Christmas in Platte City

Christmas this year was cold, snowy and filled with McClellans. Our kids didn't come home this year since we celebrated Christmas together in Disneyland. Linda, Don, Bruce & Kimberly's family came from Utah while Emily's family and Amber came up from Texas. Ryan and family came for a short visit after Christmas so we had a total of 21 people coming and going between our house and Mother's for the holidays.

We had a Christmas Eve program at our house. Here are
Bruce, Amber, Joseph, Don and Linda waiting for their turn to participate.

Linda, Mother and Emily visiting at Mother's house.

Even though it was very cold, the kids loved playing in the snow and managed to make 196 snowballs to put in Santa's sleigh.

Amber, Linda and Emily helped roll out the noodles to dry for Christmas dinner. It is a family tradition that Mother makes her homemade noodles for all family holidays.

Emily, Hayley, Amber, Alex, Tyler, Sean, Kimberly and Joseph on Christmas morning at our house, ready to open their presents.

Bill and I on Christmas day at Mother's house.

I made hats for everyone as well as the dolls. Here is Erin with her new Christmas Doll and their hats.

On Sunday, before everyone left on Monday morning, some of us made a trip to the cemetery to visit Daddy's grave. Some of the snow had melted but it was still pretty cold that day. Standing from left to right is Linda, Amber, Ryan, Bill, Seth, Sandy, Mother and Don.

Disneyland!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Disneyland with our kids and grandkids. We must have walked 50 miles but it was all worth it. We made many great memories that will last a lifetime. We had fantastic weather - in the 70's during the day with no rain. Hannah turned 7 while we were there and we all enjoyed a great character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch on her birthday.
Here is a picture of me with Ellie, Hannah, Abby, Micah, & Sadie posing with Goofy in his Christmas sweater.

A cute picture of Baby Moses. He is a happy boy and enjoyed being outside in his stroller.

Sadie, Hannah and Abby with Snow White.

Brent and Amanda with Sadie 10, Hannah 7, Abby 4, Brigham 2 and Moses 6 months, in front of Sleeping Beauty's castele.

Ellie with Cinderella, her favorite Disney character.

Robert, Heather, Micah 6, and Ellie 3, in front of Mickey's house in Toontown.

Ellie got her face painted.

Bill and I watching Brigham and Moses on our favorite bench. We were under a shade tree and had a great view of the Castle and the Matterhorn. Brigham enjoyed watching the Disney cars and horse drawn wagons going around the Turnaround.

We came home from sunny California to snow and freezing temperatures. It is 4 degrees this morning but the gas is $1.27. We are now excited about Christmas and are preparing for the McClellans who will be coming to share Chirstmas with us this year.

What a difference a year makes!

Last year at this time I was celebrating my birthday with my Dad as we did every year. My birthday is today, the 25th and his is tomorrow, the 26th. According to my mother I was born around 10:30 PM and she ought to know. Daddy would have been 83 years old tomorrow.

My mother and I went to St. Joseph today and did some shopping. Bill was working in the St. Joe office so he took us out to lunch at Boudreaux's. We all had chicken fried chicken. It was very yummy. Bill also took me to the show tonight to see the new James Bond movie.

Bill & I put up the Christmas decorations inside our house, inside mother's house and outside both of our houses last Saturday. We were truly pooped by the end of the day. The weather was pretty mild so we just kept going like the Energizer Bunnies that we are..... We were afraid it would get worse after Thanksgiving. This is the tree and fireplace in our family room.

Last year we had our little granddaughters here to help decorate Great Grandma's tree. We sure did miss their help. Here is a picture that was taken last year at this time of Sadie, Hannah and Abby.

It will be just the 3 of us for Thanksgiving this year, Mother, Bill and Me. Last year we were able to celebrate with Geoff, Emily, Alex, Hayley and Amber, and of course Daddy was still here. What a difference a year makes. Here is a picture of our Thanksgiving group last November at Mother's house. Sorry, Geoff is not seen, he is taking the picture.

