It's Official

Wesley is engaged! Wesley surprised Dana by going up to Idaho (where she is attending school), and popping the question and giving her a "sparkly". The plans are for a wedding in July. Dana came down and spend Christmas with us, and she is still willing to marry Wes. We didn't scare her off. We are excited about Dana joining our family, and looking forward to the coming Wedding.

Its Candy Making Time.

We had our annual candy making days, and finished up last night with the dipping of the peanut butter balls and the cream cheese balls. Of course Sara and Nora wanted to be right in the action. Nora was into it up to her elbows, once Sara got chocolate on her hands she was through.
Fun times had by all. It was a treat this year to have Aunt Janice join us. I hope she will come again. We also started our Family Twelve Days of Christmas. I hope that it will be fun for all.

Another Adventure

We took the girls to a "Members Only" Event at the Discovery Science Center. It was a lot of fun. They frosted cookies, made marshmallow snowmen, cut out a snowflake, saw a huge display of Gingerbread Houses. There were performers from the "Nutcracker" A show about Snow, and the reading of the Story "The Gingerbread man. Complete with a costumed character. Nora was braver than I had ever seen her before, she wanted her picture taken with the gingerbread man and Santa. Sara on the other hand.........

She's smart, just like her Mommy! (Daddy too)

I went to Nora's Awards assembly today. It has been awhile since I was at one of those! She received a "Rising Star" award. It seems to be the equivalent of student of the month. She gets a Pizza lunch with the principal with all the other children who are Rising Stars. She also had excellent attendance. And was recognized as an Accelerated Reader. That is her picture, the bright green apple, on the wall in the office. She is the first Kindergartner to have achieved this, she is the only bright green apple. Way to go. Keep working hard. It is so much fun to listen to you read. The pictures are with her teacher, the principal and the wall.

But Grandpa, I don't like Blue.......

We had Nora and Sara over Saturday morning while Holly and Sam met some friends for breakfast. So they had Breakfast with Grandpa.....which is turning into a culinary adventure for everyone involved.

Andy seems to like to put things in pancakes which traditionally belong other places. A few weeks ago he slipped in some chocolate chips. When Sara discovered this "stuff" coming out of her pancakes she said, "Grandpa, what is this yummy brown stuff in my pancake?" That success motivated Andy to put peanut M&M's in this particular batch. The reaction from Sara was quite different. Grandpa, I don't like blue.....We couldn't see the M&M's initially, but when I went to cut up her pancakes (no butter, just syrup), blue and red and yellow oozed out onto the pancake. She wouldn't eat them. Nora on the other hand loved the M&M's in her pancakes, even though they were peanut M&M's!

Sara did eat 3 large regular pancakes. That girl loves her pancakes.

Another Loss

Andy's mom, Wanda Anderson, passed on, this past Monday. She had not been well for sometime now. The last time she was in California was for Brad and Katie's Wedding in 2005.

We were so glad she and Clyde could join us in the temple for that special event. They came to Calif. for a lot of Christmases over the years, and it was fun to have them join in our festivities. Wanda made the best Sitfa ever. We tried to copy a recipe, but it was a smidgen of this, and a pinch of that, and how it felt to the touch, I wish we had practiced it. They were so good about coming for baptisms, graduations, mission farewells. The kids loved the fact that their Grandmother would keep the dishes done! They were temple workers in the Jordon River Temple for years, and served two missions, one to Florida and one in Hawaii. I think the thing I most admired about them was their devotion to one another. Clyde cared for Wanda as long as he could in their home, and she lovingly watched over him. We will miss her, but feel that she must be happier being able to move around again on her own. Her reunion with her father, mother and sisters I am sure is a joyous one.

You are on the waiting list!

Sunday dinner guests, yesterday, included my sisters, Janice and Lorraine. Nora and Sara love their aunts and we made sure that they could sit by them at dinner, instead of trying to get them to sit at a kids table. Before everyone else came, Nora and Sara were preparing a "Tea Party" in the grandma room. I got a lovely hand drawn picture as my invitation to the "Tea Party" and promptly posted it on the refrigerator. At dinner, Janice and Lorraine got their invitations also. We all were visiting and eating except Nora and Sara who wanted to get on with their "Tea Party" so I volunteered to go in with them and get started. Nora turned to me and said, "Actually Grandma, you are on the waiting list"!