught in alaska this summer. when i caught it, i asked if we were going to have it mounted. don said "do you know how much that would cost!?' and i responded with "if it was you that had caught it, would you mount it?" i teased with him every once in a while, but never had a clue that he really was having it mounted for me.

me with "my fish"

we then headed off to our church meeting.

after we got home, all of the kids came back home for left overs, and to play games. cheyne got each of the families a game called "head bandz". the "older" kids (as in adults) had the most fun playing.

chet trying to guess what he was

kamryn had it figured out.
if you can see your reflection in the glass,
you know what ?'s to ask!

cheyne, getting really annoyed that he couldn't figure out that he was a toaster.

jeff and haley

we feel so very blessed to be able to spend such a special time with our most treasured gift. the gift of a loving family! and to be able to reflect on the birth (and life) of our savior, Jesus Christ, with them. we have been soooo blessed this year. health, jobs, 2 new babies, and more blessings than we can count.

here's to hoping that you all had a merry christmas, too.

and... wishing you a happy and prosperous 2012.

from our family to yours...

2011-12-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

grandpa's sleepover...

2011-12-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

grandpa's last day of work for the year was december 22nd. so the boys got to have a sleep over with grandpa that night. hunter and ryker are the only 2 old enough this year, so grandpa really got to spoil (and tease) them. we (yes... they let me go with them) went to mi ranchito for dinner. cheyne got to go, too. they told me that i was "boy trapped" because i had boys on every side of me.

of course... they didn't get to do all the fun things the girls did, but they got to go to mc donald's for lunch on friday (grandpa just forgot to tell them at mc d's that they wanted the boy happy meal instead of the girl one). oh well... they played with the 'chipettes' while they were eating, then decided to give them to their sisters.

grandpa got to lay with them until they went to sleep, because ryker heard something go "urghhhh", and neither one of them were going to go back in the bedroom without him. he then got up with them in the morning and poured them each a bowl of cereal, bathed them and got them dressed, and then they rode down to spanish fork to circle v to pick up the prime rib he was going to cook for christmas eve. after that they got to ride with grandpa up to salt lake, to pick up 'gramma's' surprise, and then stopped at cabela's for treats (black and green licorice) and to look around. grandpa then took them home. i can't imagine what it will be like when jack and briggs are old enough to stay over. i wonder if grandpa will be able to do it alone. maybe they could have an all boys sleep over and the dad's could stay, too. love you boys! thanks for keeping us young... if that's possible...

sleepover at gramma's...

2011-12-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

since the kids had a few weeks out of school for christmas break, and we were planning on being gone the second week, between christmas and new years eve, we decided to have 2 separate sleepovers the 1st week. today was the girls turn. they came up sunday evening and had tiffany braid their hair, before she left, so that it would be wavy in the morning. siona's was already braided, and her hair is a lot longer than kamryn and kendyl's. when they took the braids out and combed their hair monday morning, this is what they looked like. can you tell that it's wavy?

looks even better from the back, huh!?

we made waffles with whip cream and strawberry jam for breakfast.

then we made carmel to dip pretzels in. siona got to be the stirrer, because kendyl didn't want to make her arms tired.

she actually stirred for quite a long time. then we dipped the pretzel sticks in the carmel and then in chopped up chocolate and nuts. they turned out pretty good and the girls had fun doing them. i'm bad! i didn't get a picture of the finished project.

after we dipped the pretzels, the girls wanted to make snow flakes. so for about 2 to 3 hours, we made a total mess of the kitchen, but made some pretty awesome snow flakes. (looks like they are the only snow flakes we are going to get to see this christmas).

see the snowmen in the snow flakes?

and can you see the intense look on siona's face. (she was making some kind of 'sign' that she wanted to hang in the front window).

kendyl is making a sign, too. can you see all the paper scattered everywhere?

all over the floor... teeny, tiny, bits of paper... everywhere!

okay... now kamryn's thinking about making a sign, too.

what the heck am i going to do with all these signs?

kamryn ironing the snow flakes so they would look nice to hang.

the snow flakes all arranged on the front window. i made them hang their 'signs' on the back patio window. i know, i know! i'm a fun hater!

then they moved the curtains around and made a little 'fort' in the front window.

i would have NEVER let my kids do this.

but as hunter says... gramma will let the grand kids do ANYTHING!

mel wouldn't let isley sleep over but she came with george to pick the
girls up , and when they left, they all had on their matching coats. so of course, being a gramma, i had to take a picture of all of them together.

and leila was just happy to be here... like always!

it's always fun to have the grand kids here. they keep us very entertained. the older girls seem to get along a lot better as they get older. and... they even all slept in the guest room together in the same bed... all night! bonus!!! maybe next time mel will let isley sleep over, too. (leila will have to wait a while before we take on that task.)

thanks girls! i had a wonderful time! hope you did, too. heavenly father let me be a gramma, so that i could make up for being a onery mom. love you all!

sad day...

2011-12-08T15:00:00.000-08:00

pretty sad day when we think it's "exciting" that gasoline prices have gone down to $2.93.

two years old....

2011-12-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

our little buddy jack is two years old! he is so darn cute! he always has a big smile on his face (but this is his smile when the camera is on him). he is already a BIG tease (happens in this family). when he comes to gramma's house, the first thing he does is head downstairs to the toys. he loves the old trucks - that pull. so grandpa and gramma went looking for a truck or tractor that had something to pull. we found a tractor and trailer at cal-ranch. when he opened it up, the first thing he said was, "ere's da tows?" so haley found him some cows, and he was happy!

when i wrapped his present, i had a few balloons that i tied in with the bow. he liked them as well as the tractor. as a matter of fact... he played with the balloons, before he even opened the tractor.

here are some other poses thru the year, when the camera came out.

i do have to say that he was sooo sick in this picture, but he still
had a 'smile' for gramma!

we just love this little guy... he takes me to a "happy" place!

happy birthday buba!

'parker' christmas party

2011-11-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

another "parker" christmas party. the number of brothers and sisters is diminishing, but the posterity is growing tons! some think that it may be getting too large to really get together, but i'm sure grandma and grandpa parker, look down and see their family together and it must bring them alot of joy and satisfaction, for isn't 'family' what it's all about?

it's always fun to see the cousins, their families and the resemblence that is passed from one generation to the next. only thing i regret, is that i didn't get a picture of the remaining brother and sisters together. ~ ann, bonnie, and grant.

austin and cade

adam, dalton, holli, and kiley

nyah, hiloree, and gage

kamryn, and jack - not so sure about santa

santa was the "best" this year. so full of the jollies!

santa "who has a favorite christmas song"?
isley raises her hand and tells him her favorite song is
"i wub to see da tempow".

it was quite the site to see and hear everyone sing "i love to see the temple". someone made the comment, that grandpa mac and grandma alice parker were smiling in heaven. i'm sure they were!

isley, siona, leila, hunter, kamryn, jack

isley, austin and cade

uncle lee's family

wendy, janet, jolene, and diane

susan, jason, tony, pam, candice, lindsey, paisley

isley and siona with santa

hunter with santa

jack with santa

kamryn with santa

gage, santa, cade, austin
dalton and kiley

trudie and aunt ann

aunt ann just celebrated her 90th birthday on november 16. we love her and love to have her still here with us (although, somedays she thinks different).

we missed having chet, tiff, and the kids with us this year. tiff's brother was married in california, so they spent the thanksgiving holiday down there.

thanks to uncle grant and his family for another great family reunion!

**one of the highlights each year is... brian parker's kids always come with the 'ads' to show santa just what they want. it's hilarious!

mi ranchito...

2011-11-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

hunter chose to go to mi ranchito for his birthday dinner. (i think he wanted to go there, because they give out free suckers, but oh well! that's where he wanted to go). we hadn't taken isley for her birthday dinner yet, and when i asked hunter if he wanted us to just take him and take ise another time, he said he wanted isley to go with him. so he got to choose and ise went with us, too.

grandpa and hunter with suckers
BEFORE dinner.

gramma and isley

after we ate, they brought the kids each their own plate of fried ice cream, put the sombrero on and sang "happy birthday" to them.

