Thanksgiving Day at Disneyland

We had a great time at Disneyland. I think it had been about 12 years since we were there. We met up with Kristin and Mike and their cute family. It was fun seeing Disneyland through the eyes of Children again. There have been changes since we were there. Andy and I got a season pass. Hopefully we can upgrade date night from Costco to Disneyland. Grandma is not setting foot on the Carousel again. It really goes fast! I had fun with the kids in Toon town while some of the adults went on some Blaster ride, that you won't ever get me on!

How Hard Can it Be!

I ask you, how hard can it be to get 4 really cute kids, to put on Santa Hats, and stand together in one place so Grandma can take a picture!

As you can see ... impossible! This year Sara didn't pull it over her head.

Thought you night like an update on The Project

The big kid grandma room is done! It is such a fun room. We have moved the TV upstairs and Andy and I can cuddle on the new couch and watch TV instead of being across the room from each other. Don't you just love the stripes! I think they turned out great. The curtains are temporary until I find just the right fabric or blinds.

We put the "breakable" Christmas tree upstairs to protect it from the littlest ones.

Traveling in the Car Pool Lane

Andy and I were on our way with Nora and Sara to the Discovery Science Museum, the Gingerbread night. When the Car Pool lane stopped and the car behind us didn't!! Thank goodness no one was hurt. The car on the other hand will be in the shop for a month! Andy is driving Emily's car. He misses his Satellite radio.

A year Later

We were finally able to get the Tablet placed on Mom and Dads grave. It was an interesting experience. I am sure the Cemetery Worker thought we were nuts when we placed our hand prints in the wet cement. Family Tradition, what can I say.

What a Day

The floor looks great. I am sure moulding and quarter round will hide the mistakes. We (Andy) watched the DIY Channel. We (he) thought we knew what we were doing. Thanks so much Brad, Holly and Wes. You guys are the greatest. Thanks to Dana, Sam and Katie, for letting us have them for a Saturday. I had a great time with the girls, I will be glad to get the Grandma room back together and useful again. Now for the curtains, paint all the grandma cupboards, paint and install the moulding, resort the Grandma toys, find a couch that fits, and move the furniture back in.....that's all that's left. It will be great!

Our Alaska Trip

I know you all have been waiting in anticipation of the pictures of our trip to Alaska. It has taken me this long to get them into the book, which ended up being 45 pages long. So here are some of those pages. The Glaciers are beyond description. The colors, the way they changed as the light changed. We cruised through Glacier Bay, went to the Mendenhall Glacier, and took a boat out to see the Portage Glacier. Each very unique and very beautiful.

The town of Ketchikan was lovely, the weather was very nice, and as usual, I was amazed by the beautiful flowers.

This is where we had lunch one day. It was like being in a tropical rain forest, only it was cold. When Andy sent a picture to work, no one believed he was in Alaska! This is one of the few pictures we have of us together. Always bundled up in coats.

The scenery on this train ride was spectacular. It was the route the gold miners took during the Yukon Gold rush. The train didn't operate then, they (the miners) walked the hundreds of miles. Andy is holding our traveling companions, Flat Nora and Flat Sara.

It was an amazing vacation. We saw such amazing scenery. I was reminded of the Primary Song. "....I am glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Father created for me."

The interior of Alaska was my favorite part of the trip, but it didn't take long to enjoy the service that is provided on a Cruise.

Thanks kids, ....our 40th wedding anniversary is coming up......or your dad's 60th birthday...that gives us a couple of years......It would be fun for all of us to go next time.

Grandpa time

We got him cleaned up before Brad and Katie came back. He has gotten wet before, but never played in the mud, much less ate it! They had packed extra clothes, they knew he would have Grandpa time.

