One Year . . .

It was a year ago today that my remarkable Grandma was blessed to leave this earth and peacefully return to her loving Father in Heaven and her eternal sweetheart plus countless other beloved family and friends.  I miss her!  The holidays were hard without her.

I found this picture taken of the both of us.  If any of you know Granny you would probably try to deny this could be her.  Her hair was her pride and joy.  NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE was allowed to touch it, breath by it and rain was something to fear.  I wish I could remember the history behind the picture.  Why did she consent to wearing the mask?  When were my chicken arms replaced with the old lady variety?  Was the gold couch ever really in style?  Will she forgive me for posting this picture of her on the world wide web which is an evil abomination in her mind?
To a classy lady who I learned so much from.  I miss you.  I miss your treat cupboard.  I miss playing on your old white fence.  I miss the Andy Griffith Show.  I miss having you climb in my twin bed with me in the middle of the night.  I miss your silk nightgowns which were always TOO revealing when worn by grandchildren you were trying to dress in proper sleeping attire.  I miss your passionate hate of republicans.  I miss putting coins on the rail road track just waiting for them to be run over.  I miss going to Mini World and Fritzi's.  I miss having melted cheese sandwiches which to this day only tasted good when made in your home.  I miss asking you for a piece of gum.  I miss all of the meals you cooked which were so nutritionally balanced.  I miss the funny shaped pillow you slept on for so many years to minimize damage to your hair.  I miss your handicap parking pass.  I miss going to The Serve.   I miss being called a "spoiled little shit."  I miss shopping with you.  I miss eating twist cones from Fros-T-Freez while listening to you and your friends gossip while we drove around town.  I miss hearing you tell stories about Fountain Green, which was almost as perfect as the biblical city of Enoch.  I miss your homemade candy.  I miss watching you sweep/sweep with a towel/mop on your hands and knees/dry with a towel the kitchen floor while you cuss me for trying to come inside the door I have been trained to use.  I miss hearing you cuss the referees for making a "bad" call against BYU or the Jazz.  I miss hearing the story of Etta Mae Ras %*#,the story of grandpa kissing the girl in the movie theater who had a big enough bosom to knock him unconscious or you chasing my dad with a hair brush.  I miss your phone calls telling me what a perfect posterity you have.  I miss your smell.  But most of all, I miss having you tell me you love me, that I'm one of your most prized possessions and more importantly, your actions radiated this love.  I love you Granny.  Thanks for being you!  I hope I can become more like you each and every day.

Devona Iona Hansen Sperry

February 6, 1925 -- January 3, 2009

What a beautiful "Dash"

Halloween -- a day of the year

One of the most successful parts of today . . . I actually got a picture of KYLER dressed up in his costume.  A personal, one-on-one shot - without ugly backgrounds, with ALL of the costume and even one or two bonus pictures with his sisters.  I know when I describe it, it really doesn't sound that hard but for some reason, in Halloween's past, the day ends and I have once again failed miserably.  This would really be a cause for celebration IF I had done a better job with the other two children in the family.  Their pictures were taken, should have had potential, and there are one or two I can use but . . . the dreaded but word.  Andy and I finally invested in a bigger memory card.  It took me a while to get with the time before I realized better options were available and I wouldn't have to sell a child or go into extensive debt to no longer have my camera flash "card full."  Seems like a win, win kind of deal except for the fact that our camera hates the new card.  It seems to have TOO MUCH storage potential and the amount of pictures remaining doesn't have a thousands place, it now flashes 999.  This seems to make it so many of the pictures are corrupt and the shots you thought you took don't seem to exist.  The pain of technology I guess.  With all that said . . . 