NO WAY! were they going to put that hat on isley!

just look at that look she gave me!

hunter was all smiles (as usual)

they were both thrilled with the plate of ice cream they were brought.

i think isley like the 'whipped' cream that was on top the best!

NOW she's happy!

cousins!

it was fun to take the two of them together. hunter is so cute with isely and she thinks he is the bomb!

happy birthday once again, to some of the 'cutest' grand kids around!

love ya hunter and isley!!

hunter is 6!...

2011-11-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

hunter's birthday was coming up, and ususally i would have taken him shopping to get what ever he picked out... but haley gave me fair warning and told me if i was crazy enough to take him shoppping that would be fine, but he wants EVERYTHING he sees, and can never make up his mind. she told me about some boots that they had found, that he really liked, but they couldn't find his size. so i opted to go shopping by myself (something that i really don't like to do... go shopping for anything!) i went the salt lake route and found the boots. really? these are the kind of boots that were in style when i was in second grade! i looked around and found the size i needed, purchased the boots, headed home and wrapped them up. he loves them and wears them everywhere. thanks haley for the heads up. i'm glad he loves the boots. now it's his turn to go to dinner with grandpa and gramma.

random pictures...

2011-11-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

leila - first time she laughed

gramma and siona
grandparents day for first grade

ryker with his medal for fall soccer

siona - first grade

isley - three years old

kamryn - third grade

hunter - kindergarten

jack - 21 months

happy halloween...

2011-10-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

kj as dorothy from wizard of oz
kamryn, a cheerleader

hunter, the football HERO!

siona, the cute little witch

isley with her poodle skirt on.
(she told her mom, when she went to their 'trunk or treat', that she looked "stupid!"

leila, the HAPPY baby!

briggs and leila

briggsy! don't you wanna just kiss those cheeks!?

ryker... arghhhhh!

isley and siona with their 'jacolyns' out of grandpa's garden

jack, he had to get a green pumpkin. he was the last to get to choose, and all the orange ones were gone.
he really didn't care!

hunter

kamryn

happy halloween y'all!

and while the mother sleeps...

2011-10-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

....the kids (or Isley) will be mischievous!

isn't this a typical 3 year old? funny thing is...

I can just sit back and laugh, now.

Mel had gone to work early and when she got home, she layed down with Isley and Leila to take a little rest. Well, that's what she THOUGHT they were doing. This is what she woke up to. She even colored the bottom of her feet (and can you see the blue on her mouth?)

I just LOVE this kid!

"papa don"...

2011-10-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

is in his heighth of "GLORY"!

siona, kendyl, hunter, ryker, isley, papa, jack, and kamryn

only way he could be 'happier'... would be to have briggs and leila on with them, too!

before and after...

2011-10-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

before

after

we found this chair in the shed when we were cleaning out grandpa's shed. it had so much "crud" on it, that is was actually "gross". i talked don into NOT throwing it to the junk yard and brought it home. after a little wash down and some elbow grease, i think it turned out pretty cute. (thing is... i remember when grandma ruth, finished it to the "before" state, long ago.)

isley is three...

2011-10-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

yep! it's true... isley is three years old! she doesn't like to smile at the camera much. but i did get a coulple of pictures of her (kind of) smiling, the day we went shopping for her birthday. i went to pick her up, and she was all ready to go with gramma. this is the first time she got to go shopping for her birthday with me and she was soo excited to go. i took her to walmart and she picked out this barbie with a horse. she kept telling me she wanted to see "ponies". i was thinking "horse"... i think she was thinking like "thanksgiving point" pony rides. but she was happy with the barbie horse.

i was going to take her out to lunch, too, but when i asked her what she wanted for lunch, she said "i wanna go to gamma's HOUSE!" so we ended up going back to our house and we had hot dogs for lunch. she was as pleased as punch! she was totally worn out after we ate, so we got to lay down and take a rest... NICE!

this was later at her family birthday party. the murdoch's gave her this piggy bank with some 'monies' in it, and she had the world by the tail!

hunter and isley

her auntie sheila gave her this helmet. she wasn't too sure about it, but she got a scooter for her birthday and believe me you... she is in desperate need of a helmet when she rides it. in fact, she should probably wear one all of the time, as crazy and active as this little princess is!

doesn't she look so, sooo innocent?

we love you isley and the love and excitement you have brought into our lives! never a dull moment when you're around!

leila's blessing day...

2011-10-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

given the name of "leila jacolyn sauvao".

she is sooo beautiful!

george gave leila a beautiful blessing. and what a special day... it was his mother's birthday. i'm sure she was there and very proud of him! i sure was!

after leila's blessing, we went back to george and mel's for a 'samoan feast'!

george and his cousin, peter, stayed up most of the night cooking. and... boy do they know how to do it right! we had kahlua pork, teriaky chicken and beef, chop suey, taro, and to add to that, "american" salads. george and peter did everything but the 'salads'.

cheyner with hunter and ryker
what, makes me think he is teasing them?

jack... look at how cute he is in his sports coat.

papa teasing ryker
surprise, surprise!

leila and papa... they've had a hard day

peter, cheyner, and chet.
typical....

papa decided that he would be more comfortable 'resting' with isley.

it had been storming all week, but it turned out to be a beautiful day! everything!!

welcome to the world little leila!

brown's park...

2011-09-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

last weekend we ventured once again, out to browns park. sally mower drew the same antelope tag that i drew last year. they had never been out there, and asked us to go along as their guides (ha,ha!) we left friday afternoon and picked don up at work. it rained so hard on the way out, i thought for sure we wouldn't have to get up early saturday morning. [no antelope would be out in that mess]. wrong... again jack! we slept in "uncle brian's" newer trailer. stevie and sally slept in the older one, and steve and brian slept in steve's trailer. saturday morning we got up early and headed out scouting for antelope. we were sooo proud of stevie... before 8:30 a.m., we had passed up a few really good bucks. we decided to drive up to the '3 corners' [where you can be in utah, colorado, and wyoming all at the same time]. it was a slippery, muddy, mess! i was really grateful for stevie's driver education teacher, mr. kitchen, who taught him to stay on the road, while fishtailing all over the place. he even managed to stay out of some big ruts on the side of the road. can i say... there was more than one place that we were all 'white knuckled'! needless to say, that by the time we got up to the 3 corners stevie's truck was NOT very clean :0 !

stevie and sally
standing on the 3 corner monument

jacki and donnie
standing on the 3 corner monument

just after we left the 3 corners, we spent over 2 hours, trying to get out of a bog that we thought was only a mud puddle.

stevie's truck in the bog up over the axles

i took this picture out the window.
don giving stevie directions

donnie with that look on his face...
"how the heck are we going to get outta here?"

so after don walked a mile or so back up the road to get cell service, to call brian and steve to come help, we realized that "OH" stevie has on star, and we could have called them from the truck. so... with sally in the driver's seat and stevie gathering more rocks to put under the tires, sally finally was able to rock out of the puddle. then we went back up the road to pick up don. he hadn't been able to get a hold of brian, so he had left a message as to where we were, then called brian's wife to get steve's phone #, and left a message on steve's phone, too.

we were free again, so we headed out to find more antelope. something big enough for sally to shoot at. she, like me, had not been out practicing and was not all that anxious to shoot the gun.

we found a group with 4 or 5 decent bucks, so steve, sally, and don, hiked up over the hill and shortly after they were out of site, i heard a bang. then after a few minutes, another bang. then a few minutes later, another bang. i sat in the truck crocheting, and after a while thought maybe i would go see if i could find them. then it hit me that i had NO idea where to even begin to look.

just then, here comes sally over the opposite side of the hill from where they had started, to get the truck. she got all the way to the truck and realized that steve still had the keys in his pocket. she started back up the hill and met stevie half way. he too, had realized that HE had the keys. we drove right up to where the buck had dropped and loaded him in the back of the truck.

not a bad buck sal!

stevie... are you coming out of the women's potty... again?

after, we headed down to the "jarvie" ranch. they have flushing toilets there and running water. something we hadn't seen for a day or so.
donnie decided to take a little rest, while the rest of us went on a tour of the old ranch.

the "hunter" sleep position

the dug out
[butch cassidy and the sundance kid used this place as a hide out.]

sally, enjoying a little dinner in the dug out.

steve, wondering if he wanted to take a nap on this old bed.
this room is the bedroom, kitchen, and living room.
cool, but way too small!
the people that lived in those days, had to be pretty short!

the table is set with all these cute little dishes.

stevie, hugging his "sweetie" along the green river.
[i won't tell you what she was calling him]

don moved from the bench to the ground, still almost same sleeping position.

our fetish with 'butt cracks'

stevie, trying to rest for a minute or two.

a truck that needs a good car wash!

don and jacki, with the green river in the back ground.
[anyway... that's what stevie was suppose to get in the picture]

sally and steve with the green river in the back ground.

can you see the "hang loose" marks on the front of the truck?

eery, thinking that a truck is coming head on into you!

the leaves coming through parley's canyon were already starting to turn. soo, soo, pretty!

changing leaves

we had a great time. we laughed our butts off (we wish). it was a fun get away and... we saw NO other hunters all weekend.

thanks mower's for a great weekend!

strawberry...

