One Day visit with the kids/grandkids...way too short!

After our weekend trip to Park City to celebrate Cleos' parents 60th anniversary, we headed to Salt Lake to spend one day & night with our kids and grandkids.  It was way too short of a visit and we didn't get to see Kyle, Mikell or Brayden, but I'm glad we got to see the rest.  It was so fun to see our newest grandson Dachu, who is an absolute doll, looks just like his Daddy and is adored by his Mommy and big sisters.

Launa...she is still just as beautiful as ever.  She has the biggest heart and she's perfectly content being off by herself drawing or playing quietly.  She is a great big sister and is a big help to both her parents.

Teiha...she is spit fire.  She is very smart and excels in a lot of subjects, doing algebra already and she's only in 1st grade!  She is also a great big sister and loves to help with her little sister and brother.

Ellie...she is a mess!!!  This little girl is so cute, always walks around with a smile on her face, but makes you wonder what she's up to ;)  She is a very happy little girl and plays really good with her cousin Kenleigh.

Dachu...he is the cutest little man!  Just now starting to smile and laugh and he thinks he's bigger than he is and trys to sit up when he's laying on your lap (he's not even 3 months old).  He is a little fussy, but his Mommy says that's getting better.  He completes Cori and Brandons' family and they all make for a beautiful family.

Kenleigh...she has most definately got the "red-head personality".  She is such a smart, independent little girl.  She talks like she's 4 (just barely 2 now) and can navigate an IPhone like no little kid I've ever seen.  She is so cute and lights up a room with her personality.

So, that's the highlights of our grandkids...the kids were all doing well also.  They all looked really good, happy & healthy.  It was by far one of the shortest visits on record, but we're grateful for that time with them. Someday, we will all get together again for more than a day...but this just makes us appreciate and cherish the moments we get together.

Love you all so much

60th Anniversary Celebration~Park City, UT

Cleos' parents will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary next month...what an accomplishment!!!  To help them celebrate, Cleo and I along with his brother & sister in law that flew in from Houston, and his two sisters and their spouses who all live in Idaho and drove down with his parents, rented a condo in Park City UT for the weekend.  We all arrived on Friday afternoon and quickly got settled into the condo before relaxing and catching up for a couple hours.  We decided to just grab a quick bite at a local Mexican restaurant that night and then went back and hung out in front of the fire.  It was so warm and cozy in the condo and it was starting to get really cold and snowy outside.

We stayed up late laughing, snacking and just really having a lot of fun.  Cleo and I and Tom and Cindy were all pretty tired because we'd been up since like 3am EST to catch our flights...but we "sucked it up" and once we got our second wind, we were good.  It was pretty chill and lots of fun.  Once bedtime rolled around, we went to our chosen (or should I say assigned?) bedrooms...got settled (in our case there was some bed swapping going on, LOL!) and snuggled in for the night.  You just never know exactly what kind of sleeping accomodations you will get in a condo rental in a ski resort town and ours was no exception.  There was one main bedroom .. of course for Mom & Dad Cheney..then upstairs there were 2 more bedrooms, one with a queen bed, the other with 2 sets of double bunkbeds and then on the 3rd floor (or attic, really!) there was another set of bunkbeds and 2 single beds.  Somehow, Cleo and I ended up in the attic and Brent and Sue ended up downstairs on the couches...but it all worked out and we really did have quite a few laughs just over the sleeping arrangements.  It wouldn't be a family function without a little "dysfunction"...am I right:???

On Saturday we just ate breakfast at the condo and then us girls went to the Outlet Mall to do a little shopping.  It WAS NOT exactly shopping weather, but we did it anyhow.  It was so cold and snowing and blowing but we were able to get a wheelchair for Mom Cheney and all they wanted for collateral were Tamis' drivers license and her library card...seriously???  Not sure what the library card was all about, but we got the wheelchair and it was free!  After shopping we went back to the condo, met up with the guys and headed to downtown Park City.  It is such a cool little ski resort town, nestled right into the mountains and you can see all the ski runs and chair lifts right from the center of town...if you haven't been, you should go sometime it is that gorgeous!!!  We walked around some of the shops and then headed to Bandits Grill & Bar for lunch.  It was pretty empty because the peak season hasn't really started yet, so we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves, which was nice.  Our waitress was Liesel from South Africa and she was AWESOME!  She took a lot of teasing from my hubby but she was really a good sport and even brought a super huge, wickedly amazing chocolate and ice cream dessert for Mom & Dad in celebration of their anniversary.  It was a good meal and we all enjoyed it very much.  We then headed back to the condo and just hung out the rest of the afternoon.  There was a little football watching (it really wouldn't be a Saturday without college football, right?) a few caught a little nap...guess who? and the rest just sat by the fire and chit-chatted.

