Joel & Annette

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T21:11:00.002-07:00

Elsie and Gabe

Brandi and Ansel

Grabralie

Ellary

Byerly

Bella

Anders

Cora

Rachel, Gabe, Joel

Zoey and Lily
Halloween was a wild and crazy time as usual. I didn't get pictures of all of the kids but here are some of them. I think everybody survived!

We Love Espana

2011-10-04T10:53:00.001-06:00

The Madrid Temple

Toledo

The aqueduct in Segovia

Segovia

Sisters with the castle in Segovia

I'm sitting here reminiscing about our fabulous time in Spain. We went to visit my sister Murlene and her husband Stan. They are mission presidents in Madrid. I'm so happy that we made the effort to get there. We loved every day and every sight. It was so fun spending time with The Watkins and grateful that they took the time out of their busy schedules to make sure that we had a great experience. They are doing an amazing work there in Spain.

The history of Spain is amazing and they have maintained so many wonderful and beautiful castles, palaces and historic places of interest. Madrid is such a big beautiful, clean wonderful city. They small towns we visited were so quaint and interesting. I could sit at a sidewalk cafe all day with a diet coke and soak up the ambiance. After a great week we left and flew off to spend a week in London. That will be another post.

Ellary's Baptism Day

2011-09-06T17:15:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful day we had as a family to be a part of Ellary's baptism. She was so excited to take this wonderful step to be Baptized and Confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. Congratulations Ellary, we love you!

Brown Family Reunion

2011-08-29T15:02:00.002-06:00

I know I am so far behind in my Blogging, so I have to not worry about it and just make some short sweet posts for my own records. The reunion was such a hit. I think all who came had a great time. We surely missed those who weren't able to come. Next year maybe more can come.

Ansel Scott

2011-08-22T18:32:00.001-06:00

Well so much has been going on this summer that my blogging has really been slow. I can't go another day without posting my welcome to the newest member of our family. Ansel Scott was born August 6th. Congratulations to Tim and Brandi. Brandi, always ahead of the game, had him 9 days early. He is so darling, and such a good baby. Elsie is so happy to have her brother here finally, and we are all proud as punch!

Golfing at the Homestead

2011-07-04T11:15:00.001-06:00

Friday we spent a wonderful day golfing at the Homestead Resort. It is a beautiful course tucked into a high alpine valley. If you forget where you really are and look around you might think you are in beautiful Switzerland.

These are our wonderful friends Mike and Debbie, who also love to run away for a bit of golf whenever we can manage it.

Me and my sweetie

With the flooding we are having this summer we are lucky they are able to keep the creek managed with a few sandbags here and there.

Where ever we go with these crazies, we love to bust out the 5 Crowns cards after dark. We stayed at the lovely Zermott Resort for the night and let me say, one night is not enough here. I could have stayed for a week enjoying the Swiss ambiance, good friends, good golf and relaxation in this beautiful valley.

The Provo River

2011-06-23T13:51:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures of our bike ride up the canyon this morning. The Provo River crested today. It is raging but staying within it's banks, thank goodness.

Donnette

You don't see me getting very close!

Golf Road Trip

2011-06-16T21:12:00.004-06:00

We did something last week that we have wanted to do for a long time.....a marathon golf road trip. We left early Tuesday morning and drove to the Kokopelli Golf Course. That is down past Hurricane. It is a newer course and it is so beautiful. Joel had golfed there before but I had not. After 18 holes of fun we drove to Mount Carmel Junction and played the course there. We drove through Zions, so the scenery on that road is so amazing. It is only a 9 hole but thats ok since 27 holes a day is a lot for me anytime. We stayed that night at a b&b in Glendale. The next morning we got up and drove to Kanab and played the 9 hole course there and then drove to Page Arizona and played 18 holes there. We stayed that night in a hotel there in Page. The next morning we drove through Monument Valley. That was an incredible drive. That took us to Monticello where we played the 18 hole course there. We stayed at a B&B there, that was thrusday night. Friday morning we drove to Moab and played the 18 hole course there. That made our total 90 holes, in 4 days. Some people have asked me if it was fun. Well I can tell you, it was so much fun. The weather was beautiful everywhere we went. It was perfect temps everyday. I loved the sunshine so much. We could not have had more fun. I am sure we will do this again in the future.

Summerfest 2011

2011-06-12T13:34:00.000-06:00

We had our annual food and flood barbecue at my sister Sylvia's house on Saturday. Luckily I don't think there was a flood this year just a lot of kids and a lot of food. Those two things are what make summer fun right? After the barbecue we all went over to the parade, luckily my sister Elaine had gone and put lots of blankets down to save our spot. I have to be honest, the parade in our town is pretty mediocre but I get such a kick out of watching the little kids. I love it.

Our crew

Cora enjoyed every minute

Elaine's grandkids in matching dresses are huge parade fans!

Cora thought the guns were so loud!
After the parade we all split up and went to Elaines and Scott's to watch the fireworks. I feel like summer is officially here now!

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-02T10:41:00.007-06:00

We talked Kailey into trying on my prom dress.

Jess and the little kidlets making her famous cookies.

Elsa finding Grandpa Brown's name on the Veterns Wall.

Digging out the old Rose of Sharon

The kids love to play in the back of Joels truck.

Jess throwing on some chicken and hot dogs.

Deskin and Scott figuring out the best way to to fix the ugly utility box problem.

This is the before picture of the ugly box problem.

Memorial Day Weekend started out great with a big work project in my back yard. For Mothers Day my kids gave me the gift of working on some projects at my house that I wanted to get done. One of the projects was the back corner of our yard. The utility company came and dug it out last year and left it a mess. We needed to figure out a way to make it look better and leave the ugly green utility box accessable. We have been redoing a lot of our yard so we have been taking out some trees and were overgrown and really cutting back some shrubs and such. So we did that and also an indoor project. They wanted to replace the thermostats in the house with programable ones that you set and forget about. My kids are so good to me! So we combined the work projects with several barbeques, family parties, visits to the cemetary, and you have a great weekend all in all. We did have a very sad, sad event on Monday but I will save that for another post, another day.