2011-09-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

briggsy, wondering what the heck is going on!

for the 'labor day' weekend, we headed out to 'strawberry' to fish. and... because donnie has an elk tag , he wanted to do a little scouting, and oh yeah... cheyne had an archery elk tag, and that hunt was going on then, too. anyway... we pulled our trailer out and chet pulled the boat out. [this is the very first time the boat has been out of the barn, this year.] jeff and haley pulled their trailer out, as did cheyner. chet, kendyl, and ryker slept out in their tent. tiff and briggs slept in the trailer with us. jeremy (hunter), alisha and their kids were out there, too. [jer also had an archery tag].

why is it that the grandkids like to take pictures with MY camera?
is it because i let them?

great picture...huh!

ryker and hunter

k.j.

kamryn

donnie, living his dream. i wanted to sale the boat years ago, but he wanted to keep it so that he could take his grandkids fishing, when he retired. well, he's not retired YET, but at least he gets to live part of his dream.

briggs and tiff

lucky gunner (lamb)... we invited him to come along. he wanted to go hunting with cheyner, but i think after the morning hunt, he was done! so he went fishing with the rest of us.
[probably wished he would have gone back out hunting with cheyne]

ryker, playing with the rope
[ he had been told at least a hundred times, to leave it alone1]

can you see the mischief in his smile?

jeff and haley were the smart ones... they stayed on the bank with jack, to fish. we had all the rest of the kids with us.

briggs... doesn't he look just like the 'gerber' baby?

sophie, playing 'sport toss'

hunter.
[ i think he is about to bite his tongue off.]
conner, taking it all in.

ryker, learning to ride his 2 wheeler.
[at least he's riding it in this picture. most of the time, he was just pushing it around camp, following hunter.]

ryker and conner

gunner and sophie
[i'm sure sophie is telling gunner some 'amazing' story]

conner, kylie, and sophie hunter.
[jeremy and alisha's kids].

our camp.

sophie though it would be funny to lock uncle don in the bathroom.

of course, conner and ryker had to help!

don trying to get out and the kids thinking they were really funny.

the 96 crawdads the kids caught down on the boat harbor.

we had a great time and the kids thought it was the 'bomb' to have the "other" hunter cousins to play with! kylie was great for kamryn and kendyl. they followed her around like they were her shadow. sophie entertained us throughout the weekend. she is such a fun little girl. the boys loved having conner there... [some one to help them with their mischief (like they needed any help)].

we sat around the campfire at night and grandpa had to tell kylie, sophie and conner about "thump drag". conner didn't want him to tell them, but sophie was all for it, until "thump drag" was

opening the screeeching door. then she put her hands over her ears and yelled "that's enough! i DON'T want to hear anymore!" our grand kids have heard it so many times, that they just giggled at sophie.

it was a bummer to have to come home, but the holiday weekend was over and work and school were waiting.

and the 3rd one is a charm...

2011-09-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

leila jacolyn

briggs mack

jack murray

are all 3rd babies this happy and content? i know that my 3rd one (haley) was. just wondering if 3rd babies have to be, because mom is too crazy taking care of the other 2.
and.... i just had to show off my little cuties!

book cliffs...

2011-09-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

cheyne, on a scouting trip on the 24th of july

cheyner drew the archery book cliffs deer tag, this year. he and zac drove the grueling 5-6 hour drive on the 24th of july weekend to scout around. he found 2 really nice ones and bedded them down.

we left thursday night to drive down to the book cliffs. don and i had never been down there before. cheyne told us that out of 'oray', it was at least a 2 hour drive on a dirt road to get where he wanted to camp. well... about 10 minutes on the dirt road, cheyne had a flat tire on his truck. he was pulling the wheelers and don was pulling cheyne's trailer. we stopped and fixed the flat, then called chet [who was coming down the following night] to tell him to make sure and bring the compressor. he noted, that he had barely 6,000 miles on his tires and would be alright [but he would bring it anyway]. when we finally got to where cheyne wanted to camp, sure enough, there was already a camp set up. we turned around to drive back up the road, where we thought might be o.k. to camp in. so by the time we got there to set up camp, it was 3:15 a.m. (why does that not surprise me??? i don't think we have ever been able to set up camp in the light of day.)

the next morning, about 6:00, the guys got up and went scouting. cheyne was positive that the bucks he saw on the 24th would still be in the same place. and.... i hate to admit it, but he was right! don asked him if they shouldn't split up and see if they could find some other deer... just in case. but cheyne was adamant that he was going after one of the 2 deer he had been watching and that was that! they got back to camp, and had found a better place to set up camp. so we secured things down in the trailer and off we went to set up camp... again! that evening, it was off to scout [or watch his buck] again.

cheyne, finding the deer he had scouted out on the 24th.

here he is..."the big 4"

jeff, helping cheyne find 'the one!'

beautiful sunset on the 'book cliffs'

million $ question... should he try to shoot this one?

chet and ryker came down friday night. about 8:00 p.m. we got a text from chet, that he too, was changing a flat tire... just about the same place cheyne had his. they finally showed up, set up their tent, and we all got settled down for a good nights sleep. sometime in the night, cheyne's friend devin and his friend showed up and set their tent up next to cheyner's truck. where they set up their tent was actually right next to the trailer in the other camping spot.

chet brought ryker in to snuggle to me early saturday morning so that he could go help cheyne [so much for sleeping in!] 8:00 a.m. came and he was just like an alarm clock! we played for a little while, then he wanted his dad. i held him off for a couple of hours, then we got on the 4 wheeler on headed off to see if we could find them [which is a scary thought, since i didn't know my way around, at all!] we eventually found don. he told us that cheyne had hit the big one first thing that morning and had hit it a couple of times. it had bedded down and now, don had him in his spotting scope. he was telling me to come and look, and just at that time, it jumped up and don lost him in the scope. cheyne had been hiking around for hours, tracking this deer, in his stocking feet. [we were pulling cactus thorns out of his feet for days.] it cooled down and started to rain just after we got the deer loaded in the truck to head back to camp. i actually captured a picture of the rainbow after the storm. i must be getting old, because i appreciate things different than i did a few years ago.

his perseverance paid off!

jeff, stevie, cheyne, don, jacki, ryker - with devin cahoon in the back.

can't wipe the grin off his face!

cheyne and ryker...
thumbs UP!

donnie, chet, ryker, cheyner, and jeff.

showing off his trophy!

it was a longgg drive down there, but where we finally ended up camping was a pretty spot. we saw deer everywhere! cheyne left to go home that night. he wanted to hurry and get his deer home to justin parduhn (the taxidermist). [ he was worried about the velvet sluffing off.] we decided that it was too long of a drive to just stay 2 nights, so don, chet, ryker and i opted to stay another night, before making the journey home.... i would have never made it as a pioneer! but... it was a fun trip!