Halloween 2009

A spider princess, indian maiden and pirate

She is just missing a tomahawk, then she would be really dangerous.
Keanna was extra creative one day at work and accessorized her costume -- complete with a crown.  The only problem with her efforts, they were made from construction paper which doesn't have much durability . . . it survived the parade at school but that was all.
Isn't he soooo cute.  I forgot to add earlier the only reason he finally complied with having his picture taken was the promise I would let him jump in the pile of leaves Andy had been raking after we were through.  Nothing wrong with bribing a pirate in my book.
And the promised pile of leaves.  I only got to take about two photos before Kyler couldn't resist picking up a handful and throwing it over his head into his sisters' faces.  By the way, the sisters did realize leaves don't smell good and maybe there are bugs . . . 
My personal success for Halloween: Two batches of Puffed Rice Balls (Andy actually took a picture of me making them but back to the corrupt problem).  They didn't turn out near as good as Granny's -- I think I cooked them a little long but they were edible and it was fun to share a little of her with so many of the people who are used to receiving this Halloween treat.  This was also one of the hardest parts of Halloween -- we always spent an hour or so at her house.  My girls like handing out the candy as much as they like getting it and she lived in the center of Nephi's trick-or-treat capital.  They loved to answer her door and make a tally mark so Granny could keep track of how many trick-or-treaters she had had that year.  (We were home for 34 trick-or-treaters of our own.  Taylei had to keep track even though we weren't there long.)  It just goes to remind you, our children, grand children or in this case great-grandchildren are watching and learning from us . . . what is being taught?

More Room Needed

My mom and dad purchased a Suburban almost 9 years ago.  The main reason behind the purchase was a family vacation to Yellowstone.  Taylei was the only grandchild and the whole family would be able to see all the sights together.  There are now 16 (maybe almost 17) members of the family and there is no way we can all cram together - well maybe we would but with seat belt laws and the amount of space a car seat takes it just isn't going to happen.

In the years that have followed, the Suburban (its official name) has served other purposes -- mainly as a tool for shopping.  The shopping trips usually consisted of me, my mom, Diane but we are missing the main reason for all of the Saturdays spent "up north" - Granny.  She loved and lived for a trip to the mall or store.  In November, when I took her to Provo to get her hearing aids, she hadn't been to a store shopping since her heart attack.  This was almost four weeks previous.  I offered to take her to the mall, to Costco, to Walmart etc. but she said she didn't need a thing.  This is when I realized how unhealthy she really was.  It really has been hard to have a reason to go shopping without her.  This was the first trip we have made since her death - but man, we did it right.  The unwritten rule seems to be that the shopping trip isn't over until the Suburban is full.  By full I mean, you can't fit one more thing in the vehicle.  The most perfect example of utilizing all space is the playground in my back yard.

This playground was purchased at Costco.  It was loaded into the Suburban.  My mom was shopping with Granny and Diane when she found it.  Playgrounds were pretty hard to come by at that time.  My mom is amazing and a believer that all things can be done with faith.  She purchased the playground and the wonderful Costco employees got it loaded.  It did come in boxes but they were NOT small boxes.

Well, on Saturday my mom and I left early to shop the Macey's case lot sale.  I had a pretty desperate need to restock a few items which we had used during our January "Not shopping for the whole month" spell.  Cabela's was also having a great sale on some chairs I have been coveting for over 9 months.  We ended up with 8 chairs plus our case lot items and some other miscellaneous purchases from Cabelas.  By this time the only spot left for my mom to sit was right next to me.  We should have headed home at this point but we hadn't made it to Costco.  Andy had requested some salsa that is only available there - plus if I purchased it I might be in a little less trouble for not quite being home on time.  We went in to purchase the salsa and some frozen chicken.  We came out of Costco with $600 salsa and chicken (which includes a few more items that weren't on the original list).      

I had to take some pictures so everyone could see just how much the Suburban can hold.  We are technically missing a few items from the front seat.  When I ran inside to get the camera my mom didn't think she could leave the car empty handed.  

I always cuss the Suburban when I drive it.  The steering is horrible.  Windows and doors only function with proper love and affection.  The heating only works on occasion - this tends to only be a LARGE problem when you are driving in a snow storm and have to have some form of air blowing so the windshield doesn't freeze up and it is already 20 below outside.  But, it sure can hold a thing or 600 and there are only really two drawbacks to this -- you spend more money and you have to unload the items and put them away.  I'm sure I'll cuss the suburban for years to come but in the end it does serve a wonderful purpose.

The Fun--eral

Granny's funeral was held on January 9, 2009 at Noon in the Nephi North Stake Center.  It was a such a beautiful funeral.  So often it seem like speakers speak 10-15 minutes longer than I want to hear them.  This didn't happen at Granny's funeral.  Her children were the speakers and each one of them did a wonderful job, each of them shared insights into her life and what they learned from her.  Granny had class, a fettish for cleanliness and a delightful personality that inspired so many.