Bella and Ellary's Spring Dance Show

2011-05-26T12:17:00.003-06:00

Bella and Ellary completed another year of dance at the Confidance Studio. They had a wonderful spring show. It looked like they were having so much fun. Congraulations cutie pies.

Just a bit of silliness really

2011-05-23T14:03:00.001-06:00

Some of the fun things that our kidlets like to do when they come to our house.

Zoey's Graduation from Preschool

2011-05-20T14:43:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to our darling little Zoey on successfully completing two years at Miss Cathy's Preschool. It was a lovely little graduation last night. Now on to kindergarten through vet school!

Fun with Tim and Brandi

2011-05-16T15:03:00.001-06:00

We had a great weekend with some of the grandkids. We kept Elsa for Time and Brandi so that they could go to see "Sunset Boulevard" in Salt Lake on Thursday night. On friday Ashley took off for Moab for a race and Scott was already in New Mexico playing in some golf tourneys so we kept Byerly, Lily and Ivy all weekend. After work on Friday we took all of the collection of kids up to Tim and Brandi's house for the weekend. We did need to returen Elsie to her parents after all. It was the perfect weekend to have the kids there since there was a parade in the morning. In small town USA all you have to do is walk around the corner and plop down on the grass to watch the parade. There were plenty of floats, cars and trucks in the parade throwing out candy, so the kids were having a great time. Elsa figured out pretty quickly that if you run out into the road trucks will throw candy to you!

In the afternoon I took the kids to the zoo and as it turns out they had all kinds of booths set up for kids. The activities were really fun and the kids had a blast.

Meanwhile, Joel and Tim were home all day doing house projects and having a great time working together. They installed a new water heater and framed in the storage room and one bedroom. They also got shelves built in the storage room. They both love projects! All together it was a fun and relaxing weekend.

James Henry Martineau and Susan Ellen Johnson: A Leap for Life or Death

2011-05-05T18:08:00.002-06:00

James Henry Martineau and Susan Ellen Johnson: A Leap for Life or Death

If you click on James Henry Martineau it will take you to a blog that has a wonderful story of one of our ancestors.

Hail to the Queen

2011-05-04T15:08:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to our beautiful granddaughter Kailey for being elected Prom Queen 2011 at Provo High School. She is a very talented, beautiful girl inside and out and such a sweetheart.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T14:38:00.001-06:00

Easter is one of those favorite days of the year that we look forward to all year. It comes and is gone all to fast. I'm grateful for my testimony of our Savior and His resurection, the reason for the season. I also love every holiday that brings the family together and for all of the wild goings on that 12 grandkids bring. I love it all. Here are 11 of the little darlings. Tim, brandi and Elsie weren't able to come this year, so we did miss them. Our friends, the Kapapas, (from our ward in Hawaii) have been with us this week, so we enjoyed their company for the day also. John prepared us a lovely meal (as only John can do).

Welaxing the Waikiki Way

2011-03-26T16:31:00.005-06:00

In keeping with my wishes to always be in Hawaii, we went on our annual winter trip with our friends. We left Friday, March 11, the day of the earthquake in Japan and tsunami in Hawaii. They delayed us a few hours but we were just glad that we made it at all. There was quite a bit of damage in Hawaii but none where we were.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki. We have stayed here the last 4 0r 5 times, so we feel very at home here. It is very nice and really is a small village with everything that you need. It is right on the beach, has multiple pools, spa, lots of restaurants, lots of stores, beautiful gardens and even a chapel if you decide to get married!

We of course love to go visit all of our favorite beaches and places on the Island. We were with four other couples so it was fun to always have someone to do things with. The guys got in a lot of golfing of course. Every evening we all met for a wonderful dinner together and ususally ended the evening with games.

We got to go to our ward that we lived in when we lived there and that is always wonderful to see old friends. The shrimp truck, the shave ice, the weather, the ocean, the beautiful full moon, everything works together to make the Hawaiian experience addicting. It draws me back time after time.

Goalllllllllll

2011-03-03T12:59:00.003-07:00

For Deskin's birthday, a bunch of us went up to Salt Lake to a RSL soccer game. That Rio Tinto stadium is so beautiful and the enthusiasm of the crowd is quite exillerating. The game was really exciting, Real won 4-1, which is a lot of goals in a soccer game. It was fun to be with the family and we missed those of you that couldn't come.

Transforming a lamp

2011-02-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

I've had this lamp that belonged to my mom, nobody really wanted it so I brought it home and kept it for awhile to figure out what to do with it. It was a pretty blue, but did not go with anything in my house. So today I spray painted it black, topped it with a new beautiful shade purchased at Hobby Lobby, and wow, I love it!

Temple Square Lights

2011-01-12T11:34:00.002-07:00

As always we so enjoyed our visit to Temple Square to see the lights and loved the spirit there.

I need to catch up

2011-01-12T11:12:00.007-07:00

We love to get together and we love to eat, but even more we love to play games. Well no maybe we love to eat more. I guess it is a toss up.

I love Christmas time but it seems to come and go so quickly. Especially this year we packed so many fun family times in. In looking back at my pictures however, I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures so that I can have a permanent reminder of each event. I'm usually better at that. I must be slipping!

I so enjoyed all of the family dinners, the company that came into town to visit, the birthday parties, the spirit of Christmas and all. Thank-you to everyone who made the season so special.

Thanksgiving at Brian Head

2010-12-06T21:24:00.004-07:00

Tim made this fun video of our fun in the snow at Brian Head. Thanks Jerry and Kris for lending us your amazing cabin. It was such a fun relaxing way to spend Thanksgiving. It was a little bit of heaven being there with all of the kids and grandkids.

Halloween

2010-11-08T13:35:00.004-07:00

I almost let Halloween sneak past without posting some pics of my little kidlets. They do love Halloween. I do love to watch them have fun!

Fun Trip to San Antonio

2010-10-26T11:02:00.007-06:00

The house that Marlo built

Most people know that I love San Antonio and try to get there often. This trip was very fun since Tim, Brandi, Elsie and Jessica decided to come with me. It is always fun to visit Marlo and we have our favorite places that we always like to go and things to do. We love going to Gruene, a very quaint little Texas town and we love to eat at the Gristmill.
Marlo has lots of toys at his house to play with.