CONGRATULATIONS CHEYNER! ON A JOB WELL DONE!

the 'highland fling'

2011-09-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

we were actually home for the 'highland fling' this year. All of the kids came to watch the parade. we always have a yard full of people, [since we live right on the parade route]. and... every one's lives are soo extremely busy nowadays, so it's always fun to see old friends as they gather to watch the parade. kamryn thinks it's fun to sale 'otter pops' to all who gather. (usually, she makes the most $ off of grandpa. but hey! what are grandpa's for?)

kamryn and her cousin ally

jack and briggs

briggs is not sure whether or not to be excited that jack is so close.

briggs - always happy!

melanie had her baby, leila jacolyn on the 1st of august, and this was her first official trip out of the house. the sauvao's stayed until after the parade and after a trip [for some of them] over to the park. they went home to rest, for the afternoon. they came back in the evening to watch the fireworks.

leila jacolyn... first time out

the rest of the kids stayed all day and we made a party out of it. the kids played in the water, all day.

hunter, soakin' in some sun.

and cheyne tease them all day!

never! can it happen.
peace and quiet ~ when you mix cheyne with the grand kids.
[i think this comes from the torture his siblings caused him while i was not looking.]

here is hunter, after his very ingenious mother came up with face painting of her own.

instead of waiting for hours at the park for face painting,
haley came home and painted hunter into a tiger
[notice the tail on his leg?]

kamryn and kendyl had fun painting their own faces. by the end, they turned out to be completely 'blue'

kamryn and kendyl opted for the "do it yourself" art

they did a pretty darn good job!

jack was contained in the house for part of the day, but he wanted to be outside, with the 'big' kids.

jack is trying to escape through the blinds.
[note his face painting, too.]

we love it when we get to entertain our grandkids (and kids). and... we love to see old friends. we missed a lot of them this year. hope they were just out of town and not ditching us! the fling is just another excuse to get together. love it!!!

the big boys!

2011-08-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

this year, we had to bring the trailer off the mountain early, because donnie has an elk tag and wanted to have the trailer for the hunt. so we took the 'big boys', hunter and ryker with us to skyline mountain to get the trailer. on the way down, we stopped at 'cal ranch' to get grandpa new suspenders and while we were there, we found cowboy bandanna's for the boys... and of course, they each got to pick out their own bag of treats. we stopped in spanish fork at the arctic circle for lunch, and of course, again, they got to pick out whatever they wanted. hamburger kids meals, with chocolate shake for ryker and huckleberry shake for hunter. they were thinkin' they were sittin' on tall cotton!

ryker, grandpa, and hunter (showing the grasshoppers he had caught)
he came to the trailer and asked gramma if he could have a container with a lid for his grasshoppers. and of course, i found one for them, and then they wanted holes cut in it so the grasshoppers could breathe. at first i said 'no', but then thought, when am i EVER going to use it again!
only for the grandkids!

boys, boys, boys! a habit they never outgrow!

hunter with his dimples...
all you have to say is, "hunter, i don't want to see any dimples!" and they appear!

ryker... "who ME?"

the wild flowers were so beautiful! haven't seen them like this ever!
especially pretty for the end of august!

at the sign.
ryker, trying to act like a 'pirate'...arggh... and hunter like a 'cowboy'

we took a little hike down to godwin's sand pile.
sooo, sooo easy to entertain little boys!

better picture of the flowers

again, sooo, soo easy to entertain little boys.
give them some fuzzy black toes and the end of a shovel and let them see who can cut them in half first.

we roasted hot dogs over the campfire and grandpa let them each do their own.
and grandpa always has to tell them the story of "thump... drag..."

this is the meadow going down to our lot. again, the picture doesn't show it justice, but the flowers were so bright and pretty.

as we were pulling out of the lot, and don had locked it all up, he just happened to look up to see smoke coming from the fire pit. he asked the boys if they had put more wood on the fire that morning, while they were playing, and hunter said, "i told ryker not to!" don said "ryker..., did you put more wood in the fire pit?" and he said "yeah!" (like what's the big deal?). so we're all loaded up and ready to go, and don had to go back up and make sure the fire was completely out.
so the end of another season down in fairview. sad to see it end, but just hasn't been the same without craig and ladawn down at their cabin, too. maybe in 2 more years it will be exciting to be down there more.

leila jacolyn sauvao...

2011-08-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

i am quite a bit late trying to get my blog caught up, but couldn't wait to post this.

introducing...

look how sweet this is...
she was wide awake, just looking at mel.

proud 'BIG" sisters!

the nurses checking her out.

isley telling the nurses to "leabe her awone"!
she did not like them making her cry, at all!!!

sweet baby!!!

siona is going to be a HUGE help!

the picture lady came in to take her picture, so i snuck behind her to try to get in on the action, but unfortunately, i don't think mine turned out as good as hers.

look at this hair.........

first family picture...
(mel's going to not be so happy that i posted this)

a little wreath to welcome 'baby leila"

isely wanted a turn to "hoed IT"

proud gramma

so grateful that she is finally here and both mom and baby (and dad) are doing great!

(don't you just love her name!!!)

two in one...

2011-07-31T08:51:00.001-07:00

siona and ryker's birthdays are exactly one week apart. they decided that they wanted to go to dinner together this year, so when we asked them where they wanted to go, (i bet you can't guess!) they both said 'texas roadhouse'. so that's where we took them.

(chet had been coaching ryker to make sure and order the biggest steak they had, so that he could take the leftovers home to dad.) but... he actually ordered ribs and applesauce.

siona ordered steak and fries (kid size) and a lemonade.
she thought it was pretty cool that they could have all the rolls they wanted. and.... she got cut the roll and spread the butter herself!

here is ryker giving grandpa a taste of his ice cream. (i love the look on both of their faces here.)

grandpa had to have a taste of siona's ice cream, too.

grandpa had to feed ryker most of his dinner.

here is siona when they put her on the saddle to give her a BIG YAHOOO! for her birthday. ryker wouldn't sit on it this year. (he was a little tired).

siona and gramma

siona, gramma, and ryker.

happy birthday to ryker, who just turned 4 and to siona, who just turned 6.

love you and thanks for taking grandpa and gramma take you to dinner. we had a great time!

happy birthday to you!

24th of july weekend...

2011-07-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

friday afternoon, tiff and i set off to fairview, with the kids. we stopped at the spanish fork splash pad for a picnic and some afternoon fun.

siona, sitting in the water

briggs, tiff, and ryker

letting briggs feel the water

tiff forgot a hat for briggs, so we had a makeshift hat out of ryker's hat and gramma's visor.

kendyl and siona, showing off their 'orange rind' bracelets.

we took the trailer down on the mountain the week after memorial day. the next time we went down - 2 weekends later, this is what we found. don thought the kids had been playing in the mud, and had flung (is that even a word?) mud all over the back and sides of the tip out. (i have no idea where he thought they would have been in the mud). anyway... when we started investigating, we discovered that we had had a visitor, looking for food (maybe?). when chet and tiff went down the following weekend, there was a sign posted on the gate of a bear sighting up around our area. YEP!!! a bear wanted in our trailer. good thing we didn't have it stocked with any food, yet.

so any way... back to our weekend... donnie left on the four wheeler to go explore some of our lot. he decided that he couldn't go forward up the hill any more, and so he backed up... a little too far. he hit the rocks on the side hill, and the wheeler rolled over on him. he yelled, but we couldn't hear him. so he shimmied himself out from under the wheeler and then yelled for me to bring the camera, because he had a 'kodak' moment. and he also yelled to chet, to bring down his wheeler with the wench. we thought he was just having a "donnie" moment and didn't react too soon. he yelled again and when we went down the hill, this is what we found. YESSIRREEE... a 'kodak' moment. we were glad to find that he was ok, just a little bruise her and there, but nothing serious.

chet hooked his wench up to don's wheeler and pulled him over. when she seen the wheeler tipped over, kendyl said " this is the worse day of my life!" chet reminded her that the worse day of her life was probably when SHE got run over. but for the day... this was the worse day ever!

chet, with his two little buddies. the spot on ryker's face, is a little blue tear that chet marked on him with permanent marker. chet told him that every time he whinnied, he was going to get another tear mark. ryker actually thought it was pretty neat, so it didn't turn out to be a great threat.

ryker, wearing his helmet and trying to fill up the water gun. notice that the water sprays out vertically and the hole in the gun is no where near the water spray.

kendyl, ryker and siona - sitting by the fire, waiting to make 'smores' after a long day.

