How is Living in Orem, Utah Different From Living in Redmond, WA?

It has been three months since we moved to Utah and we have noticed some differences between Orem, Utah and Redmond, Washington. Here are a few.

1. You better be nice to your neighbors because you WILL see them at church.

2. People from Utah do not understand, nor can they appreciate the term "Sunbreaks" when listening to the weather forecast.

3. People in Utah go for Halloween in a big, big way. It is the only time you can visit the dark side and get away with it!

4. We had to learn the name of the bright light coming over the mountains each morning. People here call it the "Sun!"

5. Say only kind things about people. The one you are talking to is probably related to the one you are talking about.

6. You are not with the in crowd unless you have a utility trailer parked on your property.

7. DO NOT--I REPEAT--DO NOT try to go anywhere on the opening day of deer hunt. It is a state holiday and 70,000 people are headed for the mountains.

8. It is mandatory to carry a four--wheeler in the back of your pickup.

9. You can walk to church, to do visiting teaching, to do home teaching, or anything else connected to your ward. It is only 3 square blocks!!

10. Get to church at least 15 minutes early. If you don't you will be in the very back row of the cultural hall trying to hear the speaker over the cries of at least 250 children under two years of age. (Remember the 250 children come from 3 square blocks!)

11. The average size of a family in Washington is 2.5 and shrinking. In Utah the average family size is 7.5 and growing.

12. You must buy at least six Costco sized bags of candy for Halloween.

13. The standard Utah family has two vehicles. The first is either a minivan or a 13 passenger van. The second is a 4-wheel drive, crew cab, diesel truck with a 10-inch lift kit and 22-inch chrome wheels.

14. The friendliest people in the world live in Utah. It is standard to wave at every passing vehicle. You are odd if you don't. You can also expect a fresh loaf of hot homemade bread to appear on your doorstep sometime during the first week. That is followed by homemade chocolate chip cookies and little children that love to visit and call you "Grandpa and Grandma." What's more they are convinced you are! It's great!!

15. It doesn't take long to learn how wonderful it is to live by children, grandchildren, and family, and to enjoy a "Cousin's Dinner" once a month.

The following are some of our favorite photos since moving here.



These two cute girls from our ward rang the doorbell today and asked if they could rake our leaves for free. They were bored and just wanted something to do.

Ou Lov Sac is still a favorite gathering place of all children. This day it happend to be Layla from downstairs, little Hayli who didn't particularly want her face shown that day, (we have a little Hayli and a big Hayli now among our grandchildren) and cute little Maddie. Little Hayli and Maddie belong to Cody and Meridith.

I am so appreciative to my friends in Washington for helping me learn a new hobby--crocheting. My Mom would be so darn proud. Below is my first project.

Little Cash (Nalani and Jed's) thinks the world revolves around Uncle Cody. When he is grumpy and won't go to anybody else he will always, always snuggle with Cody.

It has been fun to see some of the projects Jason has done with his new talent. He makes the most incredible leather projects. Below are some miniature roses he has made from leather. They look so real you want to smell them. He also makes big roses, wallets, purses, pocket knife holders and my favorite--gorgeous scripture covers that he designs specifically for each person he makes them for.

We are looking forward to a white Christmas with family this year. We are so excited for Kami and Ben. It looks like he will actually be back in Hawaii in time for Christmas. We are so grateful he has been protected and watched over while in Iraq. We are grateful to have family close by and for the opportunity to make new friends. We truly miss our good friends in Redmond and would welcome a visit from any of them.

From now on we will make a gallant attempt to be better at updating this blog.

A Happy Mother's Day

Okay I will admit it. I cried when I got this Mother's Day gift. Jason and a friend made this cover for my scriptures. He sent Dad one a few weeks ago and I was so jealous. And then I got this one the week of Mother's Day. Jason said it was the hardest thing he has ever done. All those little teeny bumps on the cover were put there by a tiny tool about the size of a pin head. The photo doesn't do it justice but it is gorgeous. The Relief Society symbol and the CTR symbol were enlarged freehand from the Ensign Jason gets.

We went to Maile's a couple of weeks ago and took Quinn to his swimming lessons while Maile ran some errands. I don't know who was more entertaining; Quinn jumping off the diving board and yelling "Cow-a-bun-ga" (because Grandpa dared him to) or Cannon measuring the entire swimming pool with a tape measure I gave him to keep busy.
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I love having the twins come to visit. We have discovered one thing for sure. If they are getting crabby just put on "Yo-Gabba-Gabba!" And we thought Mr. Rogers was dumb!

I have to tell Nalani, Maile, Meridith, and Kami 'THANK YOU" from the bottom of my heart for another favorite gift. At Christmas time I went in to Gymboree and they had little cowboy vests and shirts on sale. They had enough to get one for each of our grandsons so I did. When Maile was down they took the boys and had their pictures taken. That photo is just about my all time favorite photo. I can't stop looking at it. They even managed to get one with all the boys smiling--well let's just say Cash wasn't frowning anyway. It doesn't matter what he does--he is still cute. When I get an electronic copy of the photo I will post it.

Grandma & Grandpa Are Kids Again

We went down to Quinn's birthday party in Portland and had a blast. We went down the big blow up slide and all the parents thought we were pretty alright to join in the fun.

I Stink at Blogging!

We all know I am not a good blogger. We all know I only update once in a blue moon. We all know that lots of the photos I post my kids have already posted something similar.

But I'm turning over a new blog leaf. I have decided (that phrase strikes fear in the heart of my other half) I am going to be so much better this year. Richard just showed me how to download the photos from our camera to my own personal laptop (which really is Richard's thanks to Grange--it is one thing for which I can thank them!)

You will find my photos are mostly family. Strange isn't that. During Christmas when I was so sick with influenza, like a lot of the family, I looked at all our grandkids playing one day and I couldn't help but think in spite of everything that has happened to us this year we are truly blessed.

Richard and I have wanted so badly to move to Utah by Pat and Carl and all the kids and grandkids. We have tried everything we could think of to make it happen. It just hasn't worked. Jobs that we thought Richard had have fallen through. Our home has not sold as hard as we have tried. Richard has worked on this house until he was exhausted. He is so good at that. He works so hard and never complains. But as "up to date" as we tried to be, as much as we have dropped the price, it just hasn't happened.

On the way home from Oregon this past week I started thinking about it and something told me it just wasn't the right time and we needed to take the house off the market. In talking to Richard he felt the same way. So---we came home and reluctantly took the "For Sale" signs down. We have come to the conclusion we would have to give the house away to sale it. We think it is best to wait two or three years and see if things get a little better. Hopefully it will. We also don't know where we would go if we sold it. We will wait and see where Richard gets a job and then decide what to do.

Sunday Richard had to give a talk in church on trials and tribulations. He did such a good job. He told everybody it wasn't his farewell talk. Maybe we were moving and maybe we werren't. We just didn't know. He said despite all we had been through this year we had had so many blessings. Three of our children became parents this year. We have five new beautiful grandchildren. We had got to spend so much more time together this year and spent three weeks in Hawaii having a ball. I wish you all could have been there to hear him.