This trip we went to Sea World San Antonio. We had one heck of a fun day there.

Another favorite place to eat is the Texas Pride. Ribs, brisquet, chicken, and all the fix'ns. The band starts up and the dance floor fills up and it is a blast. We were with a bunch of cousins that night and it was a blast.

The Alamo is always a favorite.

This is pure entertainment!

More entertainment.

The Atlantis ride at Sea World.

These are pictures of the petting zoo at the wild animal park.

We went to the 6 missions on the river that were built by the Monks in the 1700's. Very interesting.

Thanks again to Marlo for putting up with all the company that he does. He just loves it when we all come to his house! Don't you Marlo? Don't you? The whole week was so fun.

Girls Trip to Maui

2010-09-28T21:43:00.006-06:00

Lucky me, I was invited by my friend Kristine (we've been friends for almost 40 years!) to go to Maui with her and some of her daughters. Joel urged me to go have some beach and girlfriend time. I didn't have to be urged very strongly. Nothing I like better than being on a beach, talking to friends and doing a whole lot of laughing. The big group was just delightful to be with and in 10 days we had lots of time to do a lot of the things I love to do. We surely had fun. We talked silly and we had serious talks, and we laughed til we cried sometimes. Thank you all for a wonderful, relaxing, beautiful trip.

Marlo and Alice come to town

2010-09-02T17:46:00.007-06:00

On Friday Marlo and Alice came and picked me up for a fun day in the canyon. I had Ivy Star with me that day so the lucky little girl got to go spend the day with us. We went to a great Mexican place in Midway called The Tahraumra (maybe not spelled right but my spanish history classes were a long time ago). Then we visited a favorite store of mine called "All the stuff in the barn". Love that store. After we drove up to South Fork Park where we just chilled there by the little stream. When we were kids me and Marlo went with our two aunts, Theola and Sunda on a camping trip up South Fork. We had shishkabobs for dinner and therefore all of us kids named the big rock above the park "Shishkabob Mountain". That is a very fond memory for both of us. So of course we took a picture of Marlo and Alice in from of our big rock.

We had a game night at our house that involved 2 tables full of Five Crowns....you know that is a good time! The evening also had some dancing, but that was just a bit of silliness really.

It's always a good time when Marlo comes to town. We wish he could come more often but when he does we have to pack in a boat load of fun.

We also had a great picnic on Saturday at Canyon park. Our great tradition of volleyball was dusted off and revived at the park. We did miss the Whettens since volleyball always involves the Whettens, but it was just us Browns that day. Thanks Alice for renting the park and setting the whole thing up, it was awesome.

Backpacking in the Uinta Mountains

2010-08-26T13:59:00.012-06:00

Beautiful cutthroat trout caught on Burnt Fork creek. I also caught Brook trout and Grayling in this creek.

Austin caught a large 16 inch Brook trout in Round Lake.

Island Lake - about 10,700 feet.

Joel fly casting on Burnt Fork Lake.

Marc, Jed, and Austin on the trail in.

On August 19th I went on a backpacking trip with my brother Marc, nephew Jed, and Jed's friend Austin. We drove to the Burnt Fork drainage on the north slope of the Uintas and hiked in about 5 miles and established a base camp. From there we did day hikes; day 1 to Island and Round lakes and day 2 to Burnt Fork lake.

Happy Birthday Ellary

2010-08-24T18:09:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to a sweet 7 year old.

Who knew Barbie even had a cruise ship???

Jamie set up a kick ball game with little swimming pools for bases and a slip-n-slide for home. The kids played kick ball for ever.

Gabraylie made a beautiful cake for Ellary. The three candle is kind of a family tradition. Since we always forget to buy candles we always just use that old worn out 3 that we have had in the drawer for years. Its getting to be a standard tradition.

We love you Ellary

Elsa's First Birtday

2010-08-17T18:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday little sister. We love you!

Ellary, Elsie, Ivy, Lily and Zoey enjoying the new swing

Weekend work trip to the cabin

2010-08-08T13:07:00.004-06:00

For 32 years, everytime it rains at the cabin we have so much mud to deal with. A couple of years ago we had to leave 2 trucks in the driveway that we couldn't get out because of the mud. We finally got smart and put down a gravel road base on the driveway. It doesn't sound that exciting but I am so thrilled about it. It looks like a work of art to me. Mom and Daddy would have loved it so much! What took us so long?

Fun in a drawer

2010-08-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

Oh you just can't imagine how much fun can be found in one kitchen drawer. It has been a fun week of grandkids. Elsie came with Brandi for a few days while Tim was out of town. I had Anders and Bella for a couple of days while Angelee is at girls camp. On Wednesday all of the grandkids were at my house plus Paul and Sam came with Amanda (my niece visiting from Texas) and Jocelyn came with Shayla (another niece). Jamie made us lunch and we made sandwiches for all of the kids. I ment to take some pictures but this is the only one I took of Elsie. What a wild and crazy day. At the end all of the mom's helped clean up the disaster before they all went home. Fun summer days.

Kids in the summertime

2010-07-26T12:11:00.005-06:00

We had kids up the canyon in the river three different times this week so the pictures all look like the same trip but all different occasions. I had Jamie's 4 youngest kids while they went on an amazing adventure/trek. We had fun one day when I took them and Lizzy (thanks Lizzy I couldn't have done it without you) and Sam to Bridals Vail Falls. We had a picnic and then walked up to the falls so the kids could play in the river.

On Saturday we went with Scott and family on the bike ride up the canyon. We started above Bridal Vail and rode down the canyon. It was a good ride for Lily since it was her first since learning to ride a two wheeler. Of course the kids ended up in the river to cool down at the end.

Oh What do you do in the Summertime?

2010-07-21T16:41:00.003-06:00

We had a great 4 days in Smithfield with Tim and Brandi. We took Kailey for her 16th birthday and we also took Jess. We drove up on Thursday just in time to get some dinner and go the Opera House to see "Guys and Dolls". That was good. Friday morning Joel got up early and went golfing, Tim went to work, so us gals went shopping all day. FUN. Friday night we went to see the play "The Sound of Music". I loved it. Saturday Me, Joel, Tim and Brandi went golfing. It was only Brandi's second time golfing but she did really well.