this is the back side of the skyline on our way to "potter's pond". there is still snow on the skyline and it's the end of july! but everything sure was beautiful! such a pretty drive!

kendyl

we took the kids over to "potter's pond" to go fishing. when the poles were all ready, the kids took their places and now to wait.... and wait.....

siona

ryker... the "DUDE"!

briggs

the pond was so pretty and quiet... until WE got there!

tiff was trying to get siona and ryker to do their gymnastic tricks on the log

kendyl caught the "BIGGEST" fish!
they all caught at least one and were totally thrilled!!

briggs... doesn't he look cute! we were heading over to 'birch creek' on the four wheelers. he's all ready to go!

this is how he rides.

ryker... misting himself off before the ride.

here we are at 'birch creek'. the water was freezing! but that didn't keep us from running through it.

chet told siona and kendly that if they layed in the water and made 'water angels', he would give them each a dollar. didn't take much talking to get siona to do it!

kendyl decided it was worth a dollar!

ryker, tiff, and briggs.

this is a picture of kendly's leg after the trip to "potter's pond". tiff counted 77 mosquito bites on her. the thing is, we actually drowned them with mosquito repellant 2 or 3 times while we were there.

her back. poor kid!

we always have a wonderful time down at the trailer! it was so quiet and peaceful. the weather couldn't have been better.

love that we have a retreat that we can go to and have our family and friends go with us and enjoy the days... and nights sitting around the campfire listening to grandpa tell stories about 'thump drag' and roasting marshmallows for smores. tiff makes the BEST smores ever!

another great weekend down on the skyline!

gone fishin'...

2011-07-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

it's taken me a while to get this blog done. but let me tell you a little about it before you see the pictures. don wanted so bad to go to alaska fishing this year, so he planned to go the 2nd week of august, and was trying to get things all arranged, when tiff called and said that her grandma had offered to take them on a cruise and was wondering if we had any plans for the 2nd week of august. when she found out that was the week we were planning on going to alaska, she said "oh, we don't have to go." and i told her that if someone was going to pay for something like a cruise, you don't turn it down! so we decided to push our trip to alaska up a week, then we could be home to tend. just as we were getting down to make final plans for the 1st week of august, mel and george tell us that they are expecting that week. how can i go to alaska while my daughter is home having a baby? i can't! so we wished our trip away until another year. one night gary and sharon rackman called and said that they had won a trip to alaska at a turkey banquet and wanted to know if we were interested in going with them. can i tell you... don is now in his height of glory! they were going the first week of july. everything worked out great, and we set to making plans. don decided he wanted to do a bucket list fishing trip. so he got to fish till his little heart was content (for this year). so here we gooooo..............

me and donnie at the airport, just waitin'

we got on the plane and then had to wait for over 1/2 hour while they fixed the door at the back of the cabin (good to wait).

our bed for the week. i tried to sleep on the top bunk the 1st night~ forget that!

donnie... move over!

stevie was the designated driver for the week.

first morning, we went down to talon air service, to get on a plane to do a fly out over the cook inlet to fish for salmon and watch some bears. when we got there, it was too foggy to fly out, so we had another hurry up and wait day.

we took lots of pictures, and drank a lot of hot chocolate while we waited

sharon, sally, ralph (owner of the lodge), gary, stevie, and don

dick and ralph

owners of the 'gone fishin' lodge

and also our guides for today.

"mugsy the moose"

getting ready to board the plane

inside the plane

it was too foggy to land at wolverine creek, so our pilot took us on a deluxe tour

we seen glaciers (look, there is a heart in this glacier) and we seen a few bears.

after about 30 or 40 minutes, the pilot found a pocket in the fog and was finally able to land, and we got to go fishing --- with more bears.

just leave 'em alone...

and this was the black bear that came down to join the party!

EVERYONE wanted in on the fun!!!

just as we finished fishing, it started to rain

we had to wait a while before the plane came back to get us.

we were plenty wet and miserable

it was quite a wait, and with some "older" bodies with us, they didn't have very large bladders.

this is the outhouse that was there (shared by the bears) if you dared to go up to it.

(see the bears claw marks on the side of it? how would you like to be locked in the outhouse with a bear outside waiting?) not me! i chose to wait!

yep... we were cold and wet by the time the plane got back to us.

but we did catch our limits of silvers!

next day, we got up about 3:30 a.m. so we could be down to seward by 6:30 a.m.

the guys all went out fishing and the girls went on a kenai fjords national park tour.

pretty, huh!

this was an island full of sea lions.

sharon, jacki, sally

this is one of the glaciers we seen that day. as you can see, it was blue and we watched as the ice fell into the water with the sound of thunder. we saw, hump back whales, sea otters, seals, sea lions, and a whole lot of different kinds of birds.

on our way back into seward, we stopped at 'fox island' and had dinner.

yummy salmon and prime rib.

the guys getting ready to go out fishing for halibut, ling cod, salmon, rock fish and snapper.

this is one of the yellow eye fish they caught and NO! that is not a finger sticking out of it's mouth.

it is his stomach.

donnie with a big catch.

more fish waiting to be fillet

proud fishermen!!

we did a lot of this!

and this...

on the boat going out for halibut. we were all beat!

we went out halibut fishing on the cook inlet on tuesday. and these are the halibut the six of us caught.

a shark that donnie caught

don leaning on captain charly's boat

wednesday we went fishing for 'king salmon' on the kenai river.
this is gary our guide... not to be mistaken for our mugsy~ gary.

gary and sharon drew the early trip on wednesday with another couple from the lodge.
this is them coming in to meet us and trade us places. they got skunked this day.

steve, sally, and donnie, waiting to get out fishin'

gary, helping me with a great catch! he told me to NOT listen to anyone but him for help and he knew what he was talking about!

hang on tight!

after 45 minutes of reeling and fighting, i finally pulled her in!

me, gary, and donnie
donnies, sallys, mine and stevies

four for four! gary said that doesn't happen very often.

don, jacki, sally and steve
we are da' bomb!

this is the king stevie caught today. he was the last to pull one in.

donnies catch. he was the 1st one to pull one in and it was a keeper ~ about 20 lbs. and everyone that morning got skunked so he decided he'd better keep it!

sally was the 2nd one to hook one. the girls, once again, out fished the guys.

my fish! she weighed 50 1/2 lbs. was 49 1/2 inches long and her girth was 39 inches around.
no wonder it took me so long to reel her in.

from the front.

she was the biggest king caught at the lodge for the time. if no one catches a bigger one before July 31st, i could win a free trip back to alaska next year.

me and donnie showing off our catch of the day!

the next day, we went back out fishing with captain charly, for halibut.

this is one of the halibut that i caught.

sally reeling one in

coming in after a long day fishing

sharon actually got a little sea sick today.

captain charly filleting our halibut from the 2nd halibut trip, right out on the ocean

mugsy, catching some shut eye!

can you tell, that we really didn't get much sleep?

sally and stevie getting a nap in, before the drive down to homer

after our halibut trip, we headed down to homer to look around.

donnie in the salty dawg saloon
looks like he's had a few, but NOT!

don, jacki, stevie, sally, gary, sharon

all of us on the dock in homer

the next day was back on the kenai, for kings, again.

donnie, daydreaming about his NEXT trip to alaska!
don and i drew the morning trip out with a couple of surgeons (very stiff with little personality!)
we got skunked... not even a bite!

gary and sharon, and steve and sally drew the afternoon trip. steve and sharon both caught good size fish.

sharon and stevie showing off their catch!

sharon with her catch. it weighed about 38 lbs.
i don't know who was more excited... sharon or gary... as in mugsy

stevie showing off the eggs from his and sharon's fish

this was our "special" ride for the week!

sharon, gary, jacki, don, steve, and sally
our last night
at louie's steak and seafood
in soldotna, alaska

the fishing board in the lodge. keeping tabs on how much everyone caught
by the end of the week,
don and jacki had 217 lbs.
steve and sally 198 lbs.
gary and sharon had 176 lbs.

mugsy, weighing his boxes, making sure the boxes weighed no more than 50 lbs for shipping.

sally, steve, sharon, gary, jacki and donnie
we had to leave and drive back up to anchorage to catch our flight home.
so sad to leave... we all had a GREAT time!!!

together we brought home 13 boxes of fish fillets.
a lot more fish than the luggage we all took...

welcome home to us!

gone fishin' lodge was a great place to spend our time. the lodge was nice, the owners were great, every thing about this trip was A~O.K. thanks mugsy and sharon for being so dang lucky and winning your trip and inviting us to tag along!

i'm sure glad that i have a few weeks to recover. this is not a vacation you go on to get rest and relaxation! but it was the BESTEST days ever!!

swim day at gramma's...

