Last Chance

I'm teaching the 7gypsies nativity accordion at The Creative Quest on Saturday. There are still a few spots left. Give them a call if you're interested. I only have a limited number of kits and when they're gone, they're gone. Many of the items are totally discontinued. So now is your chance to make a beautiful nativity to display in your home for Christmas. And it totally folds up for easy storage!! It will be a fun day and you should finish during the class time.

Just Realized!

Dad's in the hospital again....fourth time in two months. UGH! Hopefully, this time, they'll figure it out. Anyway, I was visiting with him yesterday and I realized it's just over 7 months until Mark retires! Man, the time is flying by!! This has been a busy/stressful week. Last week a good friend passed away very unexpectedly. It was very sad. She has two boys who both have wonderful wives that I've been privileged to know and appreciate. One of the boys has two little girls and works in the same department as Mark. The other son and his wife are having a baby boy this month. I can hardly imagine the grief they are all feeling and the loss they've had. I was able to take my friend's mom to her Dr. appt. this week....something my friend had planned to do. Then last night we had a shower for the new to arrive baby. It was a good shower, but bittersweet. We will all miss Becky.

Jan and I are teaching a class at Scrap Happy tomorrow afternoon. It's a Little Golden Book class. I've had lots of people want to know how to make the books. I may have to do a class at church sometime. Let me know if you're interested and I'll see what I can pull together.

I've also been busy this week with Dad in the hospital. There have been lots of issues/questions/no answers about his condition. Today I feel like we are finally making strides toward some answers. At least we have a decent communication with the Drs. Finally. It's been an exhausting week because of that. Hopefully next week will be better.

Next Saturday I will be teaching the nativity accordion class at The Creative Quest. The last I checked there were still some spots left. I would love to fill that class since it will be the absolute last time I'm teaching that one. So give them a call if you're interested. There are a limited number of kits left and there won't be any more....!

We've been busy getting started on our Christmas shopping. With 10 grandkids, we need an early start! We already have two of the kids taken care of. Two down, eight to go! It's fun, though, finding things they'll LOVE. It makes us really look forward to Christmas to see their excited faces! And it will be here very soon.

Oh, hail!!!

Yesterday it rained. A lot! Then it HAILED! A LOT! And the hail was big---at least golf ball sized. Our neighbors all had broken windows, but we were saved by our shade screens, which are a bit shredded and dented. We haven't checked the roof yet. We may be calling the insurance company. When it hit, I was in the back bedroom, on the southeast side of the house. And that's the way the storm was coming. It pummeled the house and was so LOUD! It was scary. Mark and I had to yell to hear each other and we were in the same room!!! Luckily, it didn't last long. Oh, and our tree was thinned greatly. About half of the leaves were torn from the branches by the hail and are now dead on the ground. It was quite a storm!! One for the record books!

Flat Stanley and Fire Prevention Parade

Yesterday was the annual Glendale Fire Prevention Parade. Since it is Mark's last official parade, we thought it would be fun to have some of the grandkids participate with him. Abby, Dallin and Luke came along. During the actual parade, they got to ride in the front of the DARE truck and work the siren. They LOVED it!! When it was over, Luke asked, "Can we do that again?"
Before the parade began, we took Abby's Flat Stanley character around and took pictures of him in various situations. He got his picture taken with the mayor of Glendale, the police chief, Miss Arizona and her attendants, Big Red, the Phoenix Cardinals mascot, a clown, an ambulance driver, military people, and many others. It was fun! We saw Sheriff Joe, but didn't want to bother him. That would have been a fun picture, though!! I'm sure Abby's presentation will be great!
We missed the morning session of General Conference while we were at the parade, but we recorded it and have watched in between the other sessions. It was wonderful! I especially enjoyed Elder Holland's talk. Last night all of the kids and grandkids came over. The guys went to the priesthood session of conference, and some of the rest of us went to ladies' night at Deseret Book. Erin won a prize! Lucky her! We didn't stay very long, but it was a fun time. We came home and played games and visited until dinner time. Matt and I picked up the pizzas and wings and we fed the kids. When the guys got home, the adults enjoyed dinner. It was a FUN evening and very memorable. I hope we can do it again next conference.
On Friday, Erin and I had made cinnamon rolls. Before they were baked we froze the dough. Last night each family took home frozen cinnamon rolls so they could bake them this morning and enjoy warm rolls during conference. I love my family.

Matt's 11!!