Family Disaster

It was a normal Sunday afternoon at our house. We had finished family dinner and the regularly scheduled make the Chocolate Chip Cookie process began. We didn't have more that 1/4 cup of chocolate chips! Emily forgot to tell us she had made cookies while we were gone.....and we were OUT. I refused to let some one go Home Teaching at Bro. Albertsons, so Holly took the M&M's out of the Trail Mix, and Wes chopped up some mini Hershey candy bars left over from our last campfire. The other problem was the recipe was on the back of the package. So a quick text message to Emily to find out which box she stored her cook book in, and we were back in business. The cookies turned out really good. I have replenished our Chocolate Chip supply!

Some Wedding Photos

I am so far behind with all that we did this summer...So here are some of the pictures of the wedding. I hope to get the book finished this week. It was such a wonderful day.

We Went to Alaska

Andy and I went on a Land/Cruise Tour to Alaska for 12 days. The thing the surprised us the most were the beautiful flowers, and how breathtaking the scenery was. These are 2 pages from the Creative Memories Storybook I am working on. We took more than 600 pictures, and it is taking a while to get throgh all of them. Flat Nora and Flat Sara went with us. They will apear in future blog posts.

We Won!

I entered two pictures in a Discovery Science Center Photo Contest. This one in the category of "Grandpa and Me" I told the story of how Grandpa puts the girls on his shoulders and then goes over to the machine that tells you how tall you are. At first the girls wouldn't sit up straight, and they would only get to 6'10" (Grandpa is 6'4") but this last time it was 7'4". I took this picture. We went to the bubble exhibit and show they have each year, it is our favorite. Nora had so much fun after the show, trying to do the tricks that the bubbleologist did, and I loved this picture. So I entered it into the contest in the category of favorite exhibit.

Guess which picture won! We have 4 tickets to the Santa Ana Zoo. I didn't tell Nora I entered her picture, I didn't want her to be disappointed if we didn't win. Nora, when you have guessed I will share which picture won!

My beautiful Granddaughters

I share my granddaughters with Patti, who I have known for years. She is the girls Nana, and came recently from Utah for a visit. She is an amazing photographer, and has caught each of them showing their personalities. Sorry Patti, I had to "borrow" the pictures from your blog. This is our Mia, full of spunk and love. She gives great hugs, and her smile .... well lets just say it melts Grandmas heart. She is also a red head, with the personality that goes with it.

Our Sara isn't little any more. She is so grown up. Sara's favorite thing to do with me is read and cuddle. She looks so cute in her new glasses, and is always the first to give me a hug.

This one is growing up so fast. She is starting first grade, I can hardly believe it. She reads so well. It is fun to introduce her to new books. It is always fun to have a special Nora, Grandma day. Last time we made mini muffins, it was Nora's idea to put Chocolate Chips in them. They were yummy.

Now if Patti had only gone to visit Brad and Katie, I would have had a great picture of Kyle too.

The Smiles Say it All

Yesterday my baby got married. He hates being called my baby. But he is, and I watched him turn into a husband, which is a very different Wesley than I have seen before. Wes was all smiles from the moment he brought Dana into the Sealing Room of the Los Angles Temple, to the unwraping of his car as they left the reception. It was a magical day. Our family was all, for the first time, in a sealing room together. Each time they asked for grandparents, there was a stab of pain, but I think they were also in attendance with us. We already love Dana's family, and the beautiful girl they raised that is putting a smile on Wesley's face.

Happy Birthday Vaughn (Von Ray)

I have enjoyed going through old pictures these past few months. So I wanted to say Happy Birthday Baby Brother. Hope your day is wonderful. You were such a happy kid. The pictures brought back fun memories. Love to you.

Happy 4th of July

One of my very favorite pictures. Our country needs our leaders, and ourselves on our knees during this very troubling time. A friend of mine Cal Greer wrote a song called "You stand tall when you kneel to pray" I found a lot of truth in that phrase.
On another note, grandma forgot her camera, but we had a fun 4th. We went to Holly and Sams for Dinner, and then that evening a lot of friends, and fireworks, and food. Hooray for Root Beer Floats! It was fun being the guest. Sams dad brought 2 sets of ear phones, which made the noise less for Nora and Sara, and they enjoyed the evening too. Thanks for inviting us!

