BirthDAYS

I have the greatest daughters in the world! My birthday is tomorrow so Carrie and Heidi took me to breakfast. We had a great visit (Noelle slept in her car seat), great food. Denny's has really good breakfasts. Then Carrie handed me some cards. One was from Serina (in Reno)! What a surprise...she gave me an hour massage...that I got at noon today!!! Meggan took care of my feet and got me new house slippers. You all know...no shoes in our house. So I like to keep my feet warm and Meggan has a knack for finding the cutest, comfortable slippers. So to my four girls...I love you all and thank you for making my birthday feel special...even early! Tomorrow night Curtis and I are going to dinner and maybe the Stake Prom...see how tired we are!

Peter's family comes for a Play Night

Friday night we had Peter's family over. Grandpa and I played with Tytan and Ridge so Peter and Meggan could go out for Peter's birthday. What fun these boys are! What busy boys they are! But oh so cute!

Here is Ridge, he turned 1 in January. Tonight was the first time I saw him WALKING! He was fascinated with the VCR and kept trying to put his hand in it. Grandpa finally put heavy books in front of it. They he was directed to the cable box! He knew the word "no". He would go back and say "No" and then grab it. Too funny! You just want to snuggle him.

This is our Tytan. He is 2 1/2. When Grandpa asked him how old he was he said,"1, 2". Good enough. He knows his letters and the sounds! I had some letter cookies and he would say here is a "t" and then say "ta for Tytan". Meggan works with him and said her goal is to have him start reading by this fall. Meggan knows the Montesorri method and taught in a Montessori (sp?) school before she married Peter.

Doesn't Tytan look like Peter???

Small World!

As you know, our front door is a revolving door to many individuals in need. Today we had another sister, Leasa Michael, move in to live with Curtis and I for the next several months. I am so glad that we have a home where we can open it up to others.

Anyway...back to my story. As her 16 year old son, Joshua, was helping her with loads (he lives in Gilbert with a friend) we were talking about where he used to live. Roseburg, Oregon! I said my friend (Emily Moeller) just married a dentist, Brannick Adams, from Roseburg, Oregon a few weeks ago! Joshua said, "He got married?" I said, "You know him?" Joshua said, "He was my teacher in our ward!" Small world. They know Brannick. I am wondering if they now Robin Wedge's mom...but I couldn't remember her mom's name. They said Roseburg is very small and all the members know each other!

I just love the church. You open your mouth and you know someone from where they are from! Gotta love it!

First new car in 30 Years!

My Mom is so excited! She and Dad just bought a brand new Toyota Corolla. The last 30 years they have bought used cars with low mileage. This is their first new car in 30 years and it is beautiful. Here is the inside:
Here is mom, Betty, standing by her car in our driveway. It is so sporty compared to what they have ever driven. Way to go mom and dad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD!

Today is my brother's birthday. He is turning a whopping 49! Next year we need to have a party. His real name is Larry, but since he was a baby, we have always called him "Bud". He is one hardworking husband, father, and brother! We wish you a happy birthday and know that we all love YOU!

Meeting my Uncle Lloyd

My dad is #10 of 13 children. Today his older brother, Lloyd Gibb, came to visit him. His wife died last fall and he decided he needed to go and visit his remaining siblings...so the stop in Arizona. Curtis and I went out to Mom and Dad's for dinner so I could see him. Last time I saw him was about 1978 when Jason was 1 year old at a family reunion! He is an amazing guy. He flew 37 missions over Germany from England in World War II. He had a painting of his plane he flew decaled on his motorhome! We had a great visit with him. I guess he will be here for a few weeks.