Saturday afternoon/evening we drove up the Blacksmith Fork to have a picnic and the guys got in some fishing. Scott and family came and stopped at Tim's on their way home from Lava Hot springs. They stayed over till Sunday night. Sunday we went to church, made a great dinner, walked to the park. The kids all got in the river there to cool off and have some fun. We worked in some cards games and all in all had another great weekend in Smithfield. Thanks Tim and Brandi!

Lone Pine 4th of July

2010-07-07T19:02:00.002-06:00

We had a great time at the cabin over the 4th weekend. Everyone except BJ's family was able to go. That means it is crowded and loud.....just the way we like it. On Saturday the guys got up early and went golfing at Palisades. The rest of us went to Mount Pleasant to the parade. Small town parades are the best! We went to Fairview for church on Sunday. The rest of the time was spent riding motocycles, making and eating food, reclining in the shade and playing cards. Very relaxing way to spend the weekend.

Girls Camp 2010

2010-06-28T21:37:00.005-06:00

Well it was another successful week at Camp Shalom. Girls Camp is so fun, but oh so much work. This is my 10th consecutive year at camp and my fourth as camp director. Being with great girls and great leaders for 5 days makes for a great week. It is a spiritual high and yet we spend a great amount of time giggling, which is just delightful. What a blast.

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad/Memorial Day

2010-05-31T11:05:00.004-06:00

Grandpa Neilsen's gravesite

Kailey pointing out Daddy's name on the veterns wall

Mom, Dad and Mel's final resting place

Grandma Whetten's grave

Kailey at Daddy's service cross.

Daddy's military service cross.

It is very fitting that we celebrate Mom and Daddy's birthday's on Memorial Day weekend. Were they still alive today they would have turned 90 and 95. I am sure they are happy and busy in their heavenly home. We miss them here, but know this is our Heavenly Father's plan that allows us to live here together for a relatively short time and then be together forever.

Jumpy House Party

2010-05-22T19:22:00.007-06:00

So I hope I am the first of many to blog the jumpy house party. Elaine won the use of a fun blow up jumping house and slide for the day. So they set it up in Renae's back yard and turned the kids loose in it. What a blast. Thanks all who made it possible.

Cute baby-Cute bib!

2010-05-18T14:00:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to show off the cute bib that Tim made out of used denim. Is that the cutest bib you've ever seen on the little dolly? That is one handy daddy.

Mothers Day

2010-05-17T16:57:00.005-06:00

Elsa

Lily, Ellary, and Gabraylie

Afton, Clesea, Jocelyn

Jess

The water was so inviting

Alice and Jocelyn

Joel and Elsa

I had an amazing Mothers Day. I know this post is a little slow but lest anyone should think that I didn't appreciate the day, I will post about it anyway. We went to Tim and Brandi's for the weekend, so on the actual day I was only with half the family, but the other half did something for me especially so that I would not miss them so much. Jamie and her family were also at Tim's, so I had 3 of the 5 kids there with us.

We were able to enjoy Tyson's graduation day with him. Congratulations to them!

Saturday night we had a barbecue and built a fire in the fire pit and made smores. It was so nice to be out around the fire looking at the stars. That is an unofficial start to summer right?

On Sunday we went to church in Tim and Brandi's new ward. Deskin took charge of dinner and made the best pork loin roast ever. Yummy dinner. After dinner we all walked to the park and had such a lovely time with the kids. Before we knew it they were all in the little stream getting wet. Precious times to store away in the memory bank.

Thanks one and all for making sure I had a special day.

Spring Programs

2010-05-14T16:57:00.002-06:00

I've gotten behind a bit on my blogging. This is the time of year that all of the grandkids have their cute little programs. We have been going to a few everyweek. I have been bad about not taking a lot of pics. Kailey had a fabulous choir concert. Suzanna Frisby Garrett (Jessica's childhood friend) is her choir teacher and she does a great job! Kailey had some solo parts and did a great job. I love love love that my grandkids can sing.

Gabraylie was in an amazing play that was a mixture of The Wizard of Ozz and Wicked. It was an hour and a half of singing and dancing. It was great.

Ivy, Lily and Byerly had a dance festival for their spring program. I do have pictures of that. Ivy did the chicken dance. She was the cutest little chicken you've ever seen. Ashley is the teacher of that class and she did are great job of teaching and directing. Lily did some Mexican dances, very cute. Byerly's class did African dancing. What a fun evening.

Weekend trip to Tim and Brandi's

2010-04-25T20:50:00.004-06:00

We spent a great weekend up at Tim and Brandi's. Here are some cute pictures of Elsa.

BJ and Angelee and family came to, so that made it extra fun. We did some house projects. The guys put up selves in Brandi's new craft closet. The girls went to Hobby Lobby to get some decorating projects for the kitchen and new familyroom downstairs. I can't believe I didn't take pictures of the new family room! It is fabulous.

Here we are having dinner at the Copper Mill, very tasty.

Of course we got in a few rounds of Five Crowns. Fun, Fun.

Byerly's Baptism Day

2010-04-21T14:48:00.001-06:00

What could make Grandparents happier than attending the baptism for a wonderful Grandson. He is smart, spiritual, loving and has great insights for an eight year. He has been taught well by parents and teachers. Congratulations Byerly, we love you.

Spring break at the zoo

2010-04-10T16:36:00.004-06:00

On the Friday of spring break we took all of the grandkids except Kailey (who was in California on choir tour) to the zoo. We had been waiting for a nice warm day. It didn't turn out that way. It was a very chilly start, Jess had to go first thing to buy a sweatshirt. At one point we saw some snowflakes come down. It was nice enough that we had a very enjoyable day and the kids had so much fun. Tim and Brandi and Elsa drove down and met us there. They were coming down for Byerly's baptism, which will be my next post.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T11:57:00.003-06:00

Having Easter and Conference on the same weekend makes for a very busy, happy weekend. Lily and Ivy are helping make the deviled eggs. That is very much a Reesie tradition. We had a fun Easter egg hunt at Renae's house. The weather didn't cooperate so we had the food inside and the eggs outside. Here are some pictures of some of the goings on.

