The Dews & a Birthday

There is this group of senior citizens (about 87 in all) that have had fun for many years making music and enjoying being together. They are called "The Dews". They play country music and sound great! Each of "The Dews" has a "dew" name. Like my mom is Please Do, my dad is Gonna Dew, my Aunt is Dabba Dew, etc. Whenever someone is having a party, they all get together and entertain everyone else. My Uncle turned 75 and so a get together. Here are some photos of the event.

Lorraine "Shouldn't Dew", Gene "Should Dew", Les "Less DEW"

playing music and singing.
Sandi, Curtis, my mom Betty holding baby Autumn (her great granddaughter)

Uncle Jim "Data Dew" - a wopping 75 years old!

Aunt Marlene "Dabba Dew", Aunt Ida "Never Dew",

Uncle Dick "Used to Dew", Betty "Gonna Dew" holding Autumn

My talented Dad "Gonna Dew" playing the banjo ukelela.

Some of the Dews are dying off. But what a nice bunch of people. We enjoyed a great spread of food and entertainment and visiting! Happy Birthday Uncle Jim!

Disneyland with some of the Family

The first week of March we had a wonderful time. Heidi's family, Serina & Nick, and us all met up at our time share in Anaheim, California. We had two 2-bedroom suites. Worked out great. One suite for the Larkins and one for the rest of us. We all went together on Tuesday to Disneyland. Curtis and I went on Wednesday with the Larkins, while Nick tried surfing and Serina watched! Thursday was the Haines turn with the Larkins and Curtis and I went to the Los Angeles Temple for a day of service. Was great! Here are some photos that give a typical look at our week.

Disneyland - famous night look from Main Street

Sandi in front of the Los Angeles Temple. We did two sessions and
a sealing session. Even ate in the Cafeteria and visited
with some really nice temple workers.

The stroller brigade!!! We are all waiting for the parade to begin at California Adventure.
This was a Pixar Parade. I got excited to see Mater and Lightening McQueen!

This is in California Adventure. Curtis, Sandi, Christian, Noelle, Haven, Haley

Nick & Serina were great help! Haven's new best friend is "Uncle Nick"!!!
Christian, Haven and Haley. This was on the Jungle Cruise. Serina is wearing
maternity clothes now!

The entire gang in front of the shuttle the first morning at Disneyland.
We were all so excited to have fun together! And we Did!!

The great thing about staying at the time share is it has a minor kitchen. So Heidi was wonderful and cooked gourmet breakfasts for us all every morning. Tues - French Toast and fruit, juice. Wed - Whole Grain pancakes, fruit, juice. Thurs - egg mclarkin, bacon, juice, milk, fruit. Fri - left overs of all the breakfasts! We also made sandwiches and packed them in the bags for Disney lunches. We only had to buy food out once for evening meal. What a wonderful time.

Elected School Board President

It has been so fun serving on the Littleton School District Board. We just had our District Office dedication (brand new building) and our maiden board meeting in the new offices last night. Dedication plaque hanging in front foyer.

Wall in District Office. Pictures of the Board Members.

Here is Jeannie and I cutting the ribbon while Kathy, Sally, and Dr. Freeman look on.

My portion of the desk. I was re-elected President for 2010.

A New Eagle in the Family

We have a new Eagle Scout in our family. On Sat, Dec 26, 2009 (YES - the day after Christmas!) was Nathan's ceremony. These photos posted in reverse order. But you will get the idea.

Family, Friends all in attendance!

Big Brother, Steven (who is himself an Eagle) having Nathan take
the Pledge/Oath of becoming an Eagle Scout.

Grandpa getting the pin so he can present Steven with his Rank.

Proud Aunt with her new Eagle nephew!

(This was taken before the ceremony)

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we had fun seeing and being with most of our kids. Heidi's family on the left, Serina & Nick, then Peter's family on the right. Jason's family was in Utah visiting with family there.

Curtis & Sandi on Christmas Day.

A Pioneer Christmas

We had a Pioneer Christmas for our Ward Party tonight. It was so fun. Some families came dressed as pioneers or in their "native" costume. We had bar-b-que beef, ranch beans, peaches, rolls and lemonade for dinner. Here is food line with Pioneer CJW serving peaches.

A little dark, but the above photo is of our "Campfire" we had in the middle of the gym. A fan laid on its back with red crepe paper to float upwards to look like fire and stumps to sit on around and chat. Bro. Walker told stories in the person of "John D. Lee" and his interaction with the Prophet Joseph Smith during 1832 era.

Bishop Curtis and Sandi Nielson in pioneer wear around the campfire!

Ashley and Tessa Grantham in their native Apache wear. Their clothing was absolutely beautiful! They even had real moccasins...so soft to the touch.

We all had a great time singing Songs & Carols with the Stott Boys on their guitar and banjo around the campfire. Fun was had by all in attendance!