In preparing for the viewing and funeral, I decided there were a few things I needed to do for Granny -- I guess my last acts of service to her.  For the last few weeks she was alive she wanted to have her nails done.  At one point in her life she wore acrylic nails, this went on for years.  Her nails were starting to split and she was hoping this could help them.  As part of our Juab Title Christmas party, Granny was given a gift certificate to have her nails done.  She was planning on having the appointment the week after the baby blessing, well, it never happened. One of my friends, Tracy Tischner, painted her grandma's nails after her death.  I guess this gave me the determination that I could do it as well -- you know, if Tracy can do it then I can do it too.  I got to go to the mortuary and do this for her.  It wasn't as weird as I had expected and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to do so.

The second thing I decided I wanted to do was make puffed rice balls to hand out at her viewing and to be served at the funeral luncheon.  Granny loved to give out puffed rice balls, usually for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day.  This last year she didn't get them made, she thought "you couldn't buy puffed rice anymore."  I think that some of the real reason might have been that she couldn't do it on her own and she didn't want to bother anyone. . .  Well, I have some friends who are always so willing to help anytime I have a screwy project -- these are friends that I am so grateful for.  Susan Allred, Trina Baker, Tracy Tischner, Lori and Kayla Veater and Lisa Woodland all came to cook, ball, wrap, cut ribbon and tie bows (did you know that if you tie a bow backwards it looke prettier?).  We made nine patches the first night and because I was so worried about running out we made two more the next night.  In all, we had over 570 rice balls and they were all given away except for about 20 that made it back to my parents house and were gone by the next morning.  I heard many comments about it was the first time they had ever gotten a treat at a viewing - it may be a fun trend to start and we can say it all started with Granny.
My parents have been dealing and coping and coping and dealing.  It has been really hard for all of us.  She was a part of our everyday lives that I am missing -- like maybe she is just on vacation for a few days and she will be returning home soon . . . My sister, Diane, went with me to to mortuary to do the nails - we arrived at the same time as Dorothy Sperry - my granny's weekly hairdresser for as long as I can remember.  She was coming to do her hair for one last time.  It had been set in different size curlers and not in the normal fashion so it took her quite a while to get it to look "normal."  She asked us to wait with her while she worked so she could know that we were happy with the result.  While we waited, my mom and dad brought Kyler to the mortuary, telling him that they were going to see Granny.  Kyler had been told for the past few days that Granny had gone to live with Jesus.  When they pulled up to the mortuary he looks at both of them and states and questions at the same time, "This is where Jesus lives?" He kept trying to see in the backrooms - trying to see Jesus.  He saw her in the coffin and also let us know that she hadn't gone anywhere, she was just asleep.  I need to learn how to explain things just a little better but on the other hand, he is just 3 and you shouldn't have to know a few of things until you are a little older.
The sun was shining but it was bitter cold outside.  When we opened the door to go to the cemetary (which is in fact within walking distance) we retreated quickly to a part of the church not effected by the brisk winter wind.  I asked Andy to drive me in the car so we could be protected from the chill for as long as possible.  The Nephi City grounds crew had gone to so much work to make it nice for us  - - the snow had also been shoveled around the gravesite as well.  I was honored that Andy was asked to be a pallbearer and my uncle Dennis gave a beautiful dedicatory prayer.

I'm certain I have never seen all of my brothers/husband in a suit together.  They really are a handsome bunch - - if we could just find a girl that felt the same about Uncle Paul - maybe the next suit occasion could be at his wedding.
This is all of us.  It isn't the best picture in the world but the lighting in the church's cultural hall is not too impressive.  And, for the record, I do love my family and I'm so glad we were chosen to be together as a family - we don't always get along on the surface but deep down we all know we would do whatever we could to help that person.  

Granny - Just the name says it all

Devona Iona Hansen Sperry Bailey

February 6, 1925 to January 3, 2009

This is my grandma, and the last grandparent I had left on earth until last Saturday when she returned to live with Heavenly Father.  I don't even know where I could start to pay tribute to her.  I'm sitting in my bed with tears rolling down my face.  My grandma was one of my very best friends.  She loved me - she told me she did all of the time.  She also called me "a little shit" which, when interpreted means that she loves me and appreciated me taking the time to tease her and be a part of her life.  