2011-07-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

kamryn

hunter (trying to get warm??

hunter and ryker waiting patiently...

siona... who needs to wait until the pool is full?

Jack was more interested in playing "ball"

tiff and jack (he is always swinging that arm)

siona spraying braxton

isely... just "happy" to be here.

kamryn and happy baby briggs.

kendyl showing grandma stephie how to view iphone pictures.

tiff and brennan

everyone fighting for the shade and trying to enterain briggs.

jack

we had a fun day filled with swimming and of course 'otter pops'.
who can have a party without them?

mother's day

2011-05-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's day to me and to 3 beautiful daughters!

I love you gals and I'm so proud of the Mother's that you are!

pillows, pillows, and more pillows!

2011-05-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

while shopping with k.j. for her birthday, we came across some dang cute pillows. but knowing me, i just can't pay that much for something that i think i can create (almost) as well, for a portion of the cost. so i happen to have my camera with me and took a few pics for later reference.

this is one pillow that k.j. "loved"

and... this is what i came up with

these are a couple of pillows that i "loved"

so, i ran into 'hobby lobby' (have i told you how dangerous it is, that i live sooo close to my new favorite store?), and grabbed some fabric with my 40% off coupon. set up my old stand by ~ the kenmore that i have had for i can't tell you how many years, and started sewing.

i just gathered at random as i sewed in circles. (after circle, after circle)

and this is what i ended up with.

i love how it turned out and will definitely be making more. in fact i have a few orders already for them. ~ kamryn, k.j. and siona, i will have to take you shopping to find the color of fabric you want yours made out of.

don't forget to...

2011-05-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

read instructions FIRST!

but i still like how it turned out!

(just used about 2,000 water balloons instead of the 160 regular size that it called for.)

maybe if i hang it out on my door, summer will come!

k.j.'s bday dinner at guess where....

2011-05-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

at "texas roadhouse"!

kendyl wanted to go there because they have THE VERY BEST ROLLS EVER!

and... wonderful mac and cheese (yuk)!

kendyl and gramma

a big whoopin' Happy birthday "HORRAY!" for k.j.

of course, grandpa had to help her with her ice cream!

this is a tradition that is wonderful! each year (after they turn 3) we get to take just them with grandpa and gramma out to where ever it is they choose to go for dinner. (and gramma usually takes them shopping before hand. for some reason, grandpa doesn't quite enjoy that part, (unless he can take them to cabellas).
we love to spoil them and make them feel really special... because that is what they are!

love ya k.j.!

gift from k.j.

2011-05-08T14:31:00.000-07:00

k.j. made this cute little hot pad for me, for mother's day, but couldn't wait another day to give it to me. she made it all by herself (not bad for a 6 year old,huh?!). she told me that i could even get it wet and it wouldn't matter. i hung it up on my cupboard, and she asks every time she comes in, if i have been using it.

thanks k.j. this is something i will treasure for a long, long time!

i love you!

easter...

2011-04-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

saturday, before easter, the kids came to color easter eggs at gramma's. (isley had hand, foot, and mouth, so the sauvao's colored their own eggs at their house.)

here is jack waving to baby briggs

jeff, helping hunter (?)

hunter and kendyl

auntie haley gave ryker and kj a special egg that they had to "smash"

this is what was inside ~ a note for a special 'play date' at auntie haley's.

how many eggs can one color?

jack, eating his cupcake, but taking time out to 'smile'.

k.j.

kamryn was pretty into what she was creating

briggs, taking it easy!

k.j. and kamryn

we all had a great time, and had plenty of eggs for everyone to color.

we missed the sauvao's, but are greatful that they stayed home this time.

happy easter everyone!

who's yo daddy?

2011-04-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

see any resemblance here?

briggs mack

and

chet donald

new bed...

2011-04-18T11:28:00.001-07:00

who me??????????

as we were disassembling our old bed frame, look what was to be found. hmmmm. imagine that, popsicle sticks stuck between the box springs and the bed frame. (only on one side, of course!)

but we finally got our new bed, after waiting for over a month for it to come, and i am tickled pink with it!

now, don has asked if i could make "just one more pillow" to go with the rest.

and guess what...

baptism...

2011-04-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

our 1st grandchild to be baptised!

kamryn elaine murdoch

was baptised april 9th at the Alpine Tabernacle, in american fork

by her father Jeff T. Murdoch

this was special to her, because grandpa don, grandma kathy and grandpa murray were baptised at the tabernacle, also.

she is such a beautiful little girl that is growing up way too fast.kamryn, we love you and are proud of your decision to be baptised a member of the "Church of Jesus Christ".

donut day...

2011-04-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

harvest hills elementary kindergarten had donut day on friday the 8th. each child could invite only one guest to come read and have a donut with them for 1/2 hour. i was so lucky, because i was invited by 2 different beautiful girls!

first i went to kendyl's class. we took turns reading and had donuts.

(this is us trying to take a picture ourselves)

the next 1/2 hour, i got to go read with siona. she informed me that since i had already had a donut, i needed to take this one home for grandpa

again, our attempt to take our own picture.

thank you to kendyl and siona for making me feel so special, to be able to be the only invite for both of you! you both make me very proud to be a gramma!

k.j.'s birthday....

2011-04-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

we've had a busy last few weeks with kamryn's bday, briggs' birth, haley's bday, now kendyl's 6th bday. (she does NOT like being the center of attention)

she was so excited to finally be 6.

opening presents...

can you say "DRAMA QUEENS"!?

briggs, enjoying the party!

jack, trying to figure out what was going on.

this year was special, because grandma stephie got to spend a week in utah with the kids

wanted a picture with all of the grandkids. what's it going to be like trying to get a good "family" picture with one more.

hunter, jack, isley,ryker, kendyl, siona, kamryn and jack.

happy birthday kendyl, you are growing up way too fast!

love ya,

grandpa don and gramma jacki!

why????

2011-04-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

i found this pillow at kohl's the other day (it's made out of felt), and i said to to myself... self...i really like that pillow!

and then i looked at this...

and said to my self again (i'm getting really good at talking to my self)

self, why in the heck would anyone spend that much $ on a pillow?

so... i headed over to my new favorite store, hobby lobby and purchased 12 pieces of flannel. they were 8 X 12 pieces @ 4 for $1.00.

i ended up only using 6 pieces and already had the polyfill.

no mine isn't the full 14 X 14,

but i think it turned out pretty cute!

and it only cost me $1.50.

(i know, i know, i'm cheap! but what's the point?)

happy easter!

2011-04-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

quote...

2011-04-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

LIFE

may not be the party we hoped for,

but while we are here we might as well

DANCE!

flash back friday...