Here is a photo of my dad, Larry, on the left with Lloyd on the right. We got to talking about their cousin "Andy Gibb". I didn't know it, but they were telling me how Andy was dating Victoria Principle from "Dallas TV" show. When they split, that is when Andy overdosed on drugs and died. Lloyd plays the guitar. My dad plays the banjo, ukelea, and other instruments. Gibb men are very talented! For those of you who don't know...here is a piece of trivia. Their grandfather Leroy Gibb had a brother (I don't remember his name). They lived in England. Leroy decided to migrate to America via SLC and then on to Alberta. The brother decided to go to Australia. The brother to Leroy is the grandfather of the BeeGees. We are all related!
There are only my dad, Lloyd, Keith, Don and their sister Norma left out of the 13 kids! They were all born in Del Bonita, Alberta, Canada. Now that is probably more than you wanted to know! But I had a great evening with stories!

Friday Morning Surgery

Friday morning my loving husband took the day off so he could take me to surgery. After having 5 pregnancies and OLD age creeping in (I'll be 54 in 2 weeks)...I needed to have some female work done. There is a new surgery that has been out for 6 years now called Gynecare TVT Secur System. Long name for a Bladder Sling! From other females who have had this done, I understand in about 2 months time I will get my life back! No more crossing legs or sitting down fast so I can cough or laugh! This was a quick outpatient procedure...but I slept all day long from the anesthesia.

Curtis made sure I was comfortable, wrapped in warm blankets (if you know me...I am usually cold!) and let me sleep! He played secretary all day on the phone and brought me meds as needs.

I am so greatful for Visiting Teachers who brought in dinner. Lisa even brought me a humorous cartoon book (since she knew I loved to read) to look at while recuperating! So thought ful. Today is now Sunday morning and I am feeling very good. I just can't lift anything for 4-6 weeks. Now that is going to be the HARD PART of all this.

Thanks Curtis for taking such good care of me! I love you.

Helping Family

Thursday was a very fun day. My sister, Patti, and her two kids, Ashley and Nathan came up for the afternoon and evening. Ashley is working on a Young Women's project of learning how to sew and in the process making her a dress. So she came to Aunt Sandi to figure out how to adjust a pattern and cut it out. While she was here we got the top sewed together! She picked up the process very well. I can't wait to see the finished project!

While Ashley was sewing...I interviewed Nathan so he could complete his Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge. He did a great project at Carden School in Tucson among other activities for this badge. It is great seeing another future Eagle Scout in the progress! He should be Life by the end of April! Woo Hoo Nathan!

Garden Delights!

This past Saturday Curtis had a lot of tomatoes and bell peppers from the garden! We decided to try to make salsa. We got on the internet and found two recipes that we would try. This is the only we absolutely fell in love with! It is a Pico De Gallo Salsa. We made a huge batch and will probably be eating it all week.

The recipe is easy:

4 c. ripe red tomatoes finely chopped

1 large bunch of cilantro chopped stemmed

1 white onion finely chopped

2 serrano or jalenpeno chilies finely chopped (we used jalenpeno)

1 tsp salt

2 TBsp of Lime Juice

Stir, cover, put in frig to marinate. We ate it about 2 hours later. Yummy, but next day it was AWESOME!

I also made a 9x13 pan of stuffed bell peppers for Sunday dinner. Home grown bell peppers do not cause burping! So I love them!

My friend was married today!

Today Emily Moeller was married today! She was in our girl scout troop when she was 10 years old in Tucson. Below is a photo of her sister, Allison, brothers Aaron & Nathan.

These were her girl friends from Tucson! I know the three on the right. So here it goes:
L to R: ??, Becky Shipley, Christy Larimore, Jenny Smith. (I don't know Becky & Christy's married names.)

Here is Brannick and Emily Adams coming out of the Mesa Temple. They have a great story. She is an RN graduate from BYU. Brannick has been in private Dental practice in Roseburg Oregon for 3 1/2 years. They met through the internet. They are so perfect for each other.

Here they are at the luncheon. It was at the Landmark Restaurant in Mesa. Terrific food!

Curtis and I sat with Jenny and her mom, Shauna Smith. We had a great time catching up and hearing each other's travel stories! Jenny is a labor & delivery nurse in Orem UT.