I want to thank each of you who have told us you remember us in your prayers every day. It means a lot to us. I know we are going to be all right. My children have lifted my spirits time and time again and there is nothing that makes me thank God more than when I hold one of those sweet grandchildren in my arms and snuggle with them. I look at the new ones and I know they met Dad and Mom before they came down. I just wish they could talk and tell me any advice Dad and Mom would have for me. I wish I knew what to do about a son in prison and if there is any way in the world to change and soften his heart. It really breaks my heart when his children ask me how "Joe" is doing. But on the other hand I am so grateful they have another Dad that loves them and plays with them and tries to guide them.

We will be okay I am sure of it. We have never failed to pay a full tithing and it has been a little hard this year when I draw $10,000 out of our 401K and write a check for tithing for $1,000. But it isn't hard when I realize it is his to begin with and he has given me more blessings than trials this past year.

Sorry for the sermon. I love you all. My heart and my prayers are always with Phil and my heart aches for what he is going through. Phil I love you a lot even if Mom used to tell me I was so mean to you!!! Hopefully I have grown up.

Take care you all and keep the faith. A lot of us are in the same situation and we will make it:)

One of my favorite view from Nalani's deck. Awesome!

Cash will not give up until he has rolled over enough times to eat a pear off the tree. After doing this over a dozen times he still hasn't gotten the idea the thing is carboard! They better put him in pre-school fast!

My favorite gift this year to give the kids. Four bowls that said "You Scream" "I Scream" "We all Scream" "For Ice Cream." Ask any of them about Kessler's grocery store in Blackfoot.

They don't get much cuter than this. I mean Cash! You can see from this photo his favorite his favorite thing is rearranging my hair and stealing my earrings.

I may be the Mom but I think this is one cute family. The best thing is Jed calls me "Mom" so he can't hate me too much. Jed you are the bomb!

You have all heard about the mellow climate in Seattle. Not true! This gear about says it all!

Smiles run in the family. You can't have a bad day with these grins.

Check out these eyelashes. They obviously skipped my generation in this family tree. Not fair!

His beautiful blue eyes match sweet potatoes beautifully!

Chubby cheeks also run in the family.

Somehow this bag of Nalani's brings back bad memories of early morning in the barnyard.

One of the sweetest things is seeing Kai's face when he sees his Dad on the web cam first thing in the morning. Life is surely different than it was for wives and families during the Viet Nam War when they waited weeks for a letter. Kai will know his Dad when he comes home from Iraq. Cool huh.Thanks to Meridith we now have two "Haileys" in the family. There isn't any doubt this one loves Grandpa. In fact what grandkid doesn't! I could get jealous but I am just glad they do love him.

Bath time. He looks petrified but that was only because he knew Cash was already in the tub.

See Kai--he's not so bad after all!

Here I am trying to be happy about decorating the tree. Sharon came in after I had the tree almost done and said, "This bow goes on top!"

And so I reached high to get it there. It only took three tries to get it just right!

Reach high!

Sharon said that she wanted just the tree up since we would be gone and the house is for sale!

A little trip to Costco and they had so many pretty things!

The walls were just looking so bare!

The chairs certainly needed to look festive....

The table too...and the stockings at the fireplace...just a few decorations.

Pillows for the sofa and a throw for the autumun...

Maybe just a couple on the entertainment center....

Well, maybe a couple more...

Books, in case someone needed help getting in the spirit!

"Oh look what I found honey!"

This spells what I am feeling about now! She even had to play the Christmas Train!

Lights outside are necessary!

Packages to put under the tree...

These are cute on the shelf...

These too!

And the Circus Train...we can't do without this!

Holiday Activities

Let the activities begin. We had Thanksgiving at Maile and Nate's this year. Eating, wrestling, eating, grandkids, eating, dishes, more eating. Baby Cash sure did like the stuffing and mashed potatoes. Grandpa suggested the men take care of the dishes after Thanksgiving dinner. That was the best.

Black Saturday

After our Black Saturday Shopping Extravaganza we had a Christmas present wrapping party that night. Meridith and Maile were giddy with "Santa" excitement. Jed and Nalani were in a battle deciding which presents had to go under the tree and which could be worn/used before Christmas. Nalani has met her match.

Portland Waterfront

Saturday we went to the Saturday market and I bought a super cute hat.

USS Oregon Memorial

Catching Up!

Grandpa & Grandma go to Hawaii!

This is what Grandpa does best

Nalani hits up on the tall, skinny drunk guy
while Kami demonstrates her pole dancing

These photos are random....this is Waimea
Canyon on Kauai


Ben & Kami waiting for the boat to the Fern

Grotto

Mr. Rooster who begged for food while we
were waiting for the boat...one of many!

Just to ensure that there will be many chickens.
Some places have mice and bunnies...Kauai has chickens!

There are plenty of other animal life too...

And many varities of beautiful flowers and plants

These are Papaya

And...beautiful sunsets

Ben & son playing

Cash ready for the big day..

Grandma doing what she likes best....

Baby Hog!

The Baadsgaard Family

The happy brother & sister

The happy Honeymooners

This is without a doubt Kami's best part of the Kauai trip!

Turn your volume up and listen to her tell the pigs to be nice!

This is the spouting horn on Kauai....volume up!

We're Still Here****

It is the middle of October rapidly moving to the end and we are still in Redmond. Here is the latest.



We dropped the house price and we seem to be having a spike of people coming through. We have lots that have come back a second time and many who are too nervous to live where their backyard backs up to 104th because they are afraid of road noise. I told Richard that is so funny because it never occured to me when we moved in that noise would be a problem. There really isn't a lot because we have A/C and never open the windows. Anyway it was a surprise to know that was an obstacle.



Maile has been here the last couple of days and I love it when she comes because she gets so much work done for me. We put a couple more finishing touches on the decor of the house and then went Christmas shopping at Kohl's where they were having a huge sale. We managed to get something for every grandchild and good old Maile got them all wrapped. For some odd reason though when I went to the closet where all my Christmas wrap, bows, ribbon etc. had been it was gone. HMMMM--either garage or Utah and I had a mini meltdown. I even said sort of a little swear word. I can just say I am really tired of living this way. Everything I need seems to either be in the middle of the garage (know way am I findind it there) or in Utah.



SOOO--we went to Costco and bought wrap but I didn't have mini meltdown about ribbon, tags, etc. until after we went to Costco because I didn't know it was gone. So I still have to do ribbon and tags but the hard part is done.



I am also learning to accept the fact that there is going to be a grandchild along the way that definitely prefers Grandpa over Grandma. That would be Cannon. If Dad is pounding on something Cannon is pounding. If Dad is eating so is Cannon. He even talked Grandpa into laying on the Love Sac with him tonight to watch Baby Einstein videos. I had to take a couple of photos that I will post.



Here is some good news. Provo Craft people called and want Richard to come down for an interview and a tour through their facilities the first week in November. Everybody say your prayers and cross your fingers. I am serious.



We are still working on the settlement with Grange. Our attorney is awesome but the wheels of justice work slow and I think they work even slower when you have a former boss who is determined to make it work as slow as possible. We will get through it though. It really is funny when I look at what we bring in on unemployment and how we always write the first check out for tithing and we make it through.