I loved my other grandparents so very much as well but they have been gone for quite a while.  I grew up (and still live) in the home next to my grandma and grandpa Ewell.  I grew up eating homemade bread and hot cereal.  I remember back then how I just wanted to have some white, fluffy pre-sliced bread and I would have died to have gotten to eat sugar cereal, now I would give every paycheck for a year to be able to eat those things but I would especially like to have potato cakes and milk toast along with grandma Ewell's whipped honey.  Grandma Ewell made the trip back to heaven in February 1987 - I was just 11.  Grandpa Ewell was so patient and kind.  He had several black walnut trees which I regret to admit have almost all died.  It was quite a process to get to the nut so you could eat it.  Most nights you could find him shelling them while sitting in their family room watching "Hee Haw."  Now, even though I am deathly allergic to those nuts I would love to sit and help him crack and shell them on his silver cookie sheet, especially if I could use his tools.  He never really had much to say but always had a positive attitude.  Grandpa finally got to join his sweetheart in January, 1992.

My grandpa K.J. also died in 1987 - May.  I honestly don't know how my parents survived it.  The pain from losing granny is so great.  I regret to say that my grandpa would probably be quite disappointed with me.  He loved social studies - I think that I new all of the states and their capitals better 22 years ago than I know them now.  He would always quiz me and I wanted to make him proud so I did my best to know them.  I also miss the bear trap and being walked on plus all of the old tv classics we would watch during his lunch break -- I Dream of Genie and The Andy Griffith Show are the two I remember best.  I miss these grandparents but I have lived a lot of years without them.  Granny was a part of my everyday life.

Granny in so many ways shaped and molded me into the person I am now.  One of my first memories is going to Disneyland with her and grandpa.  I'm really not sure why I got to go but what a grand trip it was.  The moment that stands out most is dining at the restaurant inside of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride.  All of my cousins were "speaking" who got to eat the cherries off of the milkshakes.  I didn't want to be left out and I spoke for one as well; it was GROSS!  I still hate them to this day, every few years I will try one just in case my taste buds have changed but they are still GROSS!  Maybe this is why I hated granny's fruitcake.  I tried to tell her it was disgusting every year and she should spend the time making something delicious (ie. caramel, fudge, divinity) and I vaguely remember the days when she dipped her own chocolates.  I would have sworn for quite a few years that caramel came out of grandpa's movie projector.  I really thought that while we watched the old home movies it was also making caramels.  I have no idea how that would have fit together but it did in my mind.

Another memory from her old house is of her mopping the floor.  I would walk to her house after middle school to see her.  I would often be barred from coming in because she was in one of her 4 stages of mopping.  For those of you who don't know what these were, first you had to sweep the floor.  Second, you would sweep the floor with a towel at the base of the broom.  The third step: mopping the floor with a bucket on your hands and knees.  Then, to make sure the floor shined, you had to use another towel to dry the floor.  She was a serious clean fanatic.  She would complain that her house was so dirty and I would always think to myself how I wished my house could be as clean as hers when it was in her "dirty" state.  She prided herself in the fact that when the carpet layer came to her home to install new carpet most homes would have a lot of dust/dirt on the concrete when the old flooring was removed but the carpet layer would always comment on how her floor was clean.  Maybe some day I will learn to vacumn that much but for now I'm just going to pretend that each family is only allowed so many vacumnings in a lifetime and she ran out of her allotment and had to use some of mine.

Granny loved phone calls.  Nothing made her day more than when a friend or family member would call her.  She loved to talk but hated to pay the phone bill for her children who were long distance.  I think it was one of the greatest days of her life when Qwest made an unlimited calling plan for a set price each month.  She could now talk 100 minutes or 10,000 minutes and the price would be the same.  Granny soon got call waiting as well.  I hated this.  You would be in the middle of a phone call with her and her line would beep.  It didn't matter what you were talking about, she always took the other call.  Her eyes were bad enough at that point that she couldn't see the caller id but she was always so excited to find out who may be on the other line.  She wouldn't ever call you back either.  I'm sure she got distracted -- she was always either cooking or cleaning.  I'm going to miss those phone calls.  I'm going to miss being told about her "perfect" posterity.  Granny was the eternal optimist.  None of her family could ever do wrong and she spoke so often of how much she loved me.  That I was one of her most "precious possessions."