What a terrific day! A lot of grateful tears and smiles!

Visit from Jaren

When I pulled into the garage today after our "Preschool Farm trip" but here pulls in Carrie and the boys. Jaren made Grandma (me) a necklace in his preschool and brought it to me. It is so beautiful! I just had to take a photo of these wonderful brothers! Jaren with his arm around Carter. Carter is holding his stuffed animal that he calls his "Coyote"!

Aren't they cute!

Trip to the Farm with a Preschool

Today I went with Christian's preschool to the Talmachoff Farms in Glendale (75th Avenue, north of Camelback). It was very fun for the kids. The farm had animals and some of them the kids could pet. They had shetland ponies, turkeys, goats, pig, cow, ostrich, chickens, ducks, sheep. They had tricycles for the kids to ride, a slide, and picking vegetables from the huge garden and a little train ride (made out of 55 gal drums) pulled by a tractor.

Haven looking at baby chicks.

Each child is given a sack (name in marker on it) to put their veggie finds in. Haven was fascinated with a pinecone she found.

Heidi and Christian eating lunch.

Christian and his carrots!

Haven and Christian posing before the train ride. Haven did NOT want to stay for the actual ride. So she ate her lunch while Christian drove his train car.

Wildlife Zoo Outing

Monday was President's Day and Curtis had the day off. It was great. We had a leisure morning doing a few things around the house...basically waiting for the outside temperature to get warmer. It was really cold in the morning. Once it hit 50 degrees, we headed for the Wildlife Zoo in Glendale, AZ. Curtis had never been before. I had been a few times with the grandkids. It is far better than the Phoenix Zoo ever thought of being. We took lots of photos, but I only put a few in here.

These guys kept trying to sneak through the gate when the train would go through. Reminded me of Africa as I saw some of these beautiful animals!

This one reminded me of Swan Lake in Germany!

I made Curtis go back and watch this baby monkey and his mama. I could sit and watch them all day! They are so fun!

Afterwards, we went to Heidi's and saw the kids, had dinner and FHE with them. A long day, but really nice!

No HOT Water!

Well, I stepped into what I thought was going to be a warm shower last night (I had the water running to get warm) and to my SHOCK...ICE COLD! Apparently our water heater died again! We had an element and thermostat repaired in Aug 2006! Now just 2 1/2 years later...again!???
I heated water on the stove and Curtis had to wash his hair over the sink. I told him...wasn't this what you did on your mission?!!

I have a call into the repair man. I think I want one of those tankless heaters...but this one is still under warranty...so we'll have it repaired one more time! --- Just spoke to the maintenance people...they are coming between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. tomorrow morning! Because we have to be to the temple at 10:30 for Emily Moeller's wedding! We will have to find a neighbor to let us use their shower!!

I am spending this morning with little Christian at his preschool field trip. We are going to some farms in Glendale.

Sunday Morning

What a quiet and peaceful morning it is. The rain is hitting the roof - SHOCK! It is actually raining all night and morning here in Avondale! I tell everyone it is west Texas - dustbowl! The rythmn of the rain was so lulling and my nice warm bed.

I looked for the warmest thing in my closet to wear to church...I decided to layer up. I just know the Chapel will be minus 75 degrees my body loves! Quit laughing you snow people!

I have been listening to BYU TV while getting ready for church. I put together a loaf of bread to mix in the bread machine for dinner today. I am enjoying checking everyone blogs this morning. So fun to stay in touch that way.

Oops to St Mary's

I forgot to attach the info on where this food bank is.

Glendale Office: 5605 N. 55th Avenue, one block north of Camelback Road.
Open Mon-Friday 8:00 to 3:00 p.m. They will take Cash or Debit Cards only.