I haven't posted since Hawaii but I have to say Dad and I had the time of our lives. After everybody left Kami and Ben and Kai went with Dad and I to Kaui and it was awesome and so beautiful. If I can sort out some photos from that I will post them sometime soon. When we got back to Oahu we rented a convertible and had so darn much fun. It was hard to come back to reality.



Well it is 9:30 and that is just way past my bedtime and YW Stake Volleyball starts in the morning so I have to get up at the crack of 7:00. I hate that on a Saturday. Oh wait, I hate that any day of the week!

In case anybody wants to know--there is an advertisement with "Cheap Tickets" for flights from Seattle to Honolulu through United Airlines for $326. I had my finger on the "Submit" button when Richard pulled me away from the computer!




Two grandsons that do love Grandpa and want to be in the middle of everything:)

Three of the cutest boys in my life.

It didn't take a lot of coaxing to get Grandpa to watch Einstein videos with Cannon. It was the only time all day he got to sit down.

A great start of my Christmas gift buying. Which one is for you? Only Maile knows!!

Summer Odds and Ends

Okay so I am the world's worst blog updater. But give me a break. This summer has got to have been the busiest on record. From the end of February until now we have had two grandsons born (I spent several weeks with both), the last of the older grandsons visit us, Joey Coleman--Erika's youngest, Trek, High Adventure, Girls Camp, Grandpa Oram's 90th birthday party, a son getting married, and a couple of extra trips to Utah. I truly feel like I haven't been home at all. Below are just a smattering of photos.

After we redid the house the first time and cleaned things up to make it more generic and ready to sell we went back and did more. We took furniture out of the living room.

Just a shot of some of Maile's handiwork while she was here helping me.

We sold the furniture in the office and turned the bonus room in to a play room.

Notice we even have a television in there for Thomas the Train DVD's!
Now I need to get some kid pictures to brighten up the room. Check out the papason swing we got off Craig's list--brand new--$35!
We took all the wallpaper down in what used to be Kami's room and painted over the red. Sorry Kami!

Can I just say I absolutely love our new bathroom!

Check out the cool clock on the wall. Glass and chrome. I knew the girls would be proud of me!
Richard chose the cool glass medicine cabinet all by himself. He is getting pretty darn good.

Gone is all the deep reds from our bedroom. There is just a bit left in the bedspread. What do you all think. Do I need to change that as well?

Everything in bedroom and bathroom is now trimmed in white including the pocket doors between which you can't see anyway.

We had a couple come back today that had already been through it once. We were gone but when we came home they had left their paper and measuring tape on the counter. They had drawn out where they could put all their furniture. Let's hope that is a good sign.

Everywhere Kami and I would go together while she was here I would volunteer to sit in the back and take care of Kai. After all that is my favorite job. Don't freak out girls! The car was stopped!

Jed's little nephew, Carter, decided he liked me and that I was okay as an extra Grandma, especially after he and I made chocolate chip cookies together.

My favorite was when we got the ingredients all in and mixed up and I asked him if he wanted a bite of dough. He looked at me horrified and said, "NO--I don't want to eat rotten eggs!"

Before I close tonight I just want to say how excited I am for the wedding on Saturday. Meredith, Dad and I love you like you were our own daughter. I have seen such a happiness in Cody since he found you that has never been there before. We love you for the good person you are and for making our son want to be a better person. I always said that was the sign of true love. When a person gives you a desire to be better and better they are right for you.

We also love your three beautiful children and we couldn't be happier to inherit more grandchildren. We now have 7 biological and 7 acquired counting yours, Erika's and Josh and Nikki's little Aaron.

Even though this has been a difficult year for Richard and I we still consider ourselves extremely blessed. We called Nalani's the other night and all 4 kids were there with their kids. It sounded chaotic but Richard and I said how blessed we felt that the kids would care to be with each other.

We look forward to the day when Cody and Meredith will be sealed and already have plans to make that a special day also.

We don't know for sure where exactly a job will show up for us but we are hoping we will be near you all. Being around our kids, their friends, and the whole Clark clan would truly be wonderful for us.

Westward Ho!

After about a bizillion hours of planning and preparation the mighty Redmond Stake Youth Conference Trek is over. In a few words it was awesome. I heard some of the kids say it was the hardest thing they have ever done and the coolest thing they have ever done.

The first day it was kind of cool. We got up there, loaded handcarts, pulled them 2 miles. Along the way we had rest stops where they were given different vignettes that were pioneer stories. I was the first one and mine was about "Grandma Nellie." Her parents joined the church when she was 6 years old in England. Their dream was to come to America, travel to Salt Lake and raise their kids and build up Zion. Along the way both her parents died and were buried in snow drifts. She was in the Martin Handcart Company and by the time they were rescued she had frosbitten feet and legs that were so bad they had to be amputated to save her life. So with no anethesia or pain killers she was strapped to a board and with a saw and butcher knife her legs were amputed below the knee. They never healed properly and for the rest of her life bone stuck out of the bottom of the stumps. The story told about how bloody her stumps were many days after she had worked scrubbing floors. So we had me bandaged up to look like I didn't have legs but I did have bloody stumps. As I was telling the story I looked over and a couple of kids were crying. That was tame though compared to when they had to pull that handcart up a couple of steep hills the next day.

The next day it was close to 90 degrees and they walked and pulled a total of 12 miles. At one point two men on horses came and took the boys away for the Mormon Battalion and the girls had to pull by themselves. The boys had to stand on the side and watch but couldn't help. I think it was harder on the boys than the girls. They really struggled with that. Then after they got the young men back and walked a few more miles there was a final steep hill that was almost impossible for them to get up. So we "angels" come out of nowhere, guys in white shirts with white a white tie around their hats and without saying any words they stepped in and helped pull the handcarts up the hills. The kids and the "Ma's" by then were so tired some of them started to cry. It was pretty touching.

The next day we did 8 pioneer games and one of them was pulling taffy. It was awesome.

I can say though I have had my fill of wearing the same pioneer clothes with no shower for 3 days. Thanks heavens God put me in the generation that didn't require that of me. I couldn't have worn my mascara and makeup for heaven sakes!! That just wouldn't have worked.

We lost our good photos for some reason but here are a few we took.



The area near Enumclaw where the trek took place.

Our "Taj Mahal" tent which was a little walk from the biffy! I actually quite enjoyed the camping though. It isn't bad with an air mattress and warm sleeping bag.

It is pretty rough camp ground when you were tripping over stumps in the middle of the night. After a while it is easier to find a bush!

The first of the trail when the kids didn't think it was going to be so bad. Little did they know!

President Tanner gave a little "Way to go talk" at the top of "Heartbreak Hill."

We are finished! Time to tear down the handcarts.

There is nothing as fun as being at home in Grandma's bed watching cartoons with the grandkids!

Life Changes

If there is one thing I have learned in my 39+ years it is that life is full of changes and adjustments. Some of them are good and some are very difficult. It seems our lives these past couple of weeks have had some very difficult changes.

Parents always worry about their children and pray for the very best for them. Somehow it seems parents are not the only ones who go through tough times, children do also which means parents worries just multiply the older your children get and the more grandchildren that come on the scene. Right now we pray hard for our oldest son and that things will work out for the good and that the changes he is experiencing will make him a stronger person. We are grateful for Erika and our three acquired grandchildren in that family.

