Merry Christmas to You All

We hope this season is full of love, hope, and happiness!

This is our tree and Tabby wanted to share in the family picture.

I like Tonya's idea of sharing a scripture that is a favorite for this season. Here is mine:
"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." John 18:37

Holiday Fireworks in Pocatello

We were sitting in our familyroom and heard a loud noise. We looked out the back door and this is what we saw. At the fairgrounds there was a holiday program with fireworks. Fun, but different in the cold, we usually have a BBQ.

Thanksgiving at LeeAnn's

How lucky can we be to have such a big family. We celebrated this Thanksgiving at the church. Angie was able to come from Denver and LeeAnn, Tyler, and Hiedi's families were there. Oh yes, Dave and I were there, too. The younger part of the family put on a show and made graham cracker houses. We went to LeeAnn's to visit and watched Porter play with their chickens. I guess that I was looking at the great food. I didn't take any pictures of the dinner.

Thanksgiving at Amy's

We had a lovely time on Thanksgiving at Nathan and Amy's. Angie, Mike and Dave and I were able to be there. We ate and ate great food and celebrated Cody, Paul, and Emmalee's birthdays. What a great day!

The Green Eyed Monster

 

Tabby is getting bigger everyday. He is fluffy and fat for the winter. This is his favorite spot to be in the house.

Crae's new 4wheeler

 

Crae just bought a new 4wheeler. He brought it to Mackay and we took it up on the mountain and around town. It was cold, but they kept taking it out. After, hot chocolate and a warm blanket was good.

Early Thanksgiving

 

We had the Berretts come to the cabin for an early Thanksgiving. Yummmy, I love turkey dinners!

Living/Game Room

 

We hope you will have fun here - relaxing, playing, and visiting. I had a picture of the apple kitchen to post and accidentally deleted it off of my camera. It is cute though. I found some curtains with apples. Some of you know that I have always wanted an apple kitchen.

Our Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend with Hiedi and Tyler G.'s families here for Halloween and Addy's baptism. LeeAnn and her kids came up on Saturday for the baptism. It was a really nice program and yummy lunch afterwards. Tyler and Ren helped Dave move furniture to Mackay on Saturday afternoon. We then hurried home Sunday morning so I could meet the Laurels that are in my class with my new calling. Everything went well and we had a wonderful weekend!

Our Jack-O-Lantern

 

We carved this rather large pumpkin with a jig saw. It worked really well. The small pumpkin served as our dinner in a pumpkin. This year we had over a hundred cute little trick or treaters.

Flying Planes

 

We took Nathan, Amy, Eric, and Paul with us to Mackay. We were taking carpet for the carpet layers to get busy with on the cabin. After delivering the carpet, we went flying Nathan's remote control planes. He is so good at it! He started making and flying them in high school. It was fun to see them go in circles, upside- down and all over the place.

Our First Snow

We measured 6 inches this morning. New snow is so pretty.
I hurried and picked the veggies and a few flowers before the
frost hit. We will miss the fresh veggies.