Early Christmas!

Our oldest son and his family had Christmas with us tonight. They are going to be her family on Christmas. The kids had fun opening gifts from their Utah Granny and Farfar and from us. You can see the excitement on their faces!

Jaycie opening up dolls and stuffed dog.

Jaren and his baseball mitt, ball and ball pump!

Carter with cloth activity book! Yea!!!

Scary Masks!

When we had gone to South Africa (years ago) we had brought back some masks for Jason. Well, to our good fortune they came back to our house. I am going to hang them in my "African - Grandkid Room". In otherwords, this is my room that has toys, crib, bed, and african decor. Heidi's two middle kids were at our house this past week and found them. They had to try them on! Miss Haven came running out and said "Grandma! I am scary!" She modeled every one. Then brother took his turn. See the variety below!

Aren't these really cool?! Can't wait to get them on the walls.

A Son's Gift

Thanksgiving day our son, Peter, brought this beautiful gift to us! He made it out of one sheet of plywood. It all comes a part and lays flat! It is absolutely beautiful. I brought it inside to get a good photo of it. With the shade in the yard, you can't see it as well (when I took the photo).

The beautiful Nativity Scene that our son made for us!
This is outside, but it is in the shade when I took the photo! There is also a spot light he gave us that goes with it. When hubby is home, he can get it all fixed up (right now he is helping fix sprinklers at our other son's home!).

Thanksgiving 2009

Once again Thanksgiving was at our house. We sure have lots of fun. My sister, Patti and her family came up on Wednesday night and stayed until Friday afternoon. Three of our children had to be other places: Reno, Utah, and home with sick kids! So only Peter's family came. We had my folks and my mom's sister and her hubby as well. We played a new game called "Split the Ward". It is a lot like Rummy...only hilarious! We also watched a couple of fun movies in the evening. Before everyone came for dinner on Thursday...they were all busy looking at the "Black Friday Sales" and making their shopping route for the next day!

Deep discussion about where to go for the sales!

Hubby went and did this early morning shopping event a couple of years ago...so I knew better. I stayed home! However...this year our garbage disposal died! So we went to Home Depot for a new one and installed it by the time the family got home with their treasures! We all then decided to drive out to my folks. We visited and had a great time. When it came time for Patti's family to hit the road back to Tucson....

....Hubby and I decided to sight see! We drove out through Estrella Mountain Ranch until every road hit a dead end. It was fun to see that side of the mountain! We also found this really cool star gazing place! It has an amphitheater, telescopes for night star gazing, and a beautiful water fountain and water noises! Several families were there taking pictures. We will have to try it one of these days.

This is part of the water fall that comes from the top fountain.

This is the Star Tower. I always thought it was just a landmark thingy someone built! Who knew! It has a paved walkpath, lighted trees, bridges. You can walk all the way to the tippy top of this tower and over look Goodyear and even see the Stadium in Glendale! Amazing scenery!

So now we have a new place to take Grandkids and do some easy hiking and photo shoots!

Construction in Gilbert

Saturday we went to Gilbert to visit with our kids who live there, Peter and Meggan. They are building a house. He gave us a tour. Here are a few photos of what it is looking like. It will only be about 10 minutes from the New Temple.

This is the front view - the porch and front door is on the right - directly in front of that white board laying on the ground.
This is the from the garage view. Two cars straight in, the one garage to the right is separated, but you can walk from one to the other from inside the garage.

Looking from Peter's property - you can the model home straight ahead. This gives a very good view of how it will look in design. Hopefully they will be settled in their home (first of February)before their 3rd baby comes in April .

After the NASCAR Race

Last Saturday following some NASCAR races, we were driving to our kid's in Gilbert and low and behold here was an amazing site to see. Right in front of us as we were getting on freeway was a big Truck hauling a BIG Truck and a LITTLE truck. It was so cute!!! Hubby said to grab the camera! So this was the first photo.

Here is the second photo as it was turning on the On-Ramp. You can see the little truck. I don't know if it was a Tonka Truck or not...but certainly cute! I think this driver has a sence of humor!

Marble Works

Today I got to spend the morning with one of my little grandson's and his baby sister while mom was out. While Sister was napping...we played with Marble Works. This is a great toy from Discovery Toys back in the 80s! You can see from the photo that he had lots of fun loading those marbles and watch them go!

Here he is with a fist full of marbles!

Larkin Resort Time

Nov. 1-7 hubby and I went to the Larkin Resort for some grankid time while the parental units went to Cozumel! This was totally reminiscent of when hubby and I left 4 little one with my mom while we went to Hawaii (only my little ones all had the chicken pox!). During the week child number 3 turned 3. As you can see below Superman and WonderWoman came to the party!

Below: WonderWoman picked out her cupcakes for her special day!
For WonderWoman's birthday DAY, grandma took her and cousin (also 3) to a nearby zoo. We had such an wonderful day. But I was very disappointed that the Cotton Candy machine nor Carosel were operating! Those were two things grandma's like to do!