It seems when changes and challenges come they also come in bunches. Last Thursday after 10 years at Grange Insurance and many excellent reviews, Richard's boss walked in and simply said things weren't working out and he was letting him go. There was no explanation and we probably never will really know why except it is pretty safe to say politics are alive and well.

So what do you do when you are 61, just a few years away from retirement, making a great income, and good benefits that take care of a wife who seems to run up medical bills as fast as health insurance and flex plan can pay them off. We have had to say to ourselves that somehow this has to be part of a bigger plan and we have to have faith we will find that plan.

We feel if we have to make a major change right now that we may as well make it in the direction of our children and grandchildren as well as a sister and brotherr-in-law that we have always loved and had fun with. Yes folks--after years of saying I would never move back to Utah I think we may be headed in that direction. Let's hope there is a ward somewhere that can handle and accept Sharon. I am just praying for a home with a view as nice as Nalani's and a much smaller mortgage than we have here.

If you know Richard you will not be surprised to know he already has our master closet torn apart in preparation for a major bathroom remodel. When we moved in 5 1/2 years ago we had not been in the house 24 hours before Richard had the master closet torn apart. Somehow I feel like I am having a dejavu moment.

Of course in preparation for selling the house we have to plant new trees to replace the ones we just paid somebody to take down!

What I will miss about Redmond.

The infamous master closet that now looks just like it did 5 years ago while we were trying to move in.

We even tore the office apart and decided it really was time to sort out our college books and give them away! (Just kidding but we have some pretty old books we need to get rid of!)

If I get discouraged when we move in to another house because it needs TLC I will just remember the "While You Were Out" project Richard did for me when I was away taking care of Quinn and Maile. I have to say I do have one talented husband and he has made every house we have lived in a beautiful home. He will again I am sure.

My Favorite Job of All--Grandma Sharon

There is nothing in my life that means more to me than my family. It seems I learn this lesson again each time a new grandchild comes into my life. Spending weeks taking care and helping with that new grandchild had its benefits and its drawbacks. The benefits were the blessings that come from rocking that child in the middle of the night and trying to program that little mind to believe I really am a cool Grandma:) The drawback was coming home and being very lonesome for him and my other children and grandchildren.

There was a time I believed parents who whined about their children moving away needed to grow up. Now I have grown up and I am whining about my children being far away. There were many years when I promised myself I would never move back to Utah because the way I perceived the mentality of the members there really bugged me. But the words of my Mother have come clearly into my mind over the last few months. She always said, "It is a tradeoff wherever you go. There is something better and something not as good wherever you choose to live--so bloom where you are planted." I didn't think I could bloom in Utah but I know there are good things that probably outweigh anything else--real or perceived. I find myself saying lately, "Well maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live in Utah closer to our grandkids."'

The problem is that as Richard would say, "If some of us is gonna eat some of us is gonna work!" And therein lies the problem. How do you get a good job equal to what you already have when you are 61? You hope for a miracle!!

The photos below are my favorite from Utah. And you notice they are all family.

Two of our favorite grandsons, Austin and Cash.

Kami--holding our youngest grandson with the next soon to be youngest grandson hidden behind Cash:)

Handsome son, handsome grandson--who knows--maybe he will soon have several of his own!

Cute litte Aaron Colley. He thinks we are his grandparents and we don't tell him any different. He is as cute as any three year old can be.

My honey. As cute as any 61 year old can be!

Then there's me. I'm 61 and not as cute as anyone can be but I am happy to be alive and be a grandmother.

Sharon on a Pioneer Trek? Get Serious!!!

Well tonight I was going to post a photo Richard took of me in my pioneer costume that Kami made for me. The costume is awesome--the photo of me not so hot!!! I promised Kami when I get dressed up for the kickoff fireside on Sunday night I would have Richie take another photo. This time I will turn my best side to the camera, try to hold in my stomach and maybe I won't hate the next photo quite so badly. Maybe I will put some makeup on and do my hair--now there's an idea!!



Yes it is true. Nobody told me until after I had agreed to be Stake YW President that this year is the year of the dreaded "TREK!" We march about 21 miles in 3 days pulling a handcart full of supplies up and down hills near Ellensburg. When I heard the up and down hills part I offered to cook for everyone! If that isn't bad enough we can't take deordorant or makeup or any of the comforts of home. Yea right! I'm glad Richard is coming along in his truck. I can hide a lot of makeup and toiletries in that truck! Along with an air mattress!



If that isn't bad enough the next month is girls camp and we all know how Sharon loves to camp. Actually it won't be so bad. Half the time I will be at High Adventure which is the fun adventure the 6 year girls get to go on. This year it will be at a stake member's home on Lake Ponderilles in Sand Point, Idaho. We will be doing lots of fun thing including hiking, visiting a goat farm where we will milk goats and make cheese. That night we bring the cheese home and make lasagna.



Who knows--maybe I will run in to Mark Fuhriman while I am there.I know he lives there because that is what they say when they introduce him on Court TV. When I see him I am going to ask him if OJ Simpson really killed Nicole. I think I know what answer he would give me.



I have to say on a more serious note how sad I was to hear about President Hinckley's passing. I have lived long enough to see David O McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter and now President Hinckley pass. Without doubt I think the church has mourned President Hinckley's death more than any prophet I have seen. There was just something about him that made everybody love him. He took the church leaps and bounds forward into the 21st century and made it a worldwide church. Whenever I get down and feel like I am not satisfied with my efforts I will think of him saying, "Just do your best!" And that is just what I intend to do.



I also have to say how grateful I am that Heavenly Father took him quickly when it was his time to go. When I first heard it I couldn't help but say, "Thank you Father for not making him suffer like my Dad and Mom did." I would not wish that on anybody. I just hope when it is my time to go there will be many people who can say they loved me as much as people loved him. How awesome would that be.

I Wanna' Go Back to My LIttle Grass Shack-----

40 Years on January 20th
He is Still My Favorite

Well it is the 14th of January in good old Seattle and last night it started snowing about 4 pm and quite shortly before midnight. That always makes for a fun morning commute and watching the news to see who has slid down the hill and taken out a fire hydrant and 3 cars along the way. I used to say, "Don't these stupid people know how to drive in snow!" Now I just sit home and wish my tires weren't quite so bald and my car so squirly on icy roads.

As I was sitting here the last couple of days working about 8 hours a day on YW, camp, High Adventure, Fashion Show, Ward Conference and etc. I am looking out the window of the office and thinking how much I truly miss Hawaii. After a month there I am having a hard adjustment. I told Richard that now I understood why he was so weird when he first came home from his mission and he stood at the picture window in Grandma and Grandpa's living room and cried! I have wanted to cry more than once.

Speaking of that as I was going through my Hawaii photos I found a couple of favorites I hadn't put on. Here they are.









I can honestly say there is nothing in my life I enjoy more than grandchildren.

I also love the fact the grandchildren love the aunts and uncles. I remember my Mom saying to me once when you reach this age there is nothing that brings you more joy than your family. She was so right.

In the next life I am going to be as agile as this guy. I am also going to be as ripped--or is it "cut" when it is a woman. I will take either.