Buckeye Office: 214 S. 5th Street. They are open Tuesday to Thursday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The general information phone number is: 602-415-5474

Here is what they typically carry:
Pantry Box $13.00 (approx. 14-16 pantry items) Plus 1 free Bonus Box of donated items

Meat Pack $16.00 (6-4 oz Boneles skinless Chicken Breast, 1-16 oz Beef Chub, 1.5 lbs St Louis Ribs, 1 lb italian Sausage = 5.5 total lbs.) Plus 1 free Bonus Box of donated items

Griller $20.00 (2-6 oz Beef Sirloin Tip Filet, 1-16 oz Beef Chub, 4-40z Boneless Pork Chops, 2-4oz Pork Medallions or St Louis Ribs, 4-4 oz Boneless Chicken Breasts = 5.5 lbs total meat) Plus 1 free bonus Box of donated items

Variety Box $30 (this is what I got) (2-6 oz Beef Sirloin Tip Filet, 1-16 oz Beef Chub, 4-4oz Boneless Pork Chops, 2-4oz Pork Medallions or St Louis Ribs, 4-4 oz Boneless Chicken Breats and a Pantry Box, plus 2 free bonus boxes of donated items)

Meat Lovers $35.00 (6-4 oz boneless skinless chicken breat, 1-16 oz Beef Chub, 1.5 lbs St Louis Ribs, 1 lb Italian Sausage, 2-6 oz Beef Sirloin Tip Filet, 1-16 oz Beef Chub, 4 oz Boneless Pork Chops, 2-4oz Pork Medallions or St Louis Ribs, 4-4 oz Boneless Chicken Breasts plus 2 free Bonus Boxes of donated items)

The donated items are from stores like Fry's, Sam Club, Costco, etc...

St Mary's Food Value Club - Food Bank

My mom and my daughter’s wards both have been announcing info about the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance program called “Food Value Club”. This is a program regardless of race, income, citizenship can go and purchase boxes of food for a nominal amount of money. They were encouraged to go and use it...otherwise they might stop the program if people are not using it.

So on Wednesday afternoon my mom, my sister-in-law (Misty) and I went to the one at 5605 N. 55th Avenue in Glendale today and purchased the $30 box. I also picked up two trays of Lasagna for $3.00 each. Apparently the money we spend on the boxes off sets the price of the boxes a bit so they can give some boxes out to those on food stamps for free. After looking at all this food that I paid $36 total for a value of $100.00 had I gone to a store.

I have taken photos from 4 different angles so you can see what we EACH got.

Here is the written list of what was in the boxes:

10 tomatoes
bag of oranges
bag of grapefruit
2 large Acorn Squash
Romaine Lettuce

2 boxes of Saltines
2 loaves of bread
1 loaf of French bread
blueberry muffins
1 bag hot dog buns
1 bag of hamburger buns

3 tins of Butter Cookies
1 tin of Peppermint Bark (chocolate on bottom, peppermint on top…waaayyyy yummy!)
Marzepan (sp?) in box from Germany

2 French’s Mustard
1 small jar of peanut butter
1 can green beans
1 can mandarin oranges
1 can mushroom soup
1 can diced tomatoes
2 boxes of Macaroni & Cheese “shell” style
1 bag of Corn Flakes cereal
2 cans of tuna fish

1 lb pinto beans
3 lbs pasta noodles

Box of Meat:
1 lb of hamburger
2 -6oz Beef Sirloin Tip Filet
1-16 oz Beef Chub
4-4oz Boneless Pork Chops
3 skinless chicken breasts

Glade oil plug in with refill – Apple Cinnamon scent

24 bottles of Tiger Gatorade (looks like grape flavor)

Then the 2 – 2 lb meat sauce Lasagna that I bought in addition.