"I" tag

Tonya tagged me with these questions, I still owe Julie a tag, but I haven't imported pictures from the web yet. I'll get there.
I am: Just a regular person.
I know: A little about many things. The world is so interesting and has so much to learn.
I want: My family to be happy!
I have: Wonderful kids, grandkids, and a sweet husband. What more could anyone want to have.
I dislike: Mean people, who hurt others.
I miss: Tyler being home from the war.
I feel: Like I'm getting older. Unfortunately, more aches and pains come with age.
I hear: All the cars going by my house. We live by a busy street.
I smell: Good foods cooking, pretty flowers in my kitchen, and the kitty box in the garage ( it needs changing)
I crave: Lemons and anything with lemons.
I cry: At sad or happy movies and most anything that touches my heart.
I search: Right now - for pretty rocks in Mackay for a rock garden. Family history records are always a great search item.
I wonder: What everyone is doing? Let me know often what you are doing, because I am always wondering.
I regret: The sadness in my children's lives. I know you are better because of it, but it makes me sad.
I love: Huge subject! My family, the church, birds, flowers, and anything that is happy or kind.
I care: About everyone.
I worry: Hmmm, you know the rocking chair on the porch (worry is like that), it gets you no where. I spend a lot of time in the chair : )
I remember: Not very well. I usually forget if it isn't written down.
I believe: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and my testimony is strong. That is the most important knowledge in life to me.
I dance: In the kitchen when I am happy.
I don't: Get everything done when I want it to be. (Does anyone else have this problem?)
I argue: When I don't feel well - poor Dave. He is so patient with me.
I write: Lists. These help me get things done and see what I have done in the day. I, also, forget if it isn't written down.
I win: When I really try at something.
I lose: Weight very slowly. It is working though. In another year I will be where I want to be. Yeah!
I wish: My family and friends were closer. I miss you all so much! I wish I could give you everything to make you happy.
I listen: To easy listening music and the TV. I am used to noise in my life and quiet is hard.
I can usually be found: Running around with Dave. He keeps me busy with all his projects.
I am scared: Of those high over passes. I really don't like the feeling of being on them.
I need: Nothing. I have everything. Perhaps, to have my feet not hurting would be good though..
I forget: Just about everything. I call it brain clutter. I have lots of it, and it's hard to find the info in there.
I am happy: When my kids need me, when I am in the outdoors with mountains and streams, when I feel good, when I see and hear birds, when my garden is blooming, just to be a part of life makes me happy!

I love all your tags because I learn something about you all. Kelly and Amy haven't done this yet. Love to hear from you.

Some pictures of the area around Mackay

Some old homes in one of the ghost towns.
A view of Mackay from up on the mountain.
The spillway below the dam. We saw a river otter, heron, and lots of
big fish here.
Remnants of a factory on the hillside.

A better picture of our mountain place

We have spent several days working on our little place in Mackay. It is coming along with 3 double beds and 4 twin beds. We have a couch and recliner, table and chairs. The carpet is coming next week. By next spring it will be looking pretty good.

Adventure of the Seas

The highly decorated midnight buffett was pretty
The main street.
Our room. We would return at night to find chocolate on our pillows,
folded towel critters and this night, hats as well as the next day's
itinerary

Pedro, from India, was our waiter. He would help us order

whatever we wanted on the menus.

The last day this Coast Guard boat bounced on the waves

around our ship. He was fun to watch.

The ship was really nice. We could stay there and never get off the ship and have a great time. The food was great and actually healthy. We had shrimp, lobster, prime rib, salads and everything was made Caribbean style. The entertainment is non-stop. We went to art shows, musicals, and just walked around. Dave was chosen to be onstage the last night. He did a good job. Sometimes we were just tired and watched a movie in our cabin.

St. Thomas

Blackbeard was 6'4" and over 300 lbs. His tower is
in the background. His castle is to the right. There are
99 steps to get down to the beach level. We actually went
down them with a guide who showed us plants, houses, and
shared the history of the area.

Lots of small island inhabited and not around the main island.

This island is a USA territory. They would like to a state,

but are too small. They cannot vote.

The best beach is Megen's beach and we spent half a day there.
At the beach, Dave is walking the shore. We played in the

water until we wrinkled. It is slightly warm and nice.
This is a picture with our ship in the background.

This was a pretty island, but very commercialized. We spent the day touring Blackbeard's castle, shopping(but it rained so much, this was out) and at the beach because it wasn't raining there.

St. Maarten

We are on the beach with our ship in the background. We
had fun walking in the water along the shore on a Dutch beach.

A picture of part of the island.
Some sea critters. The brown one is a sand dollar. They felt

funny crawling on my hand. The white one was really prickly.

A turtle that I got to hold. This is a small one. Notice that

we were in the rain most of the day.

A spectacled owl, he is beautiful, but I didn't get a good picture

in the rain.

This was my favorite island. Half of the island is owned by the French and half by the Dutch. It was lush and not as commercial. It had lots of beaches and animals. Stay away from the French beaches - they are nude ones. The Dutch side is not.