I took this photo of my feet because I truly learned how much I love bare feet or flip flops and t-shirts. Yes it is true--Sharon who never leaves the house without her makeup and jewelry learned there is much more comfort in t-shirts and flip flops.




I have to say I believe this photo is my very favorite from Hawaii. This was the last night Maile and Nate and kids were there. We went to Ewa Beach where the guys were boogy boarding. Quinn was playing in the sand. There were a group of Hawaiians up in the park having a big party. When this little girl saw Quinn she came running down to the water--no parents anywhere and I don't think they were concerned. She was obviously very comfortable with the water. When she realized it was going to ruin her pretty little dress she just hiked the dress up around her waist and could have cared less than her under panties were showing. You could see in her face that this was one happy little girl that loved life. I used this photo in my ward conference yesterday with the YW.

New Years Eve In Hawaii is insane. This is video Richard took from our deck on New Years Eve. This is a party that was going on right next door and the houses on our block. I told Richard I know now why Hawaiians have small houses. They spend all their money on fireworks. Those guys really know how to do it up right.

I have to add in closing that I am so grateful for 40 wonderful years with a man who is a perfect gentleman, a loving husband, and a great father and grandfather. I have never regretted that decision I made so many years ago. Life has not always been easy but I have never doubted the rightness of my decision or my sweetheart's commitment to me, the gospel and to our family. I love you Sweet Richie:)

If anybody should wonder why I would leave Seattle to come to Hawaii for Christmas this is why!















A few days of the first week Nalani was nice enough to get me a room in the Ko Olina JW Marriott Resort. Whoa--talk about nice! One night I took Quinn with me to stay all night. We played on the beach and made sand castles. His most favorite thing though was when I ordered room service for him. When they brought the table in with all the glitz Quinn's eyes got as big as saucers. A few days later when we got ready to go to the beach house Quinn said, "Grandma when we get to the hotel we are going to will you order me room service?" I turned to Maile and said, "I have created a monster!"















The girls and I went Christmas shopping in the NEX (Navy Exchange). Cannon was getting pretty tired of the whole deal. He suddenly picked up a pink hat and plopped it on his head. I had to take this photo to irritate Nate. We all thought it was pretty funny!















No matter whose computer is out Cannon is going for it. The funny thing is he gets this look on his face that he it totally serious. You let kids do a lot of things when you are in a little space and trying to entertain them.















Christmas Eve Dad and Cody walked the block and a half to the Hawaiian Temple and took photos. This temple and the block that leads up to it is one of the prettiest I have ever seen. It just takes your breath away.
















Nate picked this flower Christmas Eve while we were at the Polynesian Cultural Center and put it over his ear. Check out the look in Nate's eyes--like "Not in this lifetime son!"















Christmas just wasn't Christmas without a tree. Kami transported hers and she and Quinn put it up so we could feel the spirit. It is pretty weird when it is 75 or 80 outside and you hear Christmas carols in the background and see Christmas decorations.
















My favorite gift on Christmas Eve. The bibs Kami and Ben gave us announcing a new baby coming in July. What better gift could I ask for!

And for Cody it doesn't get any better than a Home Depot gift card.

WE will have been married 40 years January 20th and he is still pretty cute isn't he.

Kole Kole Pass that is on an abandoned Navy Base here in Hawaii. You can only get on it with a military ID so Ben took us. It was awesome. This truly has been a great Christmas. It doesn't come much better than being able to spend time with your own family and the spouses they have chosen when you love them all.

Us on the beach.

Quinn standing on our deck. This is our view from our hotel room at the Ko'Olina JW Marriott Beach Resort. It was gorgeous.

Christmas Parade in Hawaii

We took Maile's boys to a Christmas parade on EWA beach. They loved the band, honking semi's and fire engines. Maile and I laughed at this one truck because the guy was obviously having a wonderful time honking his horn. He never took a break from it. He probably honked without stopping for about 5 minutes with a big grin on his face. We said that was a Jason moment for sure. He would have loved this parade and would definitely have done the same thing. Quinn's face lit up like a Christmas Tree when the huge fire engines came by. One pulled out because it was smoking. Maile turned to me and said, "Not a good sign when the fire engine has smoke coming out of it!" The last picture is hard to see cause it was from our camera phone. It's Grandma holding Cannon and sitting by Quinn.

To be continued............

A Bird in the Night

So you see that plate of beautiful pecan pull aparts below? Those were a source of great irritation to my sweet husband the other night. Those who know me know that for about the last year I have hardly slept through a single night. So sometimes when I can't sleep I watch television. Well the other night I was sick of television. So I decided to make a surprise for Richard. I decided it would be nice to have nice hot sweet rolls for him when he woke up. Wrong decision! The first thing that happened was I forgot to put a drip pan under the bundt pan. The sticky rolls decided to drop sticky stuff on the bottom of the oven and burn. When I opened up the oven to check the rolls black smoke rolled out. My first thought was "Oh crap! The fire alarm is going to go off. " So I quickly run to the double french doors and open them wide. I thought I was safe when suddenly there was a very loud noise from the smoke alarm. I am standing below it swishing it with a dishtowel hoping Richard has his good ear down when Jen suddenly appears at the top of the stairs and says, "Is everything all right?" I say, "Oh yea--I am just baking!" Then I hear footsteps of the giant and the giant is standing at the top of the stairs in his purple bathrobe going "What the heck are you doing!!! It is 4:30 in the morning!!" And I sweetly say, "I was just trying to make a surprise for you!" The giant was not amused. End of story? NOPE!

I go back in the kitchen just in time to see a bird fly in the house. Since I am a brilliant human being I decide to chase the bird with a dishtowel. Yes folks that white stuff is bird poop on my kitchen tablecloth.

Now the bird has my numberr and it decides to see how irritated it can make me without getting caught. So it starts playing hide and seek in the vines etc. etc. I have above the cabinets in the kitchen.After he got tired of the vegetation in the kitchen he decided to perch on the lamp in the family room. When I would get close to him he would fly off somewhere else. After 45 minutes I gave up. I know I am going to have to get the assistance of the giant. So I go upstairs and the giant has his good ear down. After almost yelling he wakes up and I say, "Honey we have a problem. There is a bird in the house. He grunts. I say "Well do you just want me to let it fly all over the house????" He grunts and says yes! HMMMMM. I don't like bird poop all over my house. I go back downstairs and get a bright idea. I turn all the lights off and unplug all the night lights. I turn the outside back porch light on. Sure enough--the bird makes a b-line for the light and I quickly shut the doors. Case solved--without the help of the giant!!
The next day one of my little friends at church asks Grandma Sharon if she can come over and make cookies. Being a sucker for little kids I said yes. The giant was much happier when there was a little girl in the house--especially one studying Hawaii and needing info on it. The giant taught her several corny songs and taught her how to move her hands like little fishies. Thank heavens for little girls.

PS--The giant did eat several of the sticky pecan pull aparts!

Flip House Finshed--Please Send a Buyer!

Well the house is finally finished--over budget and over time deadline--but hey--it is one gorgeous house!! Now all of you just pray there is a buyer that wants it at full price at this time of year. I must say though--we are proud of the way it turned out. Here are some of the photos. I didn't get any of the downstairs. I didn't stage that as much as the upstairs. The downstairs has a huge family room, a big laundy room, a big bedroom, a bath with shower and a room under the stairs that is perfect for a "Grandkids Cave" as I call it.