For dinner, Sue & Brent and Tami & Eric bought steaks and we grilled at the condo.  They went all out with baked potatoes, salad, cooked carrots, rolls and steak...it was YUMMY.  I just now realized we didn't get dessert...sad:(  Just kidding, y'all did an awesome job on dinner...THANKS.  After dinner everyone sat around the table and listened to Cleo and Patsy tell their story...about how they met, fell in love, married and started their lives together.  All 4 of the kids then started in on all their childhood memories....you know the "do you remember?" and "remember that time when, etc"....it was really fun to hear a lot of those stories and I know that Cleo and Patsy really enjoyed the flooding of memories at that table.  Slowly, Brent, Cindy and I nudged ourselves away (Eric had to leave b4 dinner to head back to ID) and cleared the table and Brent even did the dishes.  Now that might be an every day occurrence at he and Sues' house, but I was impressed!  The 3 of us then just kind of sat in the living room and let the family of 6 reminisce about the "good ole days"...we wanted to give them their space and some time alone.  After a couple hours of that we all sat together and talked some more about the importance of keeping family ties alive and the logistics involved in that when you all have your own families.  It's not always easy, but we sure try to keep the homefires burning.

Bedtime, night #2:  Ask my husband...he is still that naughty little boy who is the last one to bed, always wreaking havoc and playing pranks on someone.  Lets just say...he shouldn't be allowed a smartphone with access to questionable apps!!!  I'm just gonna leave it at that...use your imaginations :)

Sunday morning was checkout time.  We all kinda woke up at the same time, so once we were showered and ready, we still had a little time for visiting and saying goodbye.  It was a great weekend, filled with lots of laughter, lots of reminiscing and also new memories, great food, great company, lots of snow to provide a beautiful backdrop and most importantly, quality time with the family.  Some of our kids and grandkids felt a little left out, but it was only so that Cleo and Patsy could enjoy time with their 4 kids, uninterrupted and we certainly did not mean to hurt any feelings.

Here are just a few pictures of the weekend, I can't possibly post them all but again just want to say thank you to all of Cleos' siblings and their spouses for coming together and making this such a memorable 60th Anniversary celebration for their parents.  We love you Cleo and Patsy

Girl Time

The last two weekends have been jam packed with GIRL TIME!!!  The past 18-24 months have been a blur and filled with sadness, stress and the unknown and little to no alone time with my girlfriends.  Although I am a firm believer that we are never given more than we can handle, I do believe The BIG GUY does test our patience at times:)  We all need to have a little girl time, without the men in our lives.  Time to just chill, play games, shop, gossip (I know, not nice right??) eat and just hang out in our jammies if that's what we want to do.  

I was able to go to Lake Martin with Libby and Lauren 2 weekends ago to their amazingly beautiful lakehouse.  It was beyond gorgeous...peaceful, calming and very relaxing.  They taught me to play Hand & Foot, a seriously fun and way addicting card game.  We ate, played cards until late at night, put puzzles together (Libby kept telling me that as we age, we need to keep our minds sharp by doing puzzles, etc..LOL!)  It was such a great time with fabulous friends and just what the Dr. ordered.  

This is the view of the lake from the outdoor porch...Unfortunately all the pics I took from my cell phone were "lost in translation" when I transferred the info from my defective phone to the replacement phone when I returned home:(  I did steal this one from Libbys' FB photos, and you can just imagine this view with the Fall colors...AMAZING!!! I really had a great time and look forward to many more fun times with the Carlsons.

This past weekend, I flew to Tampa, FL and spent 4 days with my friend Tammy Mountain.  We used to do everything together when we lived there and I miss her dearly, but it was really fun catching up with her and again, having quality time with the girls.

We started the weekend with a quick pedicure, then lunch and the last showing of THE HELP.  I read the book and was really looking forward to the movie.  We then headed back to Tammys' to watch the final game of the World Series...don't ask, she wasn't thrilled to watch this but since she's such a good friend and she knows I LOVE baseball, she did indulge me:)  On Saturday we shopped, a LOT stopped over to see her kids and granddaughter, then went to dinner with another sweet friend Tami Bellows.  We caught up, ate a great meal and had some great laughs.  We then went back to Tammys' did some decorating & rearranging of pictures, then watched The Lincoln Lawyer.

Sunday, we shopped (AGAIN!) and I was able to finish my last Christmas gift for my grandkids, ate a fabulous late lunch and then just chilled at her house.  We talked and laughed and just caught up on everything.  Monday (Halloween) we shopped (do you notice a theme here??) ate a really good late lunch then went to see her granddaughter b4 she went trick or treating, then back to Tammys' to watch Something Borrowed.

I did also see my Sinus Dr while in Tampa and had a great check-up!  I was nervous as it had been almost 2 years since I'd seen him, but he said everything looked great and come back in a year...I was thrilled.

These are 2 of my BEST friends ... we have shared many, many great times and laughs together and I miss them both so much.  Loved seeing them and spending time catching up.

I don't even know what to say about this pic T Bellows...however, there was a large green grasshopper thingy on the concrete beside her, LOL.  She is a HOOT!!!

This is T Mountain and I at her sons' house on Halloween.  Neither of us love having our pictures taken, thus the sunglasses on me and the scowl on her face, LOL.

So, as you can tell I am blessed with some pretty amazing girlfriends. Thanks to y'all for everything and mostly for just always being there for me. I look forward to many, many more good times ahead.  I also should give a shout out to my amazing hubby for recognizing when I need "girl time" and encouraging me to do fun things, he is awesome and I love him so much.