Granny taught me how to shop.  This was her most favorite past time.  I really shouldn't say that on authority.  She also loved to go "drinking" or "coking" with her friends.  In today's world, both of these terms conatate something bad.  Granny 's coking/drinking went something like this: Call a friend on the phone, check to see who they may have already talked to and who would be going with that day.  I never really figured out how they decided who would drive but it seemed to rotate quite evenly.  After all of the friends have been picked up they would head to a burger joint to get their "comeback cups" filled.  They seemed to find out what burger joint had the best price or best flavor of coke and they would frequent that establishment until a rumor would come along that there was a new bigger and better.  Granny had very specific orders of how she wanted her coke prepared.  These orders would change from time to time (the amount of ice, with or without lemon, diet coke or the hard stuff, coca-cola classic).  I know the ladies who worked at these places got to know granny and friends because of the frequency of the visits.  After their cups were filled they would drive around town and gossip about who was building where or the health of another person - sometimes I'm sure they even got it right.

Back to the shopping.  Granny was always so nervous at the BYU football and basketball games if the Y was losing.  It was always the officials officiating the games that "cheated" the Y out of the win.  I remember going to football games with her and walking the bottom of the stadium as if it were a track as soon as BYU fell behind.  Other times, Grandpa would just drop us off at the mall and we would shop while he went to the game.  If you asked Granny the price of any shirt she has hanging in her closet she could tell you.  And, it was either a bargain - marked down and she got it as a special OR it was extremely good quality and even though she paid way too much for it it was worth every penny.  Even when Granny lost her eyesight and then had a difficult time walking she still wanted to go shopping.  Our family eventually learned to find wheelchairs so we could push her around.  This embarrassed her for a short time but then I think she realized she wasn't quite as exhausted afterwords and so she began to happily climb in.  When she got her handicapped parking sticker from the doctor she guarded it with her life.  I will admit that it came in handy on quite a few occasions.

Granny made the most delicious foods.  For years growing up my favorite food in the whole world were granny's creamed mushrooms.  When we got to her house for Sunday dinner and they were on the menu, I found out as soon as possible who else was going to be attending.  I learned which cousins also liked creamed mushrooms and if they weren't coming then it would mean more for me.  I wanted to learn to make all of the foods that Granny makes but if you ever tried to cook with her you would learn that she may follow a recipe a little bit but she mostly cooks by taste, smell and feel.  I dreaded her passing and that all of her "extras" would go to the grave with her.  My cousin, Ambra, took on the monstrous task of creating a family cookbook.  The cook book is a possession I will treasure forever.  I also spent many afternoons trying to learn how to make her candy - the caramels will forever be my favorite but then there is licorice and fudge.  I'm so glad that she recently found a better fudge recipe.   When I was first married I called and asked her for her fudge recipe, when she got to the part that I had to "knead" the fudge I told her never mind, it wasn't worth that much work.  I later learned to make the fudge but it failed more often than it turned out and you would have to re-cook it.  This was after I had just spent an hour beating and kneading.  The new recipe involves Symphony candy bars and it hasn't failed yet. 

The picture below is a picture of Granny shopping at Costco with Taylei and Keanna.  On Thursday, October 9, Granny called.  She was in the mood to go shopping and wanted to make sure we could arrange a trip for Saturday.  I had already arranged with my friend, Lisa, to go to her home to work on a project I needed to create for Super Saturday.  Because Granny was calling so far in advance I knew this was important to her.  I let Lisa know that I was canceling my appointment with her and she agreed to let me come at 10:30 pm instead.  Two days later, on Monday, October 13, 2008 Granny had a stroke and on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 she had another heart attack.  I'm so grateful for the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  My grandma did go shopping again but she was never quite the same.  She has had to have almost constant care since this time.

 I had just started this blog and so I took the pictures so I could do a post dedicated to granny.  This isn't really the kind of post I had in mind.  The above picture is from the same group.  I went to Kimo's Kamera today and asked for help to remove Taylei and Keanna because it is such a neat picture of her.  She is doing two of the things that are most important to her -- shopping and being with family.  I often go shopping wearing a hoodie with my hair in a pony tail - only someone as classy as Granny could look good all of the time and have a "shopping" picture used on an obituary.

If anyone actually read enough to make it to the bottom of this post, know this. . .  I loved my Granny.  I know that I'm far from perfect even though she may have thought different.  I share her same testimony, that our Savior lives and loves each of us.  He has established his kingdom again on the earth and what a blessing to know that I am a member of this kingdom.  I am not addicted to "coking" and I can go without my purse being on me and not get nervous for a second.  I'm not afraid of the dark and I don't apply deodorant to places it wasn't designed to go.  I love to play "hand and foot" or "canasta" and every time I do my heart will think of Granny who taught me the game and couldn't play without swearing.  Swearing is okay though if you are playing this game - it just makes it more interesting.  Granny was a class act, one I will miss dearly.  I look forward to seeing her again some day.  I'm so grateful that almost 10 years ago, on the eve of Taylei's baby blessing she didn't make it to heaven.  That she chose to stay here on the earth with us, to teach us to love, to let my children know they have a wonderful heritage and to bless us with her presence . . . I love you Granny.