Obviously the outside from the street. Check out the red door. It is really pretty.


Check out this kitchen. Stainless steel appliances and gorgeous slab granite countertops which you can probably see better in the next photo. Also leaded glass in corner unit. The little Chinese lady gave us "bery good dweal" on the glass because--well basically--because she liked to bargain as much as we did.

Looking into the dining room from kitchen. Check out boxed wainscoating.

Is this not a beautiful living room or what:)

Family bathroom.

Master Bedroom. The closet you are looking at is an extra one we put in because it only had one closet.

Master Bathroom. It has double sinks and also slab granite countertop. This bathroom didn't even have a shower when we bought the house. They had taken it out and left it that way for two years. You could see the outside from this bathroom. Lots of dry rot and lots and lots of work on Richard's part.

Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Richard Play Grandparents

Since we can't seem to get any of our sweet grandchildren to live by us you know we are all in the process or borrowing a few from the ward. Monday was my birthday and we had two families with little girls come to the house to bring me potted plants and a candle. How fun is that! On Sunday night we had our traditional taco annual birthday dinner with David and the Bells. Lots of fun. Amanda came and brought a couple of friends. One was her roommate, Pamela Albertson, if any of you kids remember the Albertsons that used to live in our ward. We had all kinds of fun but poor Daurell was laying on the sofa or standing the whole time. Seems he slipped on some slippery rocks when he went fly fishing.

Richard invited one of our adopted grandkids, Jessica Blanding, to come over and help him make brownies and hot fudge for dinner. He enjoys that as much as I do.

Cannon is always busy. His favorite thing is to empty every single pencil, pen, marker, stapler, and literally anything else he can find in this drawer in the kitchen. After awhile you just give up and say, "At least he is keeping occupied and I know where he is."

Quinn's favorite place whenever I make anything is up on the countertop watching me. He asked me before he came if he and I could make my birthday cake together. So we did. Is it any wonder Maile waits to give the kids their baths until AFTER they have seen Grandma in the morning and helped with all her tasks?

If Cannon couldn't get to the drawer he waited until the pantry door was open and then made a dash for it. Do you know how fast a one-year-old can empty a pantry, at least as far up as he can reach. He scattered every cup and every napkin and anything else he could reach on the floor!

Hell Must Have Frozen Over--Sharon Updated Her Blog

One of the reasons I never update my blog is because I find it so *&^% frustrating. I upload photos and the gremlin eats them. I type words above a photo and they come out to the side of the photo. Blogs do not like me--but I am too stubborn to give up.

So yes--hell did freeze over and here is my update.

Our flip home is coming along really nicely. Our Brazilian, Anderson Lemes, has been just awesome at taking on a foreman responsibility this time around. We gave him a raise, pay him well, offer a bonus for completion by certain date, and he comes through. It's great. Richard and I have had to spend very little time actually at the house this time.

However, poor Rich has been over there most of this past week, again today, and will spend all day Monday there trying to complete things so carpet and floors can be installed next week. I on the other hand, claim a damaged vertebrae or injury directly to the glut muscle so there is no Sharon wearing a pink toolbelt over there. Richard is saying, "Why in the heck did I spend time and effort and money to buy you your own nice leather suede pink toolbelt if you aren't going to use it?" I just said, "Later baby!" I can see it now--Nalani and Cody are looking at each other going, "OOOOOOOOHHHHHH--that is sooooooooooooooooo grossssssssssssssss!!!


Doesn't the front yard look awesome? A racoon has been trying to dig up our grass and get worms from underneath but so far we are still winning.

This is the backyard. Everything that is done was Anderson's idea. He is really getting good.

Is this kitchen turning out wonderful or not? We found an old warehouse store right downtown Seattle run by a couple of Chinese women. Their cabinets are solid wood and beautiful. They negotiate a price for countertops, cabinets, installation etc. etc. and keep saying "I geev u my bery best deal Meester Oram!" And they do. These cabinets with granite slab cost us the same as the cabinets and formica countertops that we would have gotten from Ikea.

Stainless steel sink included as well as undermount bathroom china sinks.

Master bathroom vanity.

So Richard's niece and her husband, Noelle and Clark Rasmussen, visited us a couple of weeks ago. Their baby was 8 weeks old and just a doll. We fought over who got to hold her. Richard took this photo and was going to send it to his brother, Kent, the Grandpa, just to make him jealous. I guess he will have to see it here.

There is a little girl in the ward named Jessica Blanding. She has 5 brothers and is the only girl. For some odd reason she has decided she likes me. Every Sunday she comes and throws her arms around me and says, "Grandma Sharon can I come play today?" So last Monday I went and got her. I took her to see "Mr. Bean's Holiday" and then I brought her home and taught her to make hot fudge. Then we got a gallon of ice cream and took that and the hot fudge home for her family for FHE. See I have to borrow grandkids because none of mine will live by me!!

When Chelsi was here she spent the entire first week sicker than a dog laying in the Love Sac. So when she got better we had to make up for lost time. We ended up doing a day of site seeing and the last place we went was Seattle Center. We were hungry and I can't believe we did this but we actually took her and went to dinner at the Space Needle. Chelsi took this photo while we were eating.

Chelsi with her lemonade.

Grandpa and Grandma saying, "I can't believe we brought a grandchild to the Space Needle Restaurant." But she is worth it.

This was the first week. And she was as sick as she looks!

Once she got better she wanted to play with my Palm Pilot everywhere we went.

We told her this was Uncle Carl's favorite place in the whole world. The Hiram Chittendom Locks!

The END

Progress at Flip House #2

Hey ya all--you can thank Chelsi for this blog.

Today was the day Chelsi came to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for 10 days. I knew something was wrong when I was waiting for her to come from the plane and she saw me and was white as a ghost--and no big smile. Definitely not Chelsi. Seems she had thrown up twice on the plane. I had to almost carry her through the airport to baggage claim. She layed down on a chair while I found her bag and then we headed home. She told me she had drunk way too much milk yesterday. I'm thinking to myself that I remember Nalani being like a baby calf when it came to drinking milk but she never threw up. But then again--Nalani would rather have had her toenails pulled out than to throw up!


When we got home and the throwing up continued I started thinking this was more than a case of a little girl drinking too much milk. I think she definitely has a bad case of the flu which means I will probably get it about the time we are to leave for the family reunion in Blackfoot.


I finally got her settled down and thought she was going to sleep. At midnight I hear a voice saying, "Grandma I can't sleep because my stomach hurts. Can I sleep with you and Grandpa?" Knowing Richard had to go to work tomorrow I thought sleeping three in a bed was not going to make him cheerful in the morning. So we came downstairs and Chelsi is watching "Hanna Montanna" and I am updating the blog.


We have made great progress on the flip house. Well I should say the two guys that work for us have. We have hardly touched it this time. It's great. We offered them a bonus to be done by the end of this month and I think they will make it. The good news is I think we already have it sold. Paul and Jeannie Krumperman have looked at it several times and are really interested in buying it. He told me at church on Sunday we probably ought to talk price because they are definitely interested in buying it. We would do a buy/trade and then fix their starter rambler and sell it. Those seem to be pretty hot because empty nesters are actually starting to move in to little ramblers as they retire and young couples are also looking for them.


