The Birthdays!

There's nothing like a birthday for a full-fledged party. And that's just what we did in September.
For my birthday on the 17th, Dad bought me a dozen beautiful red roses. Isn't he the best?!) Tessha made me a cake and got me a chin exerciser... I blew out the candles... and Alisha did a dance Earlier that night Tessha had taken some cupcakes into the pharmacy and dropped off a Princess Birthday badge for me to wear. When I clocked in at 4:00 they all surprised me by bursting into song, pinning the badge on me and eating all the cupcakes. All n all, it was a great Happy Day!!

On Friday that week I went to American Fork and met up with my sisters. We stayed the night at Peggy's house and of course we celebrated birthdays. We all brought gifts for each other. I took Jenni's Lullaby Album
for each of them and they gave me some wonderful gifts. Penny gave me a pillow, and a bag of lotions, bath fizzles, etc. Margie gave me a beautiful scarf that I plan on wearing with my black pant suit. Peggy gave me a beautiful Begona plant
and a very special bracelet that belonged to Granma Rhode. Granma worked for the Bell Telephone Company and sometimes during a summer visit she would take me up there and I could watch her work. The bracelet has a little phone charm on it which is just like the old type phones with the little earpiece that attaches to the phone. I love it. I loved it all! We went to The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point on Saturday and had a wonderful day. You'll have to see our Sister's Sweet Retreat Blogsite for more pictures.
Then Saturday night I went on to visit my favorite Oremite family~ and their very exciting, getting older Mama! Sunday was Kristi's birthday and this was the first time in many years when I was able to be with her on her birthday. I often think of her as "my birthday present" since she was born just 3 days after my birthday. So, I was very excited to be with her when she turned cough, cough, cough. Sorry, there was something in my throat. :-)
I will never be able to include all of the fun pictures we took that day so, I'm going divert from my regular monologue and post just pictures~~~ Some of you are going to love this.














HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET KRISTI!!
WE LOVE YOU.

Another Wonderful Weekend

It was Monday, Labor Day, Paunie’s birthday and my last day off of work. I didn’t have school and I didn’t have the pharmacy for one more day. So…. I talked Dad into going for a ride with me. It’s been just a beautiful fall and I just needed to take some time to smell the roses. Literally and figuratively.

We ran some errands and then headed to Rexburg. Jolene and Dave were going to be home and Paunie and Larry were on their way back from Island Park so we decided to meet in Rexburg and celebrate Paunie’s birthday. Dad and I stopped and bought a couple of cakes. One was a white cake with strawberry filling. It had blueberries, raspberries and strawberries all over the top. The other one was six different kinds of cheesecakes. Some of us had big pieces and some of us had little pieces but we all had some from both cakes. We had a nice afternoon just sitting, visiting and eating cake. :-) Of course we took birthday pictures.


I think they all look really good!!
Then on Friday, the 11th Dad and I took a trip to Firth where we met with our lawyer and ---- YES!! we did it!!!
We signed our Wills, our Power of Attorneys and our Third Party Trust for Alisha. Can you believe it?? It’s finally all done and set up. When we can, we want to visit with each of you and let you know more of the details, but until then, just know things are in place!! I am SO excited to have this done. It’s been a dream of mine for several years now and we’re finally done.
Afterwards, we headed to Pocatello for a dr. appt. for Dad. We stopped at Granpa’s gravesite in Blackfoot and took some pictures. It was so pretty and peaceful there.
Dad reminded me that on his military headstone, we’ll have to put “Army” instead of “Navy” like Granpa’s has. Just a reminder….

And then, last Saturday Tessha and I started out for Jackson Hole. (One more outing before the snow falls :)
But we got lost and ended up in Afton, Wyoming. However, we had a wonderful day with beautiful scenery at the Palisades Dam. The water was clear,
the sky was blue
and the leaves were just starting to turn colors.
We had a nice lunch in Afton and then headed home because...
I had a date with a good looking fellow to go to the Symphony’s Concert in the Park.

And there you have another wonderful weekend.

Labor Day Weekend with the Sugie's

Friday finally came and with it came the Sugie's! We had waited long enough to see our favorite Oremite Family. I was working at the Pharmacy when I heard this little voice say, "Gamma". When I turned to look, as any "Gamma" would do, I saw the sweetest little faces staring back. A few hugs and kisses and then they were gone and I had to stay and finish work. 9:00 came way too slow after that.

When I got home we had to feed the fishes and make plans for Saturday. It was unamious~ we were going to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. We used to go every year towing with us any number of kids. I don't think we ever did get to take all 10 as we had moved to Oregon just before Alisha was born. But, we have lots of memories of fair week. Some of my earliest memories are of going with Granma and Granpa Thomas. They liked to spoil our kids with everything imaginable and I want to be like Granma T. at the fair. Thanks Sitani and Marley for letting me practice!
But before we could leave for the fair Saturday morning, Sitani had to show off his skateboarding skills. Really quite impressive for a little guy!


On the way to the fair we stopped at the DI to see if they had any strollers for sell. Marley found her kind of stroller and had to try it out.
I didn't take any pictures while at the fair because Kristi was taking some great shots and I knew she'd share them on her blog. Instead, I just got to be "Gamma" and have fun with the kids. Oh, the food, the people, the exhibits, and the rides!!
Alisha bought a wrist band and we didn't see much of her. Tessha decided to join her on the rides and then they were both gone. I think they must of rode every ride at least twice. At 10:00 PM they were still looking at me and with a pleaful voice asking, "Just one more ride, please?" Such was a great day at the fair. We've decided to make it an annual event. Anyone else living with my grandkids is welcome to come ~ that is if you bring the kids. (Watch for Kristi's blog for pictures)
Saturday night Kristi and I sat out on the swing till almost 2:00 o'clock in the morning talking and ocassionally going inside to check Will's tracker to see how he was doing on Rainer. (He's amazing!!!)
Sunday we all went to church and Sue and Mary Felber even joined us. Sue was taking Mary back to BYUI so they stopped in IF long enough to attend Church with us.
It's always so fun to see them both and to hear all the neat news from Drain. *** Mr. Vickery*** or "Roger" to us retired as Elementary Principal last spring but Candy is still there holding things together.
Haini prepared dinner for us and we were drooling from the wonderful smell of his grilled chicken, bratts and rice. He even did grilled corn on the cob for us. I called it the "Eat your heart out" menu! Did you take note of the grilled pineapple?? Sorry to anyone reading this that didn't get any. I still think he needs to open his own resturant (here in IF, of course).
While Haini grilled, Dad relaxed in his chair ~ Eli stretched out on the living room floor ~ and Sitani and Marley played on the tramp with the sprinkler under it and after dinner they had a dip in "Granma's swimming pool".

They could be the poster children for Hot Tub sells.
After naps on Granma's bed, they loaded up the bunk beds and crib and headed home to Orem. Thank goodness I'll get to see them in a couple of weeks. Withdrawal is always so hard.