We were at the Monkey section. Cousin was taking good care of WonderWoman. They were so excited to see "Dexter" from "The Night at the Museum" movie!

These two really liked the train. We spent a lot of time watching it come and go. Even when it was stopped...to check out the steel wheels and all that goes with a train!

Saturday, while grandma cleaned house in preparation for parental units to return from trip, grandpa took the three oldest to the Arizona Science Museum for 5 hours! Grandma packed them a lunch, snacks. They wanted to see what it was like to be on a plane like their parents.

One funny: Grandpa took all 4 to the airport to pick up parental units, oldest child said to the 2nd child "Do you think we will recognize mom and dad?" The other said, "Do you think they will remember us?"

Wednesday after oldest child got out of school early, we loaded up the mini van and went to Westgate Mall to watch the dancing waters. Not as exciting as the Bellagio in Vegas, but good. We then found the jumping waters (too bad we didn't know about it before hand, could have brought a change of clothes for kiddos).

The three by the waters at Westgate Mall.

Morning Walks

Boy, I am certainly enjoying my days with hubby! This morning we did not have to put flyers on houses for our School Bond. And hubby says to me...do you want to go walking? I said, "Would love to!" So we put on our walking shoes and hit the sidewalk. We walked all the way around our subdivision and explored some back places we had never been (such as Durango walkway!) and was amazed at all we saw. We walked 1.6 miles this morning. Feels good.

Early Morning Walks

Ever since we returned from Reno, NV hubby and I have been out walking at 7:00 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. every week day! We have been putting flyers on people's doors (in areas where we could not get volunteers) to tell them about the Littleton School Bond election on November 3rd. The walks have been in 65-70 degrees...PERFECT! Hubby noticed today that he could take his belt up one more notch. I feel the exercise in my leg to hip joints. We bought a pedometer (sp?) and we are averaging 3 miles a day. We quit at 8:30 because it is getting much warmer then. This will keep us busy until Nov 3rd...so I am hoping we can keep it up after the election. I love getting out walking! This has been a first!

Extreme House Makeover

Those of you not on FaceBook...I am finally sitting down to blog about our two weeks in Nevada helping our kids renovate their new home they bought - it was a 1973 built home that had been foreclosed and sat empty 10 months!

This place needed work. But now that it is almost all done, it will be a beautiful home! It was a four bedroom...but all rooms were only 10 x 12! So the kids knocked out a wall between the master and other bedroom to make a decent master bedroom. I am posting 10 photos. Kind of the highlights. I'll make comments at each picture.

Curtis installed electrical plugs and wiring on the entire bedroom wing. He installed wiring for 3 ceiling fans (installed 2 of them), a new hall light with separate switch, and all the wiring for the new master bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet. In the Family Room there was this back door with a swamp cooler mounted in it! Totally DUMB! We removed the swamp, framed it in, and walled it up!

This shows the wall where the swamp used to be. Once painted...you'll never know!

The entry way had a solid piece of lineoleum that was curled up. We removed it. I primed the floor and then we layed new vinyl squares that look like ceramic tile! Hubby taught the kids "how to do" and they did.

This is the shower off the family room. This is the finished product. I stripped grout and mold off of their three bathrooms and re-grouted and sealed it all.

This is the bathroom off of the family room.

This is part of the family room. I did all the prime painting and triming around doors, plugs, outlets, corners, ceilings...This corner...was a fiasco! I was painting behind the TV area and as I went to stand up, my left thigh caught the lip of the tv stand and paint went flying over my head and hit the wall . See that big splash of paint?!! Well...the rest was all over me. Too bad we didn't have a photo of that! Took the 3 of them with turpentine cleaning up out on that patio you see to the left! It all came out of my clothes!

This is where we are constructing the master walk-in closet. Daughter became the expert in measuring and cutting drywall while the guys screwed the panels to the walls!

This is the master bath before renovation. See the sink in the bedroom and NOT in the bathroom? That sink cabinet is now history, and the wall goes around the entire bathroom. We added a medicine cabinet in the wall. The door to the left of the sink in the photo was the old door way into the master bedroom. That is now a solid wall.

I scrubbed every corner of the inside of the house on my hands and knees. I also 409-ed every wall and door in the house. The garage to laundry room door was black when when I started. Now it looks new! Plus...no germs! I swept around the entire outside of the house with a broom and dustpan. The weeds were so dry that the broom worked like a rake! There are now no bugs or cobwebs anywhere! It truly did a number on my asthma! I should have taken my nebulizer with me.

The kids just have to finish mudding the master walls and painting. The two kids bedrooms had new carpet layed in there on Tuesday this week. So it is coming along. Can't wait to go back and enjoy the house and have fun with the kids and NOT work!