Here are a few photos of the progress.


Purple Bedroom Before
Purple Bedroom Painted Master Bath Before--the shower was also rotted and had been out for one year.
Master bedroom painted.

Richie before--saying to himself, "What the H was I thinking?"

Nasty living room--check out dog hair and pee all over carpet.
Living room painted.

Kitchen before.

Kitchen in progress.
Granite we are putting in kitchen. It is so cool. We found a cabinet and counter top place downtown Seattle that is awesome--Asians of course, and they were very helpful.
Nasty family bath. We have since torn it all out.

Downstairs family room before.
Family room all painted.




Entry way before. Once again, dog pee and rabbit pellets. You had to cover your mouth when you walked in.

Chelsi at entry way now painted and cleaned. It was the only time she stood up all day.


I'll keep you updated as we progress.

For Real--I Did Update Our Blog

It's true. I am finally updating our blog at 1 a.m. just a few hours before I leave to come see ya all anyway.

We have had an exciting few weeks. First we bought a ratty old house that was truly a trainwreck and are in the middle of a remodel. I will post a few photos as we go through this project. It has been much easier this time because we hired two guys full time and pay them well so they will work for us before they work for anybody else. That helps when you are in a time cruch to get a house done. We are hoping they actually end up doing most of the work this time and so far that has been true.

Here is what the yard looked like before we started. In the next couple of days I will post the yard now. It is truly amazing. The neighbors are starting to really like us (and our dumpster we have now emptied 4 times.

This was truly the most disgusting house I've ever seen. There was dog pee in every room as well as whatever was leftoverr from bunies and hampsters. YUK! The guys tore two bathrooms out and left the one downstairs for the time being but I told Richard I would be going home to use the facilities because my behind was not going to touch that toilet seat!!

However, one very fun bright spot in our summer was having our grandson Nathan Coleman come stay with us. It was really fun because we hadn't really had a chance to get to know him by himself since we didn't meet him until his mother, Erika, and Jason, got together about 6 years ago.

We discovered this kid was just the nicest and best mannered grandson you would ever want. He met several kids at church that he really liked and that he hung out with for the couple of weeks. We kept teasing Nathan that he would make the "nicest little Mormon boy". He agreed with that but wasn't as excited about sittng for over an hour for Sacrament Meeting although he loved Primary.

We did several really cool things when Nathan was here.

Grandpa took Nathan and a friend to the Mariner's games.

And lastly but also tons of fun was having our two little destroying angels visit this past week. Well they weren't really destroying unless you consider smashing Ritz Crackers in the back of Grandma's Lexus and rubbing ripe bananna on the floor. They are truly so cute though that I can't even get mad. I always remember what Richard's Mom used to say when we would go visit and one of our kids would do that. She would say, "Well the "things" aren't nearly as important as the "kids." She meant it too. She didn't complain. That's the kind of Grandma I want to be. My goal in life is to make each of them really believe they are my favorite so they too grow up and figure out I said that to all of them and then have to have counseling as Nalani did.

Cannon's first birthday==July 14th.

Maile also got to attend her old high school friends's wedding. Here is a photo of Andy the groom, Cory also a very good friend of Maile's, and Maile. I told Maile it is amazing to me those kids have all stayed so close since they graduated.

Darryl and Leslie Edmunds Baby Blog

Several of you have asked me how the Edmunds baby is. It was born 3 months early at 28 weeks. Leslie has been writing a blog and posting photos almost daily. You have to see it. It is awesome. Here is the address.

http://www.erynnann.blogspot.com/

First Annual Bell Girls Retreat Scheduled

Our first Bell girls weekend is scheduled for July 20-23. We will start Friday night and stay through Sunday night. Nalani is looking for hotels. Our options so far are St. George, Las Vegas, or Salt Lake. She is seeing if she can pull a few strings for Park City which would be awesome.

Mark you calendars if this is a possibility for you. It is meant as a no pressure thing--just come if you are able. When we get together we will talk about details for future ones.

Richie Returns to Hippie Days

So our ward activities committee decided it would be a lot of fun to have a 70's dance party with costumes etc. Here's something new I am learning about Richie. He loves to dress up. I have never really gotten a big kick out of that but my husband regresses back to his childhood Halloween days and has a ball. He actually won the prize at the dance for best costume. I thought I would share.

I cannot get poor Richard the right way in this photo. HELP! Well at least you can see his bright white legs which gave an added affect to his costume.

Richard really wants a wig like our friend here, Warwick Holder. So you all have a good idea for a future Christmas or birthday gift.

Bell Girls Weekend

By the way--Bell girls age 12 and up--that includes all girl cousins connected with a Bell girl--I am serious about planning a girls weekend. What do you all think, when would be a good time, and where would be a good place? Both Barb and Jana have mentioned before they think it is a great idea and time to do it with you all.

Why I Like Seattle in May

This is what I love about Seattle in May-you gotta love it!

I love to look out my kitchen window when I am working and see this view.

May15, 2007

Well Kami has been married for over a month and it is past time for me to thank my family for all they do and continue to do for Richard and I.

The wedding was so wonderful but the best part was that it was in the right place, to the right person, at the right time. We love Ben and like we say about our other children-in-law we couldn't have picked better if we had chosen ourselves.

I also have thought a lot since Dad's funeral about what is really important in life. I want to thank each of my brothers and sisters for the friends they are to me and for the support I always feel from them. I don't know if you all know but we did finally sell the investment home and it will close before the end of this month. I am convinced it is because of your support and prayers and those of all of our family that it finally happened. We also got some very good input right before the sale. We had 2 Realtors at different times tell us the house would have sold immediately if it had had 1 more bedroom. Note to self for future--don't buy another home unless it has 3 bedrooms and a den or 4 bedrooms. Don't put too high quality materials in it, and buy and finish it at the right time of year. Rich and I agree it is all a learning process and any time you start a new business there is a learning curve. I hope we have hurdled at least the worst part of that curve. We will definitely do it again but there are many things we will do differently.

Last I want to thank each of my children for the tremendous help they were during the wedding. I am serious when I say I could not have done it without them. I always know when things get overwhelming for me and there is too much going on I can depend on them to help me through. Maile and Nalani never stopped working on decorations, food, flowers, clean up. I had so many people tell me the flowers were the prettiest they had seen and wanted the name of my florist. I told them I had a great adopted daughter in Dallas named Karmen, her hard working sidekick Nalani, and a son-in-law whose middle name was "Fronk!" He let his feminine side show through and it really was something:)

Barb and I went over to Quincy a week ago and it all seems so different without the folks there. I thought how fortunate I feel to have grown up in a family of 8 children although at times it certainly had its challenges. There are not many people who have the privilege of having that many brothers and sisters and actually liking them.

I have to be honest and say I have been rather lonely lately. I really do miss my good friends at work especially since there aren't kids coming and going now. I miss my family and my children. But Richard and I have said there is no one convenient place to move because we are all so spread out. I think it is really time to get serious about our individual and also the big Bell family reunions.

I will try to do better now about updating this blog.

Love to you all--Sharon

April 29, 2007 Update!