Sunshine and Green Fairways

2010-03-31T15:42:00.005-06:00

We took a trip down to St George to warm up and to play a little golf. We talked Mike and Debbie Olsen into going with us since everybody knows golf and cards are more fun with 4.

This is Sand Hollow Golf Course. It is one of the most beautiful courses you can play.

We have a little inside joke about the bag drop signs at the golf courses. We've decided to see how many bag drop signs we can get our pictures taken with.

Cute pictures of my two youngest grandkids

2010-03-20T10:18:00.001-06:00

This is Elsa trying out her new stroller that her mom bought. Tim was out of town so Brandi came to visit for a few days until Tim got home and then they spent the weekend with us. We love having Elsa and her parents come for a visit.

This is Cora a few days after her first birthday. She is starting to figure out what her feet are for. Being the sixth child in the family, why learn to walk right? She is a darling.

Loving San Antonio

2010-02-18T14:42:00.006-07:00

Golfing at Canyon Springs.

Marlo and Joel in front of the clubhouse at Canyon Springs.

You know what they say.....a bad day golfing is better than a good day at work.

This is Joel taking advantage of Marlo's driving range at his house.

Yummmm....we love to eat at Texas Pride.

Pass the ribs please.

Enjoying the Mariachi band

We did get up and dance to Mom and Dad's favorite....Jesusita en Chichuahua

Three guys I like to golf with!
My brothers Marlo and Les with Joel in the middle.

Another favorite place to eat, The Gristmill. This is the dance hall in Gruene. It is the oldest continuously running dance hall in the U.S
It is where George Strait got his start. We love to go in and listen to any group playing at the time.

What do you get the man who has everything? A trip to San Antonio to see the rodeo, that's what. So that's what I gave Joel for Christmas. My brother Marlo lives there and we love to visit him. He is on the Rodeo committee so he was able to get us tickets for two days. My brother Les and his wife Cheryl came also, so that made it more fun. Of course anyone who knows Joel, knows that we did some golfing also. We played at two different courses. One was beautiful, one was less than beautiful (Marlo, we had a blast that day anyway).

We ate at our favorite restaurants and played five crowns every night. We got pretty competitive with the cards keeping score every night and coming up with the average score at the end of the week to name the all around winner of the week.

It was a great week. We loved the lodging, the food, the rodeo, the golf, the card games and most of all the company. Gracias a mis hermanos.

Our friends from Africa

2010-02-10T10:40:00.007-07:00

This is Connie van Niekerk and below is her son Hoekus Jr.

Joel and Annette with Hoekus and Connie van Niekerk.

We were able to spend the day with our friends The van Niekerks from Namibia, Africa. They are the good people that we met when we went to Africa on a hunting safari. They live on a farm called Uhlenhorst. It is a beautiful wide open place with tall grass and herds of game everywhere. They have a hunting business and father and son are the guides. They have lovely rooms for the guests that come. We enjoyed staying with them so much and value their friendship.

Every year they come here to have a booth at the Hunting Show at the Salt Palace. The last two years they have used our Oryx in their booth to attract attention (they are so beautiful). If anyone is interested, the hunting show is this week starting on Thursday through Sunday.

Superbowl Sumptuous

2010-02-07T20:46:00.001-07:00

What is the best part of the Superbowl? Not the commercials.....the snack food!

Homemaking diva turns 10

2010-02-05T12:59:00.003-07:00

I have a wonderful grandaughter who happens to be the next homemaking diva. I can't believe she turned 10 the other day, but then again when I see the crafts she does and the baking and parties that she organizes, it seems that she is much older than 10.

So for her birthday dinner we peeled and sliced apples and made two delicious apple pies to share with the family. She loves anything that goes on in the kitchen. Soon we will just let her take over and enjoy what comes of it.

So what else do you give a 10 year old homemaker.....an apple peeler!

Happy Birthday Gabraylie, we love you.

If you love to ski, you would have loved it today

2010-02-01T21:22:00.005-07:00

I have had some beautiful days of skiing this year and today was certainly one of them. The weather was perfect. The snow was perfect. The skies were blue.

I went with my friend Jeanne and we stopped to take a few pictures to save the beauty of the day.

This is at the top of Sundance (back mountain looking down into Utah County.

There is a lot of fresh powder up there.

This one is looking out over Deer Creek Reservoir.

The lodge at the top where you can stop and get some lunch.

Unfortunately we had a problem getting on the big quad lift on back mountain and I broke my ski pole. We were just lucky to have gotten on the chair at all and happy that we were able to stay on. That's a new one! So I got to ski most of the afternoon without poles. That felt weird. All in all though a red letter day.

Hawaii 2010

2010-01-25T19:19:00.004-07:00

Anyone who knows me, knows that Hawaii is one of my favorite spots on the Earth. We have been very fortunate to be able to go over every year about this time.

January is a great time to leave our snowbound home and it is a great time to be in Hawaii. We had a room on the 25 floor with one balcony overlooking the cityand the marina, and one balcony looking out to the ocean.

I took quite a few pictures from each balcony with different light during the day and also at night. It was beautiful any direction that you looked any time of day or night.

I always have to take a token picture of my feet pointed towards the ocean. Usually they are in the sand but this one was on our balcony.

Sandy Beach

This is Sunset Beach. They were having killer waves while we were there and we spend the day watching the surfing competition.

Best place to be when the sun goes down is on Sunset Beach.

We love this picture that we took of the Temple through the window of the visitor center.

The Temple is closed for renovation but we just walked around and enjoyed the gardens.

This is our group at the Temple on Sunday afternoon. We surely enjoyed each others company on this trip.

Honolulu from the water.

We went out on a whale watching tour and saw lots and lots of whales. Loved the boat ride.

Ahhh, the good life.

Elsa and Afton

2010-01-10T21:34:00.004-07:00

Jess and Elsa

We had a great weekend at Tim and Brandi's house. It was so fun spending time with them and especially baby Elsa. She is getting so big at almost 5 months she can do lots of things now, not exactly a newborn anymore. Thanks for the fun times again Tim and Brandi.