Attempted Hair Cut

This was the first try at giving a squirmy 1 year old a hair cut. Next time Emily and Brad will team the process. Isn't he just cute!

Fun Day

No Pictures, cameras were banned on this outing, and now I am sorry that was the rule. My four favorite girls and I went to Glen Ivy Hot Springs, (thanks to a generous Christmas gift from Andy). We had a great time. Holly, Emily, and Katie had all been there before, but Janice and I were Glen Ivy Virgins. We smeared ourselves with mud, sat in the Jacuzzi, had nachos for lunch, went to the water aerobic class, had delicious smoothies, boiled in the Roman tub, and steam room, laid out in the sun, and thanks to 80 sun screen, did not get burned....I think Holly made it too. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and warm. It is a great place to people watch. The "Red Hat" ladies were there in hilarious cover ups. They were the hit of the day. I really liked the water aerobic class, maybe I will find a local one. Of course we stopped at Toms Farms on the way home, they have the best candy. I got home a few minutes before Andy did from work. We chatted for a few minutes, I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 4am. Wonderful Day! Thanks Andy for the great Christmas Gift!

Congratulations Emily

We are so proud of Emily. She received the Outstanding Fashion Retail Graduate Award. She will be Graduating from Cal Poly Pomona in a couple of weeks with her Bachelors degree, she now has a Fashion Design Degree, Cosmetology, Notary, Real Estate Licence, and Balloonist. She can do it all. Except cook.....culinary school next? She plans on heading out to New York, with the money from this award, to pursue her dreams. I can't even express how proud we are of her. She has worked really hard, and even studied hard. We know she will succeed at what ever she wants to do. We love you lots. I will even miss you. I have plans for your room!

Remembering Dad

I have been going through pictures for the past few months, It has been an emotional walk down memory lane. A lot of pleasant memories. One of my favorite memories of my dad were the wheelbarrow rides. He didn't always go slow, sometimes we got a "bumpy" ride. But that was only when I was in the wheelbarrow by my self. I am sure my sibs got their own bumpy ride. I remember mom putting my hair in french braids, and it would stay that way for days! Dad always worked hard. The rock garden in the back became a cactus garden that one of by sibs "whiped out" in on their bike. Its been 15 years since my dad died. I miss him every day.

No new words today

It cracks me up, that as verbal as Nora is, I get out the camera, and she no longer shows off her amazing vocabulary. But, we do have fun on grandma, Nora day. I love to hear her read, and now that she is old enough to understand the rules, we have fun playing games. She is to kind when she plays Monopoly, and thinks I am going to lose though. I smile all day when the grandkids are around.

Sara Speechless?

Sara just chattered on and on about her beads and the patterns she was putting together.I get out the camera, and the child couldn't speak. It is always so much fun to have a Sara Day, and a Nora Day. Some times I have had a Kyle Day. Mia.....a couple of hours...maybe.

I was laughing too hard

It has been so hard to get a picture of Kyle smiling. He is not a fan of the camera, so when he started to wave so enthusiastically, and smile too, I grabbed the camera but was shaking with laughter as I held the camera; I will have to try again. Too fun.

Delightful Hour

I just spent the most delightful hour on the phone with my oldest Granddaughter. I have been sick, so haven't seen the grand kids for over a week, and I am going through major withdrawal! She had commented on my blog and wanted to make sure I had seen it. She had commented on Sam's family blog, and wanted to make sure I had seen that one. I heard all about school, and Mia knocking down the things they were playing with, I heard about the new friends she is making. She told me about a nearby park with a slide she has to hang on as she goes down. I am smiling, it was the best hour of the week. Grandma loves you too! Can't wait for the next Nora Grandma day!