Richard Writing - Sharon said it is my turn to update the blog! We'll see if I can actually do this. I am starting with the first of the year, 2007. This is a photo of the Space Needle fireworks from the roof of my office.

Here we have Gary, Maria, Sharon, Charlie and Kami in my office waiting for the fireworks.

The Bell's at Dad Bell's funeral. What a handsome family. I am sure Mom & Dad were looking in and smiling.

I was trying to get a picture of the family...but I kept getting this white-out notice on camera. Oh wait--that is only Uncle Carl.

My version of the whole famdamily! This is some wonderful people...and what fun we had at the event.

Especially dinners at the pizza joint. Did we ever get all of our orders?

What wonderful memories..the old homestead. My personal favorite is the year we had the family reunion there and all camped out on the lawn together. I think that is where the term "Nobody Sleeps" had its origination.

While the siblings were having their serious meeting, the rest of us were having a ball. So much so that the sibling got up and went to a "private" place. The hit of the afternoon was the "I've never" game.....

Since we seldom have anything going on in our lives, this year we have hosted a wedding reception for our friends the Gasser's, hosted a wedding shower for our friend Nicolene Kniskern and were the center point for all activities connected with Kami's wedding.

I'm certain that you will all remember our foster daughter that lived with us in Idaho, Jeniffer Jewitt. She came for a weekend visit a couple of weeks before Kami's wedding. This is the first time we have seen her since 1988. We had a really fun visit with her and caught up on her life. She is doing so well, and that makes us really happy. She graduated from college last year and works for the college now.

This is Sharon's faavorite photo that we have of he wedding. Cannon looks pretty happy for all the jostling he went through to get this tux on.

This is as close as we got to a photo of Quinn in shi tuxedo. I sure hope that someone else got a good picture of him.

I am not sure what they are looking at on the computer, but it looks to be pretty interesting and funny. I don't think Sharon & Pat approve!

Is that really all that is left of the candy?

I have about 65 photos of Ben & Kami opening gifts.....I decided not to post them all. Needless to say, they got hooked up.

You can see how excited everyone was about the "live" opening of the gifts! My, oh my, the excitement!

A few things I need to point out in this photo that the untrained eye would not catch...first and foremost, this photo was taken in Lancaster and the Petty home. Notice that Kami is not wearing her wedding dress. It was safely hanging in the closet at home in Redmond. No one thought of taking it to California! Now for those who know Sharon, wedding cake in the face is not allowed. "Its the height of tackiness!" Can you catch the eveil little twinkle in both Kami and Ben's eyes....yes, a real food fight!

On the way to do some sight-seeing at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles I took this photo. OK, Sharon posted one of me lying on the couch, so I am getting even. She loves driving around so much! Have I ever told you about having a cold dinner and a hot cook!

Happy times at the Getty Museum. If you are ever in Los Angeles, this is a must do. They have the most incredible collection of art, sculpture and interesting artifacts that date back to the 9th century. Plan on spending a day because it takes a long time to go through and read all the little signs. There are also beautiful sculpted gardens. The only cost is the $8.00 per car parking fee. No admission cost.

This is one of the most popular points of interest that we stopped at (frequently) on our trip home. We drove up the costal highway from Malibu to San Francisco. It was a beautiful drive with so much interesting scenery. Sharon was so exhausted that she slept most of the way. Waking long enough to find a restroom!

Scenes like this made the drive!

This is Mount Shasta from the Redding, California area. The drive from Red Bluff, CA to Ashland, OR is breathtaking.

Well, there you go, we are officially updated!

Love you all, and thanks for blogging!

Oram-Coleman

Oram-Coleman

Richie's in Heaven

Richard and I have been married for 39 years and we have not had one sofa in all those years that he could stretch out on. Wallah--enter 10 person sofa. Richie is in heaven!

If he isn't building something or working on the computer this is where you will find him.

My prized purchase from the Garment District. A leather designer (copy) handbag for $30!

We even found bridesmaid's shoes there. Cool! Carrie and Maile you will be so pleased they are open toes flats. Nalani--deal with it!

Malibu Weekend

When even Cody has updated his blog I know it is time for me to get with it.

Last week Richie and I left Wednesday evening to fly to sunny CA to spend time with Kami. Cody flew in the next morning and we spent the next few days having fun, taking bridal photos, wedding photos, and visiting places like the Garment District in downtown LA. Richard truly surprised me when he said the next day he would like to go back again. Carl he is getting more like you all the time.

We met "the folks" (Ben's parents) and I am happy to report there was not an urn with Grandma's ashes placed on the fireplace mantle. They were actually nice, good people! Let's hope they felt the same about us.

I will have to admit I didn't feel quite as safe in West Covina as I do in Redmond. But there are also some beautiful, peaceful areas around there. Saturday we drove up to Malibu to take the wedding photos. It was so amazingly beautiful. I could really get used to living in a home overlooking the ocean with a beautiful beach. I don't think it is going to happen to Richie and I so I will wait for one of the kids to hit it lucky and then I will just move in with them in my old age and be a pain in the behind to them. It will be the ultimate payback:)

I have to admit every time I spend time with the kids and/or family I realize just how much I am blessed. I couldn't ask for a kinder or more thoughtful sweetheart than the one I have had for more than 39 years. And I also realize how blessed I am to have the children I do. I am sure if we needed their help we could depend on any one of them at any time. I miss Pat and Carl and their kids as much as my own kids. We really did have hopes of Richard and Carl getting together in their old age and starting their "Two Old Farts Birdhouses" business.

Richard took a few photos so I will share a few with you.

I love this photo of a bird on the beach at Malibu.

Beach and ocean at Malibu. Not too far from Suzanne Sommer's home that burned.

Brother gives sister directions on how to pose for a perfect bridal photo.

Doesn't he look a little mysterious and like a hollywood star?

Kami at home with her perfect soldier. A cute story--a little boy saw Ben in his uniform at church and he came up and said, "Thank you for fighting the war for us soldier." It was so darn cute.

Two families meet. Ben's younger brother, Steve, is at the top of the table in the green shirt. He is so cute and so sweet. Ben's parents are at the end of the table across from me.

Since the wedding photos are being taken early they are a secret until the wedding. Thus I can only let you see their barefeet on the sands of Malibu Beach.

Looking down the beach at all the multi million dollar home overlooking the ocean.

Abbey Road Has a New Security Guard

Yesterday Richie came home from work and came tearing into the houselike a little kid. He yelled at me to come quick, he had something exciting to show me.

We ran outside and jumped in the truck and he drove me down to the entrance of our subdivision. He said, "Look, Abbey Road has a new Security Guard!" Somebody in the neighborhood had gotten pretty creative!

See you get excited about stupid stuff like this when you don't have snow very often:)

Snow in Seattle

Last night after my shift in the temple I got in my car to come home. It was snowing hard--which we all know it never does in Seattle. I took me 1 hour and 40 minutes for a trip that usually take 20 minutes. That's okay. I made it home safe and sound and I am sure it was only because of the man upstairs. I turned in to Canterbury (our subdivision) and the car would not go another inch. I parked it and walked the block home.

This morning as I look through my screened window in the office upstairs this is what I am seeing. You know though--it never snows in Seattle--just like you don't get wet if you jog in the rain:)