Tim is starting a remodel of his family room downstairs so it was a great time for father and son do it yourself project. They took the old paneling down and the old fireplace. They put in all new studs so that they can sheetrock the room. I will post some finished pictures as the project comes along.

Tim and Elsa working in the office.

Grandpa loves to read to the babies.

I can't figure out why sometimes the pictures, after I have rotated them, turn on me in the blog. Anyway Tyson and Chelsea and Afton came over for dinner on Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed visiting with them so much. Afton is so darling walking everywhere. She is so tiny but big in personality. She loved Elsa's new rocking chair. Chelsea tends Elsa now while Brandi teaches part time, so Elsa and Afton have lots of time to play together and will be such good cousin/friends as they grow up.

Through the years we all will be together

2009-12-29T14:10:00.003-07:00

Here are just a few pictures of Christmas at our house this year. I was a bit lazy with the camera, I didn't take very many pictures. I did enjoy every minute of the holiday season, not to mention all of our December birthdays. We were all together almost every day and that is what makes it so fun.

The guys had a very manly Christmas.

Brandi, Tim and Elsa came and stayed a whole week and we loved that.

Elsa in her new rocker. (Sometimes even when I have rotated the picture it still come sideways in the blog, I have to figure that one out)

12 Grandkids and one daughter with matching Disney pjs on Christmas Eve. What a feat.

Ivy Zoey and Lily

The Green kids all together for a moment.

Birthday breakfast

2009-12-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

I big thank-you to my friends that took me out to breakfast this morning for my birthday. Getting older would be the pits without good friends to laugh with, share stories with, drink diet coke with, and relax with for an hour or two. Thanks guys for taking time, especially at this busy time of year, for little old me! Luv you all!

The zoo is open

2009-12-12T09:38:00.007-07:00

The zoo is finally open, the last of our Africa animals arrived from the taxidermist and here they are. From left to right: impala, blesbok, kudu, springbok, and hartebeest.

The pictures below are of a male (left) and female gemsbok (aka oryx). This is one rare species where the female has horns, and notably, the female's horns are longer than the males though slightly slimmer.

Again, from left to right; impala, blesbok, kudu, springbok, hartebeest.

Joel 'collected' these animals in June and July of 2008 on our hunting safari to Namibia. We also had a rug custom made for the office. The wool is collected, died, spun and the rug woven right at one of the farms we visited in Namibia. It was a very enjoyable trip, one that we will never forget, most of all the adventure but also the new friends.

Friendships go on and on

2009-12-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

For the past 18 years or so this group of friends has gotten together every month to enjoy lunch and a whole lot of visiting. We feel so blessed to have such good friends and have shared a lot over the years. I think we have a 13 year age difference from the oldest one to the youngest. Between us we have 27 kids that we have helped each other to raise. Now we are working on 32 grandkids between us. The worth of a good friend can never be measured, but I know that each of us knows how much we have been helped by our friends. Thanks gals, may we go on and on. When we are old and cannot drive, Ruth (the baby of the group) will be picking us up and driving.

Happy Birthday Zoey

2009-12-01T16:33:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday to a darling little 4 year old. She loves her birthday dress/Christmas dress. If you look really closely you will see her newly pierced ears. What a big girl.

Thanksgiving and our anniversary get away

2009-12-01T14:36:00.014-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with some of our kids and grand kids and my brother Les and some of their kids and grand kids. Also Joel's mother and brother were with us.

We had a great group of about 24. We had made food for about 124. Oh well leftovers are good.

That evening we took off and drove to St. George. Besides being Thanksgiving it was also our 35th wedding anniversary. Since golfing and warm weather are some of our favorites, we headed south for a few days. On the way down we stopped in Cedar City to see Tim, Brandi and Elsie. We got to visit with them for just a few minutes before going on. That was fun since we hadn't seen the baby for over a month and they change so fast at that age.

Friday we golfed at Coral Canyon. It was a beautiful clear day.

I love the desert!

I took this shot on #17. What a beautiful evening to be on the golf course.

Yes we finished up in the dark. I was 1 under on the last 3 holes. Apparently, I play better in the dark. After we met our good friends, the Twiggs for dinner.

Saturday we drove to Mesquite and Joel did some shooting.
We drove on to Las Vegas where we went to The Venetian to see the show "Jersey Boys".

We stayed at the Luxor. (I can't seem to turn this picture now that I have it in the post. Sorry)

On Monday we played golf in Mesquite. Another great day. After golf we drove home just in time for the end of Zoey's birthday party.

Christmas dance programs

2009-11-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

Zoey and Ellary had their Christmas dance program already this year.

Their costumes were gorgeous and they did a really good job with all of their dances.

Little girls do love to dance!

Birthday Bowling

2009-11-17T22:37:00.001-07:00

Happy happy birthday Bella dear, happy days will come to you all year. If I had one wish then it would be, a happy happy birthday to you from me. You're only 5 once!

It's always fun when Marlo comes

2009-11-09T15:57:00.001-07:00

It's always fun when Marlo comes, when Marlo comes hooray. He always says the kindest things and in the kindest way. He has a winkly twinkly smile, he's jolly all the day. It's always fun when Marlo comes, when Marlo comes.

The winners of the family halloween contest

2009-11-02T15:58:00.002-07:00

Happy Halloween to all

2009-11-02T15:43:00.011-07:00

So another Halloween has come and gone. I am so amazed at how creative people are now. When I was a mother with little kids, I would just go buy a 2.00 vinyl costume at the store. Now days people plan and create the cutest most involved costumes. It is very amazing. We had a baby lion.
A pumpkin

Harry Potter and Sharpe (sp?)

Alice in Wonderland

A Jelly Fish

A Princess

A witch

Not to mention a mermaid and a pirate

I Love the Mountains

2009-10-21T14:52:00.006-06:00

I know I have already posted pictures of bike rides up the canyon, but now with the fall leaves I can't resist posting last weeks pictures. How can you not be perfectly happy when you have this scenery? I enjoyed this ride so much, I ended up going 30 miles. That is my farthest to date. If my Dad was here, he would ask "Are you bragging or complaining?" Well I am definitely bragging, but oh well.