 

I wanted to add a talk given by Keanna in primary on Sunday.  The theme for 2009 is "My Eternal Family" and she chose to speak about Granny.  "i have a great Grandma who i call Granny.  i love her very much.  YesterDay she died and i know that she is up in heaven with her husband and family.  She was married in the temple 67 years ago.  My parents and grandparents were also sealed in the temple.  i know that because of this someday i will get to live with her again because we are an eternal family.  i know that heavenly father loves us and so he gave us families.  i say these thing in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." 

The Paper Bag Christmas

I purchased this book for my mom to give her as a Christmas present.  When we got stuck in the airport in Salt Lake I pulled it out of my bag and gave it to her early.  I think it took her a few hours to read and then she put it on the table and said it would make me cry.  I didn't think I was ready for a good cry again but after a day I decided I could read it aloud to Granny.  She loves to read but can't see well enough to do so anymore.  The book took us two days to finish but we both loved it.  Mary Dawn and Ryan walked in from the pool just as we were finishing and couldn't believe we were both crying.  I'm not sure it was nice of them to take a picture of us crying but I'm so grateful I could spend a few hours reading to Granny.

The Mesa Temple

Aunt Karen lives really close to the Mesa Temple.  The Mesa Temple has lights kind of like the Salt Lake Temple -- fully decorated.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  My mom is really good at finding a wheel chair to help granny not have to get worn out walking. 
After Kyler refused to join our family picture he decided he would start smiling and actually started posing for the pictures.  He spent plenty of time running and jumping.
The girls climbed the trees and started posing.  It was pretty fun that the temple has fruit trees on its grounds.  My mom asked for permission and picked some grapefruit.  I know Taylei had one today and sad it was delicious.

This is the group shot - what a beautiful family with a beautiful temple.

Granny's Christmas Party

Granny (her official name is Devona Iona Hansen Sperry Bailey but when I started having children she became Granny so there wasn't any confusion between her and my Mom) looks forward to her Christmas party all year long.  Growing up, the party was always at her house.  It was a pretty full house, her and grandpa K.J., 5 children and spouses and 24 grandchildren and held on Christmas Day.  The family has grown, most of the grandchildren are married and there is no room in her home any more.  For a few years, the party was held at my parents house but we outgrew it pretty quick.  We now use a church.  My aunts go to quite a bit of work and every year they come up with another activity or two.  This year they added karaoke to the mix.  My children all had a really good time participating.  Granny might have been the best sport of all and she sang with Diane.
Kyler didn't sing along to the right words but he sang the lyrics to "Jingle Bells" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" a couple hundred times.  He wasn't afraid to sing out in public and had the most adorable looks on his face.
Part of the tradition is having Santa come.  The children get to sit on his lap and he brings them a present.  They have to patiently hold the present until everyone has theirs.  Keanna and Taylei were both given Pixos and Kyler was given his first Lego set.
Taylei was in a very photogenic mood and I had a great time taking her picture.  She participated in all of the events - karaoke, bingo, hulahooping, basketball, crafts, and manicures.  But, of all of her pictures this one was my favorite.  I better also mention that the food at this event is delicious.  Everyone brings one or two items - the traditional favorites are: cut-glass salad, caramel, ham/pickle/cream cheese wraps, rolls, cheesie potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, cheese balls, and artichoke dip.  These happen to be some of my favorites for sure.
Andy is always up to participating in a basketball game.  The popular ones at this event are Speed and Tip-It.  Andy was the proud winner of one of the games and Aunt Jill furnished him with a prize.  For those of you who don't know, this is how Tip-It is played:  Everyone playing has an order of who they follow.  The first person shoots and if the shot goes in he gets to got to the foul line and continue shooting until he misses.  When or if he misses, the person following must get the rebound while they jump in the air and shoot a basket before their feet hit the ground - this reckless kind of shooting continues until someone makes a basket and then they get to go to the free throw line.  I think each free throw counts as one point and the game usually goes to 21.  I've never participated in this game but it looks really fun.  I enjoy watching Andy participate in sports - I envy his athletic ability.
Taylei and I spent a few minutes singing karaoke together.  I sure wish I had more of a voice.  I tried to pretend that people weren't within earshot of me and have a good time with Taylei.  Taylei has no apprehension at all being on any kind of athletic arena but singing is not her cup of tea.  She did a great job but was pretty shy about it.  Keanna isn't shy at all - much more a performer than the rest of us.
Keanna is the pretty girl - she was really quick to make sure she participated in the manicure.  She chose a bright red color and they didn't dare paint them without my permission.  She came to me and got permission but when she told them it was okay she must have sounded suspicious because they still came and asked.  If it was Kyler then there would have been a need to check - he is famous for saying that he has permission when he hasn't asked.
I couldn't resist adding one last picture of Diane and Kyler.  She is trying to collect cute pictures of my children to go in her classroom.  She asked him for a kiss, expecting it on her cheek but he planted it smack dap on the tip of her nose.  It turned out pretty cute.

