california...

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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

judy garland

my first week of retirement...

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....