Fall Golf

2009-10-17T18:10:00.001-06:00

Friday was a beautiful day to be on the golf course. We love our newest course here in Orem, Sleepy Ridge. It is beautiful all year round, but in the fall, you just appreciate so much being outdoors and enjoying these last days of pure sunshine.

I didn't play very well, I haven't dedicated too much time this summer to my game. (I've played a lot more tennis). I love being in the beautiful outdoors.

Elsa and her parents come to Orem

2009-10-09T16:35:00.005-06:00

We had such a wonderful conference weekend. Besides enjoying every talk and musical number, Tim, Brandi and baby Elsa came to visit for the weekend. She has changed out of the newborn stage and is very engaging with her eyes and smiles.

Grandpa Joel loves to rock his little girls.
Love the chubbyness

We sure ate a lot, played alot of games and really enjoyed the spirit of conference all weekend. We missed Scott, Ashley and kids, as they were out of town. If they had been here it would have been the perfect weekend. All they other kids and grandkids were here most of the weekend and it was a blast.

Grandparents Day at the school

2009-10-05T17:38:00.001-06:00

What a pleasure to be invited to Grandparents Day at Ivy Hall. It is great to see kids thriving and learning and happy to be at school.

Cousins or Twins?

2009-09-30T17:07:00.001-06:00

I think these cousins look so much alike. Is it just me?

I really am a country girl

2009-09-22T15:06:00.011-06:00

On my bike ride today I rode east until I hit University Avenue. There I got on the Provo River bike trail and rode it 10 miles down to the lake. It follows the river all through Provo until it reaches Utah Lake.

There is something about being out in the country that just "fills up my cup". I love the hay fields,

the horses and the ducks. These poor horses have cockle burrs all tangled up in their manes and tails.

When I got to the lake, I got on the dike road that goes between the lake and the Provo Airport.

It was so beautiful. The small planes were landing on the runways.

It is very deserted on the dike road. The marshes next to the lake are cool.

A very relaxing morning on the bike.

Elsa and her big day

2009-09-08T14:51:00.006-06:00

This is Elsa's blessing day. Tim gave her a beautiful Fathers blessing.

Afterwards we all went over to Tim and Brandi's where they had a wonderful buffet lunch prepared.

The day was perfect for a backyard lunch.

Elsa had lots of family in from out of town to spend the weekend.

What is better than a family dinner.

You have to change clothes alot when you have such a wardrobe.

One of the few times I caught her with her eyes open.

Elsa,I hope you know how many people love you.

My bike rides

2009-09-04T13:29:00.006-06:00

I am enjoying my bike rides up Prove Canyon so much. Today I took a camera so I could share some of the beauties of nature on the bike trail. It is 24 miles from my house to Vivian Park and back. I enjoy the ride so much I forget how far it is. I hope you enjoy my pictures.

Here goes another one

2009-09-02T16:21:00.001-06:00

So is anyone sick of me showing off my grandbabies? No? Oh ok, let me show you these pictures of Jamie's latest version. All of her babies have had the same look with a little bit of a different twist. She is one little doll.

Diva

Happy Baby

More pictures of our newly born

2009-08-23T21:58:00.007-06:00

Elsa is one week old today, so of course we had to drive up to her house and spend the night with her to celebrate.

She has changed so much since we saw her on Monday.

Grandpa fell asleep with her.

I love this picture.

she is so precious and beautiful, I wanted to share more pictures of her.

Celery is six years old!

2009-08-21T22:17:00.000-06:00

Martha Stewart putting the finishing touches on the cake.

Happy Birthday to a beautiful grandaughter. Her choice for dinner? French Toast.

Baby (yet to be named), sweet baby

2009-08-17T19:07:00.007-06:00

Introducing Tim and Brandi's beautiful baby girl. She was born August 16 at about 9 :00 P.M. Brandi had been saying the baby was going to be big and she was, 9 Lbs and 4 Oz. and 21 inches long. She is beautiful. It was such a delight to be there right after she was born. There is nothing like watching the face of a new born baby fresh from heaven. We love you baby whatever your name is. Welcome to the family.

Annual Moosehorn Madness

2009-08-15T20:48:00.013-06:00

It's that time of year again. Time for our annual trip to Moosehorn Lake in the Unitas. We love it but the weather is always a factor. We enjoyed some beautiful days with a little rain.

When the fish weren't bitting, we played lots of fun games.

Jess hanging out during a storm.

I think Lily was the first one to catch a fish, but they all had success. Joel went out in his float tube and caught and released quite a few.

Byerly casting way out there.

The Neilsen kids love to fish.

The kids love to ride in Uncle Marc's canoe.

The weather was the usual for the Unitas, sometimes warm and sunny, and then all of a sudden it will get cold and rain. Just after dinner on Friday night a storm came in and it was sleet and snow. Angelee, being the dedicated mother that she is, is trying to get a hot dog roasted for Bella before heading into the trailer. The weather went from bad to worse and in the morning we decided to load up and get home while we could. It snowed on us as we drove out. Marc and Deb waited to make the decision and they had to load up with 2 inches of snow on the ground. We love our annual Moosehorn trip, it is always an adventure. Until next August....................

This is the view of the Lake as we left this morning. It was so beautiful but it was so cold!

The fine art of waiting

2009-08-09T17:25:00.013-06:00

We went to the Logan Operahouse to see "Mikado". We really enjoyed the show. Gabraylie loved it.

Last Sunday while out walking Tim stepped in a pothole and broke his foot. Bad timing when you are waiting everyday for the baby to come. He has made good use of Renae's chair that she loaned Brandi.

Afton loves Cosmo and viceversa.

Grabraylie and Afton.

Tyson, Chelsea and Afton joined us at the movies. We saw Julie and Julia, I loved it. Then we all went over to Tim's and he barbequed for us. Afton got to try out the brand new high chair before Brandi's baby is even here.

Tim can still barbeque with his broken foot and crutches.

Tim and Brandi are expecting their first baby today (sunday). I won't say that we sat around and waited, staring at her to get something going, but I'm sure we were a lot of pressure just being there hoping. Her mother and brother were also there (added pressure). We did have a fun weekend though.