Never thought it would happen

Gas prices were $1.94 at the Quik Trip this morning. We didn't think we would ever see them below $2.00 again. I could actually fill up my car for less than $30.00. WooHoo!!We are so excited to be getting a temple in the Kansas City area. It is actually just this side of Liberty. We are only 20-25 miles away. This is another thing we didn't think we would ever see, a temple we can drive to in less than a half hour. Here is a picture of the temple site. The temple is supposed to look like the Twin Falls Temple. It will be 31,000 square feet which is three times bigger than the Winter Quarters Temple. They can't build it fast enough.

Texas in the fall

At the end of September we took Mother on a road trip to Texas. We stopped in Allen for the night and left Mother with Emily & Geoff for a few days. She was able to visit with Ryan and Emily's families as well as Amber. Bill and I went on down to Killeen to visit with cousins Marjay and Scotti. They went with us to San Antonio for a couple of days where we visited the Alamo, the Riverwalk and took a Segway tour.

Marjay and Scotti gave us the crazy t-shirts so we wouln't get lost. It really worked. People kept saying "Peace", "Remember Woodstock", "3 cheers for the 60's". There is never a dull moment with Marjay and Scotti.

I call this the year of the cousins because I have been able to spend time with several this year. While in Allen we were also able to visit cousin Gina and David in Plano. Here is Mother with Gina in her kitchen.
I couldn't resist this cute one of Amber and Erin. Erin was so cute and warmed up to all of us. She really stole our hearts. Erin is Ryan and Shelley's youngest daughter. We enjoyed all the kids - Seth, Emma, Alex and Hayley. They are always fun to be around.

Brian Head in July

In July we took Mother on another trip to Southern Utah. She had to fly again but only to Las Vegas. We went out to eat with Gary, Tracye and Hannah and spent the night at the Mirage.

The next morning we drove to Brian Head. Brent's family drove up from Arizona and Heather's family drove down from Logan where we rented a condo for a week. While there we were able to celebrate Heather's 30th and Sadie's 10th birthdays as well as the 4th of July.

Six of our 7 grandchildren; Brigham (18 mon), Sadie (10), Ellie (3), Hannah (6), Abby (4), and Micah (5).

Baby Moses is #7 and he was born on June 5. He weighed 9 lbs when he was born. He turned 1 month old while on this vacation.

Ellie, Heather, Robert, Micah, Bill, Hannah, Brent, Abby & Sadie on top of the mountain after riding the ski lift . Some were a little scared but Hannah reminded us we needed to face our fears.

Brent and Amanda with all the kids on the porch of Brigham Young's winter home in St. George.

It was 112 degrees in the shade that day so we didn't stay outside very long.

I'll give it a try!

Since everyone in the family is blogging these days, I thought I would give it a try. Heather has given me some guidance but I am still in a state of confusion. I hope this will help me in my efforts to keep a journal of some sort.

This year is rapidly coming to a close so I will try and highlight what has taken place so far in 2008.

Daddy passed away on February 5th and life changed for all of us that day as we learned to live without his presence. He had been in failing health for many years so it wasn't unexpected but it was still a surprise when it happened.

Here is a picture of Daddy with Brent's children; Hannah, Brigham, Abby and Sadie.




He loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Almost all of his family members were able to come for his funeral. He is greatly missed.




In April we took my mother to Hawaii for some R & R. She had not been able to travel for years because of my Dad's poor health so we thought this would do her some good. We met Linda and Don there as well as Emily, Geoff, Alex and Hayley. I don't think she enjoyed it as much as we were hoping. She hated the long plane ride and worried about going back home the whole time we were there. Here I am with Mother and Linda at the Dole Plantation.

We stayed on Waikiki Beach and had a view of the ocean from our room. This picture of Bill and I with Alex and Hayley is right across from our hotel.

Before going to the Polynesian Cultural Center we stopped at BYU Hawaii and the the Temple grounds. Here are Geoff, Emily, Linda, Don, Alex and Hayley in front of the temple.