Bee's

On Thursday, we saw a few bees out front of the house, on Friday there were a few more. So Andy decided to try a Wasp Killer, he arced it perfectly into the hollow column and out came hundreds of angry bees. A quick call to an exterminator, brought a guy with a full bee suit and a lot of foam. No pictures of him in action. We stayed in the house with the doors and windows shut tight!

Fun times

For the 3 people who look at this blog you have probably been missing pictures

of my beautiful grandchildren. So here they are.

I wish this picture had sound. Mia was laughing hysterically at a puppet show Nora was doing. She is crawling. Grandma has to vacuum and sweep again.

This is our family picture. Nora drew it.

Can you pick out Grandma and Grandpa? We are in the center!

Also in the picture are Holly and Sam and Nora and Sara, and assorted animals at the bottom. Nora has a story to go with every picture Kyle gets to come and play with Grandma when there is a baby sitter problem.

He is so cute. All the clutter in the picture behind him has now got to go.

Both he and Mia are crawling,

Kyle heads for the cords and outlets, Mia picks up every thing on the floor.

These two little stinkers conspired with grandpa to make a trip to the Donut store if they would sleep in until it was light outside. The bribe worked and Grandma took a long soak in the tub!
I told Andy, just get 3 donuts......for an accountant the man just can't count!

This is what makes me happy. I am so blessed.

Happy Birthday Mom

1950
1958

1956

Happy Birthday Mom. We miss you.

Awwww

Today I had a Dr's apointment not to far from Holly's house. We met and I got Sara alone for a couple of hours. As we were driving to my house I asked her what she wanted to do for our special Grandma and Sara time. "Oh grammie, I just want to read and cuddle". We had so much fun!

Happy Birthday Sara

There is nothing like having a birthday when you turn 3 years old. Everything is amazing and exciting. Sara planned her birthday party, picked out the menu....Mac and Cheese, Cheese Pizza, and Rice and Cheese.....do you see a theme here......and her parents call her mouse. She had a party at the park with crafts, food, lunch and a pinata! The family gathered, and her "Fairy Godparents" the Johnson's joined us. The bottom picture is Trisha after the girls had played beauty parlor, it looked funnier in real life.....Trisha always looks great! So Happy Birthday Sweet Sara, we love you!

Can you hear me sigh!

We attempted, and attempted is the operative word here.......to get a family picture taken this Christmas. We set a time, we planned, we even smiled. This one was the best one.....I don't want to replace the one at the top of this blog, but as you can see we have added a few people to our family! I should publish all of them. They are pretty funny, we are not a family that does great pictures.
How come it is me that is hiding this time. Oh well, maybe when Wes and Dana get married we can try again.

Four Generations

Grandpa Anderson joined us for Christmas Festivities this year. It was fun to have him join us.

He especially seemed to enjoy the great grand kids when they came over. We took the opportunity to have 4 generation pictures taken.

Here are the Girls with the Grandpas.

Clyde, Nora, Holly, Mia, Andy and Sara

Here are the boys!
Clyde, Kyle, Brad and Andy

My brother Andy

(I think I found the picture you were talking about...)

I have been putting off posting this trying to find a really good picture, I can picture the picture, but can't seem to find it. It is a picture of Andy, with his brother Andy, aka, Gordon and Myron. It was taken at Wanda's 80th birthday party. Andy's brother Myron passed away suddenly on Sunday. We had just seen him at Wanda's (Andy's Mom) funeral last month. He was complaining of some back pain, and we all teased him about playing to much golf. When I first met Myron, my first thought was...Wow what a handsome man. Then I took another look at the brother I was marrying and realized that they looked alike, Myron was just 10 years older. So I knew that my Andy was going to age beautifully. His eyes twinkled when he smiled, and I never really knew for sure when he was teasing. I loved the clothes he wore, they were never traditional, but always classy. I will be careful this weekend not to introduce myself as Andy's wife, in Utah I am Gordon's wife. We will miss our brother Myron, Andy.