2011-04-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

my grandma winters...

i went to my uncle cliff's viewing the other day, and saw a few of my cousins on the winters' side. it brought back a few memories that i have of my grandma winters. i didn't really know her well, because growing up, we lived mostly in arizona and grandma lived in pleasant grove. she died on my 8th birthday. so the memories i have of her are very few. her family was from sweden. i know that she married my grandpa winters after his first wife died. he had children as old as she was. in fact i've heard that she was good friends with one of his older daughters. grandpa had 11 children from his first wife. grandma raised a few of them, along with the 10 children that she gave birth to. she was 27 years old when she married grandpa, he was 53. they lived in pleasant grove where the p.g. high school is now. after grandpa died grandma moved closer into town and close to the cemetery. i remember my dad telling me that they lived in a one bedroom house when he was young, so the boys had to sleep out back in a chicken coop. grandpa died when dad was about 11 years old. what i remember about grandma is that her house was always immaculate (maybe that's where i get my obsession from). also i remember that when we would come up from arizona, my cousin marilyn always wanted me to sleep over at grandma's with her. most of the time, i remember crying until some one would take me back up to grandma dodge's place with the rest of my family. but i do remember one time when i was with grandma and my cousin tom. we walked over to the cemetery, grandma pushing the old push lawn mower and tom carrying me on his shoulders. we went over and cleaned up around the graves of grandpa and three of grandma's children ~ kathy, bonnie, and leon. i couldn't have been more than 5 at the time, but i remember going back to grandma's and having a big drink of cold, cold water right out of the tap in one of her tin cups. i can still taste how good that was! in arizona, we never drank water out of the tap - gross! also, when we went to grandma's, we could never put our feet on her furniture! that was a BIG no! no! (so hard for 6 kids, all under six years old). she had a very small house with a very small yard. but she did have a cool old tire swing tied to her clothes line out back and she had the very best purple grapes ever! we could pick and squeeze them right into our mouths :-P yum! (coming from arizona, i don't ever remember having purple grapes other than at grandma's). grandma was a very good cook, but she was stingy with her recipes. i always remember at christmas time, we would look forward to the box of goodies that she would always send ~ especially remember the thumb drop cookies, i think they were dad's favorite. when she died, dad was out of town working. i remember him coming home and the look on his face when he walked through the door. he was very close to his mom. dad and mom came up to the funeral while us kids were taken care of by neighbors. these pictures were taken may 26, 1934 @ uncle heber and aunt augusta's 50th wedding anniversary.

grandpa winters, grandma winters, uncle cort (grandpa's brother), aunt ella aunt augusta(grandpa's sister) and uncle heber (j. grant)

yep! that's him... President Heber J Grant was my great uncle.

i wish i knew more about my grandma. it makes me sad to think that i didn't know her that well. especially after having grandchildren of my own. how sad it would be if they didn't have great memories of me when i'm gone.

a week early...

2011-03-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

but healthy and strong!

"Briggs Mack Hunter"

was born

to Chet and Tiffany

Monday, March 21, 2011

at 5:35 p.m.

weighed 6 lbs 15 oz

20 inches long

excited brother and sister

Ryker is now

the "big brother"

KJ is going to be a BIG helper!

KJ, Gramma, Briggs, Grandpa, and Ryker

Cute Family!

(can you believe that Tiff just delivered a baby?)

tie breaker !

2011-03-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

exciting news!................it is official! g and m are having a GIRL!
they make such beautiful babies, can't wait to see how cute this one is.
congrats kids! you make us proud grandparents! love ya!

kamryn's 8 !

2011-03-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

for kamryn's birthday dinner this year, she wanted to go to tempanyaki's (since she was a good sport last year when k.j. had her melt down). so a few days before her b-day, i went and got her and we went shopping. she is such a girly girl, and as soon as she saw what she wanted, there was NO changing her mind. after shopping, we went and picked up grandpa and headed to dinner at tempanyaki's.

she thought that it was cool that the chef came right to the table to cook our food.

this volcano he made was awesome

gramma and kamryn

she was embarrased when they brought her this ice cream with a candle in it and sang to her (mostly because the family that was sitting with us had 2 boys about her same age).

then on friday (which was her birthday) she had a family b-day party.

haley went all out on decorating for her, as you can see.

hunter, saige smart, kamryn, isley and siona

saige, hunter (and yes! he is picking his nose. he is kind of into that stage right now) and siona

grandpa don and kamryn

kamryn blowing out all "8" of her candles (isley in the background)

happy birthday kamryn. what a special day to be celebrating!

we love you,

grandpa don and gramma jacki

p.s. later she was telling hunter, that he really needed to go to tempanyaki's for his birthday. she told him "the foods not that good, but it's really cool how they cook at your table."

another b-day

2011-03-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

hunter came and played with me on my birthday. i asked him if he wanted to help me make some cupcakes. this was his reply:

"gwamma if you make cupcakes, that means yo makin' yo own bewthday cake, wight!?"

he decided that wouldn't be too cool, so he offered to help me.

he even did the dishes.

the best part about having a birthday, nowadays, is that all the kids come to see me!

kamryn, me, jack, and hunter

siona, me, and isley

kendyl, me, and ryker

thanks kids for all of the birthday gifts, but most of all thank you for these sweet little angels you've brought into our family! i have to say that i am actually grateful to be another year older!

happy birthday to me!

california...

2011-02-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

lucky, lucky me! last month, jillyne (mugleston) and i flew to calilfornia, to see ladawn and craig, (after planning this trip since they left on their mission, last july... o.k. actually don told me i had to at least wait until they got there, before we could start planning, so get the picture? we've been planning a long time!). we flew down on a friday ~ worst flight i've ever been on. because of the high winds, we had to circle around for over an hour before we could land in long beach. the turbulence was horrendous! (for a minute or two, i thought jillyne was going to hurl all over me). luckily, we were in the very front seats of the plane, so we had a quick get-a-way as soon as the plane doors opened. but to our surprise, when the doors were opened, we were out in the open and had to walk (actually i ran, trying to keep up with jillyne) across the tarmac in the wind and rain, to the terminal. neither on of us had ever been to this airport before and had no idea how small it was. several flights had been postponed because of the winds, so there were a million people crowded into this little flight terminal. then on to the baggage pick-up. that was another joke! but we finally were there, and ladawn was there waiting for us, while craig drove around until we got our bags. it was so good to see them!

saturday morning, we got up, had breakfast, and then got ready for a day of shopping. for some reason, craig (president godwin) didn't have any desire to spend the day with us. ladawn doesn't get to go to many stores (except sam's club and costco), so we thought we would explore some of the stores she wanted to go to, and... ontario hills outlet mall - warning... never, never go there on a saturday, especially on a holiday weekend. there were tons of 'presidents day' sales going on, and it was seriously 'wall to wall' bodies! but we still had fun, talking and laughing until we hurt. we also went to a few other little stores, but mostly we just browsed.

this is a picture of the 'eatery at the mall'

(doesn't show it justice, at all!)

we went home and picked up the president, then off to the 'cheese cake factory' for dinner.

sister and president godwin

sunday, we went to the home ward sacrament meeting and then home to relax and enjoy a quiet day for ladawn's birthday. jillyne and i fixed dinner - ladawn does not know how to just set. she is always waiting on everyone, so it was hard for her to let us do 'anything'. they didn't have any firesides or any other meetings, that day, other than the a.p. s came by to meet with president for a few minutes. then they sang "happy birthday" to ladawn. they were awesome ~ wish i could sing like they did!

ladawn, probably said at least one hundred times, in the first 2 days, "this is so fun, i can hardly believe you are really here!" it was soo fun to be able to spend her birthday with her!

monday, once again, president had NO desire what so ever to go with us. but we went over to the redlands california temple and walked around the grounds. it was their "p" day, so we just enjoyed being together.

jacki and ladawn

jillyne and ladawn

redlands california temple

we stopped by "trader joe's" on the way home and we got a real kick out of this w.t. truck.

tuesday and wednesday mornings, president and ladawn had zone conferences. jillyne and i went over to the church at noon and had lunch with them and their missionaries. then we stole ladawn and just went shopping and browsing all over the place.

our attempts to use the timer on the camera

jill and i going out on the tarmac to board the plane

and this... was the plane we flew home on.

the tarmac

note to self: next time ~ fly in to ontario airport!

AND... there for sure WILL be a "next time"!

love one another...

2011-02-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

we got an e-mail from one of our bishopric members last tuesday, asking us to speak in church on sunday. he said they were in a bit of a "pickle" and that he was "desperate"! (obviously, if they were asking us to speak).

i called and talked to kendyl on friday and ask her what it meant to" love one another". she was at a meeting at the legacy center with tiff at the time, and told me she would have to think about it. now... this is a 5 year old! anyway, she was going to call me back after school that day, but didn't, then she went ice fishing with chet on saturday. sunday morning (our church is at 9:00) they snuck (is that even a word?) into the back of the chapel, and just at the end of the opening song, she ran up to the front and handed me this paper.

it's kind of hard to see, but to her this is what "love one another" means.

service

teach others

pray for others

be friends

share with others

say "i love you"

of course i had to use it in my talk. if only the whole world knew these things! wouldn't it be lovely? so to make a longer story short, our turn for speaking in sacrament meeting is over for at least a few more years. yeah!!! because it is NOT something i am comfortable doing!

and how appropriate for today, which happens to be 'valentine's day'

happy valentine's day to all of you!

trying to recycle...