We celebrated Matt's eleventh birthday in September. He had his sleepover with us and it was fun! The first order of business was to let him choose his gift. He'd received a Nintendo DS from his parents, so he wanted a couple of games. We were happy to oblige. He got a Star Wars game and a Toy Story 3 game. He had a great time (especially in the car!) playing with his new toy. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden. Every time we ask him where he wants to go eat, the answer is Olive Garden. We all got the neverending pasta bowls. However, nobody had more than one serving!! Funny how that works. We came home and he watched a movie. I wish I could remember which one, though.
The next morning was his activity. Originally, he wanted to go to Fiddlestix like last year. Then we showed him a new pair of roller blades that our neighbor was getting rid of that just happened to be his size. He then wanted to go to Great Skate. When we got there, it was PACKED! He decided that since he's still a novice skater, that he'd rather go bowling. So bowling it was. He had such a good time!!! Half the time Mark let Matt play for him. His arm was probably sore when he got back home.



On our way to take him back home, we decided to drive past Tempe Beach Park. It happened to be 9/11 and we knew there would be a memorial there. It was awe inspiring to see the many flags. Each flag had a note attached with the name and something about each person it represented from the World Trade Center. We'd seen the display in the past, but only from the freeway. It was so impressive to actually walk among the flags and put a name to the people lost that day.
We spent the afternoon doing a little junkin' until his parents were back home. It was a fun time for all of us.

Password Not Lost

Erin asked me today if I'd lost my blogger password. It was her 'subtle' way to say that I haven't updated in a while. Oops! I've been busy. Trust me.
Last Saturday I taught a nativity class at Creative Quest. I'll be teaching it again in October. There a still a few spots left.
Today Erin and I made cinnamon rolls for conference weekend. We got them rolled up then froze the dough so that we can bake them fresh and eat them while they're still warm. I'll see if the boys read my blog. We made some to share with them!!
Tomorrow is the Fire Prevention parade. Mark's last. Sort of bittersweet. Three of the grandkids are going to come along and ride in his DARE truck in the parade. We're also taking some Flat Stanley pictures are the police station and with the other officers. Tomorrow night is ladies' night. I think all of the girls and kids are going, at least for a while. The guys are going to priesthood session together. That hasn't happened in YEARS!!! Mark's really looking forward to that. He really enjoys having someone to go with him. Then it's pizza at Grandma's and Grandpa's. Yum! Hopefully, Sunday will be peaceful and quite while we watch conference. I LOVE conference weekends. I wish they happened more often.
This month I have a craft show, I'm teaching two classes and Eliza 'volunteered' me to make aprons for her activity day group. They're making dinner for their parents and want to have aprons to make them more cohesive and cute. Did I say that there are 10 girls and their leader?!! Should be fun....and a busy, busy month! Oh, and Roxann and I are co-hosting three baby showers. We've already done one. Two to go. Invitations are all made and mailed. Did I say I'm busy??? And I have a RS lesson to prepare next week. I think I need a nap!!!

Bustin' My Buttons!

Last week Matthew invited us to his last Cub Scout pack meeting. He turns 11 this week and will now be a Blazer Scout. At the pack meeting, he received his Arrow of Light award. Matthew earned most, if not all, of the Cub Scout belt loops and he earned all 20 activity pins. He's quite the achiever! Their ward has a fabulous Cub Scout program. The cub master does a phenomenal job. She is always on the ball and have everything well planned out and executes it well. They always have wonderful ceremonies that recognize the hard work and accomplishments of the boys. And last week's meeting was no exception. There were three older scouts who were dressed as Indian braves, complete with drum, headdress and rabbit hides who put on a wonderful ceremony that presented Matthew with his Arrow of Light award and welcomed him as he crossed the bridge into Boy Scouts. A funny thing that happened was when he crossed the bridge, the scoutmaster said to him, "Welcome to Boy Scouts." To which Matthew replied, "I'm glad to be here!" The cub master presented him with a hand beaded band with his name and a row of beading that represented every milestone and achievement he'd made in cub scouts. A lady in their ward made him an arrow to represent the arrow of light. It had an arrowhead lashed on the tip, feathers on the other end of the shaft and all along the shaft she'd wrapped different colored threads that represented his accomplishments in cub scouts. Needless to say, I was bustin' my buttons with pride for his accomplishments. I know we aren't supposed to be prideful, but I was so very pleased with his hard work and determination to do well. And I salute his parents, for without their help and support, it probably wouldn't have happened. I appreciate their hard work and dedication. And to top off the evening, Matthew's best friend gave the closing prayer. It was very touching when he asked Heavenly Father to help Matthew be successful as he moved on to Scouts and he blessed all of the other boys that they could follow Matt's example. After the meeting, Matt gave him a 'boy' hug. It was very sweet and touching.