We went to Logan for Leslie Twiggs wedding in the Logan Temple. It was a wonderful day but a storm blew in and the sky was so wierd, I got this really interesting picture of the Temple.

I tried a different way of putting together a blog and that is why this blog is disjointed and strange. I will have to refine the next one. It's always a learning process!

The new railing on the deck

2009-07-26T16:30:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend working and playing at the cabin. After a couple of years of trying to figure out the best railing to put on the new deck at the cabin, the guys came up with this idea and it turned out so nice. We are really happy with it.

The guys did a lot of work but they also got in some great motorcycle rides.

This is Zoey and Ivy on a wildflower appreciation hike. Aspen Hills is so green and beautiful because of all the rain we have had this year. There were lots of flowers.

More pictures from the cabin

2009-07-26T16:23:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Kailey and Sam

2009-07-19T22:56:00.000-06:00

Kailey's new "sweet ride"

Sam and Kailey get to share their birthdays.

Now that is a tool Sam, not a toy, please don't make your mom hate me.

Oh sweet summer

2009-07-16T16:45:00.000-06:00

We went on a great bike ride on the Provo River Parkway. It is so shady and beautiful riding under the trees next to the river. Jamie had the bike trailor with Zoey and Cora inside. I am loving my bike rides this summer. This was fun with some of the kids that wanted to go.

Cascade Springs

2009-07-12T12:23:00.000-06:00

It was such a beautiful summer day.

Scott, Ashley, Byerly, Lily, Ivy on the bridge.

On the spur of the moment, those of us that could, drove up to Cascade Springs.

BJ Angelee, Bella and Anders.

What a wonderful place we live in that we can enjoy such
beauty with lest than an hours drive.

For the Beauty of the Earth

2009-07-12T12:14:00.000-06:00

What are little girls made of.....

2009-07-08T16:56:00.000-06:00

Sugar and Spice and everything nice. Man I love these little peanuts!

Lava Hot Springs

2009-07-06T16:35:00.000-06:00

We took a great little family trip to Lava Hot Springs. It was great because the kids got to swim all day long every day we were there. That is their idea of a vacation. We camped in the camp ground right next to the pool. The "big kids" loved the slides and the diving platforms, a lot like Huastepec in Mexico. Another fun thing that we did is float the river. That was pretty exciting because they had had flooding up river that weekend so it made the river fast. It was really fun. Also we went to the hot pools in the evening. They are in fact really hot. We all took turns cooking and had some really great meals and Ashley and Deskin made some really good deserts. The guys got in some golf and Joel went fishing so it was an all round great place to spend a few days with the fam.

The world from the back seat of the motorcycle

2009-07-05T14:25:00.000-06:00

The afternoon of the 4th of July me and Joel hopped on the motorcycle and drove up to Midway on a ride. It was the perfect summer day and a wonderful ride. Even though I am nervous on the highways in traffic, when we get on the back roads it is a woderful way to take in the beauties of the world around us.

Fathers Day pizza party

2009-06-22T12:22:00.000-06:00

For fathers day we decided to have a "make your own pizza day". We made a bunch of Shirley J pizza dough and every topping you can imagine. We had so much fun making and tasting everybodies different pizzas. They were incredibly tasty. At the end we still had dough left over, so Ashley made two really good deserts with the dough and oatmeal, brown sugar magic. What a fun day. We were all very amazed what a mess we made in the kitchen! Good times!

2009-06-22T12:15:00.000-06:00

2009-06-22T12:14:00.001-06:00

2009-06-22T12:14:00.000-06:00

Brad Wendts Wedding

2009-06-18T21:53:00.003-06:00

June 13, 2009 was a special day for Brad. He and Glenna Joe were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Here we are on the steps of the Temple and you can see that Brad is on cloud nine. We have been friends with Brad since he was about 4 years old. I saved him from a bad tangle with a mean barbed wire fence and he still has the scar on his face from that. Brad is a special friend and we wish him the best. He has grown up to be a wonderful man. Congratulations Brad and Glenna Joe. Have a wonderful future together.

Best quote of the day

2009-06-17T13:49:00.002-06:00

I'm reading "Little Britches" by Ralf Moody. I know I kind of missed it for the book club. It was written in 1950 which is my childhood era. The Father in the book is a lot like my Dad, he tells his son..."Son, the best boss is the one who bosses the least. Whether it's cattle, or horses, or men; the least government is the best government." I love that, it is so true!

Cora Rose Green

2009-06-07T20:58:00.000-06:00

This litttle beauty was blessed and named today. Her name is Cora Rose Green. We will want to teach her about her namesake, Cora Rose Johnson Judd. She was a wonderful example to all who knew her. We all loved to go visit Aunt Cora in Colonia Juarez. We are so happy to have a Cora Rose in the family again.

Mom and Daddy's birthday remembrance

2009-06-01T12:20:00.001-06:00

Amanda wrote a beautiful tribute to Mom and Daddy on her blog. These are the pictures to go along with that post so check out her blog if you haven't already. It was a beautiful Sunday at the cemetary remembering Grandpa and Grandma on their birthdays. Remember to check out Miller Time.

2009-05-28T13:52:00.000-06:00

Memorial Day weekend at Brian Head

2009-05-27T17:09:00.004-06:00

We had a fantastic weekend at the Twiggs'cabin at Brian Head. Thanks so much to them for their hospitality. It was so nice to be all together. The weather was stormy at times but that wasn't a problem since we had lots of games and movies and eating going on 24-7. Everybody made wonderful meals and deserts were exceptional I would say. The guys got some motorcycle riding in between storms. We drove over to Cedar Breaks and that is awesome everytime you see it. All of the little cousins had so much fun playing non-stop with never a quarrel. It's so much fun to be with the family and enjoy each others company. Thanks to everyone that made it so fun and thanks again to the Twiggs. On the way home we drove out west of Parawan to see some Indian pictures carved into the rocks. They are right by the side of the road. It's hard to imagin that they are so old.

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-21T17:39:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures for those who can't get to the cemetary this Memorial Day Weekend.

Lest We Forget

2009-05-21T17:35:00.001-06:00