Cabin Time

My mom called to let us know that it was a beautiful day at the cabin and this is where she would be having Sunday dinner.  I'm not sure that it is that great of a day outside especially when you go up the canyon but the kids all grabbed their coats and were happy to go.  I had to do a stake primary music training and so I misses most of dinner.  While dinner was cooking they spent some time outside.  Taylei brought Coalie her own sweater.  Taylei is really doing an amazing job taking care of the puppy - she even cleans up the messes without complaint.
Keanna, Cody and Diane - when Cody is around, Diane has to fight off my kids to have a minute of his time.  Diane has started to date Cody and so we have seen him quite a bit lately.  And, to his credit - he spent four days this last week sitting up to my bar making "stickers" for a train where every box car has a different label (it goes with a song she was taught in 4th grade).  His normal bed time is 10:30 and I'm pretty sure he wasn't anywhere close to this time anytim this week.

Isn't this such a cute picture?  It really makes you wonder what they are doing.


Kyler had an absolute ball in this swing (it is down on Steele's property.  Andy said he could push him as high as he wanted and Kyler would just jiggled.  Kyler was also the official turkey spotter.  He was up in the loft and looked out the window and what did he find?  A fat, wild turkey's behind.  He got so excited, he made sure everyone ran up to see.  He kept telling Andy that he wanted to not only hunt it, shoot it and then eat it on his birthday cake.  

Keanna's Birthday

  Our little girl turned 7 -- this is kind of hard to believe.  I really think it was just yesterday that I was trying to get the stack of papers off my desk at work so I could go to the hospital to be induced.  We realized earlier this week, Keanna would be sharing her birthday with two of her nephews baby blessings.  She looks forward to her birthday and we wanted her to be able to haver her own special day.  This also meant that lots of Andy's family would be in town as well.  The weather was looking like it would still be nice and so we planned an outside party.  I was pretty slow getting out the invitations - it the weather man predicted a storm I didn't know what I would do with the 22 people in Keanna's class she was inviting plus the extra family and friends.  At the Mona Elementary carnival earlier this week, the PAC hired Jason Gibson to bring his giant slide.  This seemed like any easy solution for a party.  We already have a bunch of activities in the back yard and with a slide and a bounce house there would be enough choices for the kids to entertain themselves.  I also found a fun shoe pinata and Keanna chose a giant birthday cake from Sam's Club.

The party went really well.  Some of Keanna's favorite friends were able to come.  She had both sets of grandparents and even her great grandma Sperry.  Ths slide was everyone's favorite.  I even went down it myself a half dozen times.  Whem most of the little kids had gone home, Keanna's uncles turned the slide into a giant mat to run, jump, attempt to catch a football, and land.  I don't think any of the kids complained about being sore the next day but most of the adults did.

This is a picture of some of the guests watching all of the action.  Those in the picture: Susie Allred, Nikkii and Kenzee Sperry, Granny Bailey and Grandma Lou.
The trampoline was also a favorite event.  I love that our tramp is buried in the ground.  We still have had a few accidents but nothing major yet - knock on wood.


Keanna loved opening presents and she got some really cool gifts.  We gave her a new bicycle - complete with gears, she also got lots of earrings, money, makeup, a snow globe, a new outfit or two and a few more treasures.  The friend in this pictures is Whitlee.

The slide was so much fun.  
Isn't she such a beautiful girl.  She had an awesome birthday - I don't think she had more than two minutes that she couldn't find someone to play with.  Thanks to all those who were willing to come and celebrate with us.