The Food Bank order form I have attached has two locations you can go. Notice the Buckeye site takes ONLY CASH. The Glendale site takes Cash and Debit cards ONLY. We tried the Glendale site today. There is enough food for a family for a week with what we got today. I will probably try the Buckeye place in 2 weeks and see if it is different or similar. There are several sites in the West Valley. You can call the info line for more details 602-415-5474. You can also check out the web link http://www.firstfoodbank.org/locations.html

Here is a news clip on this program: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/smartshopper/story/How-to-get-100-worth-of-groceries-for-only-30/aQuTZQT7aUil5dAiV-9sjA.cspx

Blessing Grandchild #8...Little Noelle

Sunday was a very special day for the Arizona family again. Little Noelle Heidi Larkin was blessed by her wonderful dad, Jace! He talked about how special her name is "Noelle" which means Christmas. She is to remember the special qualities of Christmas and to exemplify them in her life as she grows. It was wonderful and she was beautiful and peaceful through it all. It was also very touching to see all that Priesthood power in the circle...Grandpa Curtis, Uncle Jason, Uncle Peter, Uncle Warren and her dad and Bishop McClaws.

Below is the photo taken after the blessing at the Larkin home in the backyard (before everyone ate). Grandma Gibb (my mom) was there along with my sister, Connie, but they were taking this photo for us...so they didn't get in the picture.

Here is sweet Noelle. She is so precious!

This is the Larkin Family: Haven (2) is in Jace's arms, Noelle (nearly 2 mo) in Heidi's arms,

with Christian (4) and Haley (she turned 6 yesterday!) in the front.

We are blessed with incredible children who are teaching their young to walk in the ways of the Lord. Who could ask for anything more?!

Crazy Hectic Week

I keep thinking I should write on my blog...but I just have a crazy schedule that I think is probably NOT interesting to anyone. Monday and Tuesday I spent all day at Estrella Vista Elementary School reading to every class in the school (K through 8). It was great. I read some really fun and interesting books. I ask the teachers to provide the book so it fits their curriculum. Then Tuesday after school, I went to the School District office for updated photos. Our photos hanging at all the schools were really old and the board members have changed. So that was fun! Then on to a special Board meeting that ran from 4:30 to 9:00 pm. I was so tired by the time I got home.

Then Wednesday I went to my CES class. Yes, this is the same class I went to when I was teaching Seminary. But I want to continue learning about the New Testament! The last three Wednesdays we have been studying ACTS and learning about Paul. I learned a lot that I never knew or it didn't register before. He was an amazing guy. Reminds me of Alma the Younger! I think it would be cool to meet him! I was home for a couple of hours (tried to nap...but couldn't...brain just to busy!!!) and then Curtis and I had a quick dinner.

Then off to our City Board we serve on. It used to be called the Waste Water Advisory Board for the City of Avondale. City Council changed the name and added more members to the board. It is now called the Environmental Affairs Commission. This seems like a much better "Agenda" type meeting than the old one. I think it will be fun and interesting to give in put to the City Council and Mayor for our town.

Today...I am doing what I do on every Thursday. Clean house. Do laundry. Iron. YES I still iron. I do not like my husband looking wrinkled at church! or anywhere! I have also been learning (with Curtis) how to sell Stock options. So I did my first trades today. A Bit scary. But mission accomplished. Now we will see how we fare.

I am now off to make "Amish Friendship Bread". One of my seminary students gave me this at the end of last year. It is wonderful! I found the recipe on line and am making the entire batch...then I can freeze the loaves to give away or serve later. I have a crock pot of white beans and ham hock with bone cooking. It is making the house smell great! Making me hungry.

So...not a very interesting life. Just busy. Keeps me out of trouble.

Haley receives Award

This morning Haley was receiving a couple of awards at school. She received an award for reading over 100 books, and "She works hard and always tries her best" award.

Grandma Gibb (my mom), Christian, and Heidi waiting for ceremony.

Haley with her awards afterwards.

Little Haven with Heidi (her mom) before award ceremony.

The guy in the blue shirt up close is Haley's teacher - Mr. Matsura (sp?). You can see the Larkin Family and Grandma Gibb across the room sitting on the 2nd row of bleachers. Jace showed up just in time and sat in the front row - Haven on his lap.