2011-01-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

i've wanted to make some pillows for my bed, and have been on the lookout every where i go for the right fabric. well, i was at the DI the other day and ran across this beauty! and the thought came in my head, that it was just the right match for my room. so i bought it for $6.00, and brought it home. cut it up...

bought a couple of wooden buttons from roberts,

and walla! turned that into this.

actually... these!

oh... how i love, love, love to be at home

#9...

2011-01-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

this is the first picture of our new grandbaby. due august 4, 2011. this is #9. we are so verry, verry blessed!

and i'm lovin' it!

weekend at mower's cabin

2011-01-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

for the martin luther king weekend, we went to fairview lakes to the mower's cabin, with steve, sally, and gary and sharon rackman.

we watched movies

played a lot of cards ~ scum, golf, '99', 5 crowns, etc.

this is gary, trying to pull a fast one, saying that these 2 cards added up to the same # that he needed, and sally telling him, "it doesn't work that way !"

sharon and gary

we did a lot of this.... donnie just sitting, relaxing, and reading his magazine

and this... sitting and watching the fire

donnie and i, in front of the fireplace.

look at these ice sickles

and the beautiful, peaceful, snow...

this is their generator shed. they've had a bunch of snow this year!

looking out onto the deck.

stevie, was the "hostess with the mostess"! he fixed breakfast every morning.

as we were going back out to the cars, in the snow cat, (luckily we didn't have to snow mobile in and out). it was dang cold!

tyler, andrea (they came up when gary and sharon left) , stevie, and sally

us... ready to go home.

it was great ! spending time with good friends. playing games. watching videos. relaxing in a beautiful place. resting. and of course, plenty of food and goodies. thanks, mowers, for a great weekend!

quote...

2011-01-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

"always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second rate version of somebody else."

judy garland

my first week of retirement...

2011-01-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

siona....

this past week, mel went to florida, for her work's 'kick off' for the year. so, since george goes to work so early, i got to go spend the nights out at their house and take care of the kids in the mornings. boy, did i forget how much energy it takes to keep up with a 5 year old and a 2 year old. siona was actually fairly easy, beside the fact that she wanted me to play with her continually. isley on the other hand... reminded me of how 'old' and out of shape i am! the first morning, i thought i was doing so well. the kids had breakfast, baths, the beds were made, they were dressed, and things were cleaned up. but ise had other ideas! she does not like clothes! and seriously, before noon, i had redressed her at least 15 times! sooo, it took me a while to figure it out... the next day, when i got her dressed, she had a onsie on with her diaper... that was all! she can't undo the onsies, sooo, with that said, she was happy and life was a lot easier that day.

what else can a gramma wish for? spending time with the grandkids is what i love to do! thanks george and melanie for letting me help!

isley....

2 years ago today...

2011-01-06T18:10:00.000-08:00

i guess you could call this a 'flashback'.

2 years ago today, was when i had my stroke. i have been so very blessed and sometimes wonder "WHAT" it is that Heavenly Father has planned for me. i have heard of sooo many people that have had strokes that have NOT been blessed, as i was. not many are to be able to function normally (if you can call me "normal"), and especially not as quickly as i recovered. i thank my Heavenly Father every day for my life, and even my aches and pains. (i'm greatful for every one of them.)

i want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers in my behalf and hope that i can be worthy of the great blessings that my Heavenly Father has so graciously blessed me with.

this badge is retired!

2011-01-02T16:33:00.000-08:00

and so am i !!!

as of january 1, 2011, i am officially called a "stay-at-home" wife and gramma!

i have spent the past, (since april of 2002), years working as a "telecommunications specialist", at the scheduling desk, for some of the most awesome doctors on earth. they were great to work for and with. but the ones i'll miss the most are all of those that i have worked , and became very good friends with. not just the ones that have been working there for ever, but the new ones, too. and the ones that have come and gone over the years. thanks for all of your friendships. hope they will last forever!

... and a big thank you to my donnie, for letting me have this time! i love you!!

christmas day....

2010-12-29T18:05:00.001-08:00

merry christmas to me! remember the antelope that i shot in september... well it's now hanging in our office. thanks to justin parduhn who did an awesome job mounting it!!

christmas morning we woke up and made the rounds to see what santa left for the kids.

first stop, was at jeff and haley's

kamryn and hunter got 'ds's', and i don't think hunter had a clue that we were even there.

cheyne and jack

jack

then out to chet and tiffany's

kendyl got a madame alexander doll

and ryker got a bow and arrow set, and a gun and holster

next off to george and melanie's

siona playing with her 'wii'

isley singing with the karaoke

...and performing on her key board

then back home so that they could all come to our house for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

kamryn colored her pillowcase.

hunter and chet

total chaos.....

and of course... cheyne teasing the kids

siona was NOT happy!

...until she opened her present from cheyner

jeff and ryker, being "bud"s.

hunter... zoned out completely to every thing around him.

jack, trying to escape the chaos.

don, being a good sport. he was sooooo sick and had been for 3 days.

once again we had a very merry christmas. we are so very blessed! we are blessed to have all of our family so close, and we love spending time with them.

merry christmas everyone!

christmas eve...

2010-12-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

christmas eve we got together and had dinner. dad smoked a brisket and chet smoked some ribs. we had a really nice dinner and enjoyed one anothers company. don had been really sick for a couple of days and didn't really get to enjoy most of the christmas holiday.

melanie and isley

chet, doing what he learned from his dad... the couch is always the most comfortable chair.

it must be a "man" thing...

george

the kids got to open their presents from grandpa and gramma.

ise

here they are with the matching nightgowns for the girls, and jammies for the boys.

seems like we always have to have a 'goofy' picture

finally! a picture of isley, smiling!

ryker with the pillowcase he and gramma colored.

siona, with hers...

...and, kendyl with hers.

merry christmas to all... and to all a good night!

quote...

2010-12-21T16:52:00.000-08:00

"be nicer than necessary to everyone you meet ~ because everyone is dealing with something."

hunter family christmas party

2010-12-20T19:03:00.000-08:00

since it was jeff and haley's turn to spend christmas eve with the murdoch's, we had our family christmas party the sunday night before christmas. we all got together at grandpa and gramma's place and first of all took a family picture, before everything got crazy!

(not too bad for using the self timer on the camera)

then while dinner was being set up, haley took the kids downstairs and they decorated trees to take to papi and grandma ruth's grave.

after dinner, we bundled up and took the trees to the cemetary and sang a few carols.

this is a tradition that grandma ruth started a long time ago and i'm sure she was up there smiling down as this tradition carries on.

we then went to aunt ann's and aunt bonnie's to carol to them and take them a treat.

cheyner got a pup (deetz) the day before, and isley fell in love with him the minute she saw him

when we came back home, the kids opened presents from each other.

jack

isley

ryker

hunter

siona

kendyl

.... and kamryn

not to forget grandpa. haley took a bunch of papi's clothes and made grandpa a lap quilt out of them, for grandpa for christmas.

kids being silly

treats gramma made for each one to take home with them

we love to get together with all of our family and are greatful this christmas season for each one of them and the great addition each one is to our eternal family!

merry christmas everyone!

ryker, ryker, ryker...

2010-12-09T19:19:00.001-08:00

ryker has not been so nice lately ~ actually... down right naughty!

santa called him the other night, and told ryker, that he was at the top of his "naughty list". he talked to him for a minute and then told him that he has a few more weeks before christmas is here to work on being nice.

so he says to chet after that, "well, dad... at least i'm on 'TOP' of the naughty list"!

tiff tried to explain to him that he could work on being nice and maybe by christmas, santa would come and bring him some presents. his response to that was, "i think i'll just wait and work on it next year".

really... in truly... tell me 'HOW' you could get mad at a face like this?

(tiff, i truly am sorry that you have to deal with the kid WE wished on chet)