Hedwig's Theme

Josh just had a piano recital where he played Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter. It was great!
Jane Anne came with me and we always enjoy the tiny kids who are playing for their very first time (songs like Twinkle, Twinkle, or I am a child of God) and then especially the last students who are really advanced. And, of course, we love to hear Josh play. His teacher, Carol Cherry, is an amazingly positive woman who really encourages the students with lots of praise! She's awesome and so is Josh for still taking piano and practicing every once in a while!

Janie's Sunday birthday dinner

We always celebrate our birthdays on the Sunday closest to the person's actual birthday. This is a result of being married to a doctor and never being able to know when they might make it home for dinner. Sunday is always a safe day---unless the doctor happens to be on call. (I learned early in our marriage that you don't have to celebrate on the actual day as long as you celebrate.) So, today we had Janie's birthday dinner. She chose fried chicken with mashed pots for her dinner and we had the traditional chocolate cake for dessert. She got some really cute clothes, DVD's of "The Office", and tickets to the Rascal Flats concert on Thursday night!!

Confessions of a shop-a-holic!

O.K. O.K. Recent evidence proves that I am definitely a shop-a-holic when it comes to good deals! This past Presidents' Day weekend, Bob, Josh and I spent with the Willey family. The boys all went skiing at Park City and Lisa and I headed to the outlet mall. It was a really wet, snowy day and there were very few people there when we went. We found the most incredible deals!! We only looked at clearance merchandise and all of it was under $5.00! We had additional coupons for most of the stores we went to, and so I got lots of outfits for grandchildren at about $3.75! Whole outfits! We are set with gifts for next Christmas! It was incredible! That night, it being Valentine's Day, we went with Todd and Lisa to a darling little restaurant in Heber called "Breadsticks". It had a fun atmosphere and good food, too! Monday we went back up to Heber where we were joined by the Harmon family. Todd and Jeff Harmon took all the kids to the South Summit Aquatic Center and then the girls and Bob and I went to the outlet mall again. (Bob was looking to replace a favorite pair of golf pants.) The deals were just as great and we had a lot of fun. After, we met the boys and kids at the Dairy Keen for lunch. It was a great week-end!!!

February 24th Birthday Girls!

Imagine my delight at giving birth to a daughter after four darling, very busy boys, and having her born on my mother's 60th birthday! I love these two amazing women so much...I am grateful that they can share the same birthday! It almost didn't happen...Jane Anne took her time in getting here and was born about 11:35 p.m. I was worried she wouldn't make the 24th. I happen to be born on my father's birthday, Aug. 25th, and that has always held special meaning for me. Janie turns 20 and Grandma Mimi turns 80th. Special birthdays for both!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TWO VERY SPECIAL GIRLS!!!

The Draper Temple Open House

Today, Feb. 13th, we began our President's Day weekend. We went to Salt Lake to the Draper Temple Open House. It is so beautiful inside! What a wonderful experience! It has beautiful wood throughout and the most brilliant chandeliers I have ever seen. They were gorgeous! The endowment rooms are small, seating only 50 and have nature scenery painted on the walls. When finished in these rooms, the patrons go to another room that connects to the celestial room. The colors are all whites and creams and the sego lily has been used in the stained glass and in the ceiling decorations. We all felt the wonderful spirit there. When Josh said to me, "This is so cool!" I was so glad we had made the effort to come!

Relief Society Enrichment Night!

Thursday night, before our big party for my mom on Saturday, was our Relief Society Enrichment Night. This was our first one as a new presidency. It was fantastic (if I so modestly say so myself)!


We decorated with pink and green and had a great dinner of chicken salad, grapes, rolls and yummy dessert. Thanks to Costco and Sister Joann Sharpe for their culinary talents! Joann, shown below with me, is a fantastic cook and savvy shopper! I hope to glean from her wisdom and talents. She made a richly decadent chocolate cake for everyone.




We were serving at 6:00 p.m. and by 6:05 most every seat was taken and we had to set up about 50 more seats! We estimate we probably fed 400---the turn out just blew us away. Our speaker was Wendy Ulrich, my sister Karen's friend, a psychologist who deals in loss and how to cope. She gave a meaninful talk that I found to be really helpful in dealing with challenges. I think everyone enjoyed her, she was funny and charming as well as insightful. Our presidency is walking on cloud nine right now!

James comes for Grandma Mimi's birthday celebration!

James flew in on Friday night to surprise Grandma Mimi with the other grandkids for her birthday! We loved having him with us! He, Bob and Josh went skiing at Park City on Saturday and then we went to the party around 5:00 p.m. (The party was so perfect! ) We then had a special Sunday dinner at 12:00 noon for James and everyone came including Grandma Jackson and Grandma Mimi and my sister Marianne who was in town for the party. Oh, how I wish my kids lived close! It has been so fun to see Jared and James!

Can Grandma Mimi really be 29 for the 52nd time?

My Mom is 80! Wow! That is hard to believe. In my mind (and hers) she will always be a youthful 29! We had a wonderful party for her! We went to my sister Karen's house for a dinner with just her children---so she thought! Little did she know that ALL the grand kids, near and far, had been invited and most of them came! They met at Karen's nearby church around the back (where they wouldn't be seen by Grandma when she drove up to Karen's house) and then they all showed up on the front porch and sang "Happy Birthday" as the door was opened. What a terrific surprise!!! My mom just stood there speechless and then started to cry! It was priceless!


The cake was awesome! Christina made a "Brownie" cake and she and her talented friend, Jill Moulton decorated it. (Grandma Mimi is really "29" for the 52nd time because we need to count the year she was actually 29!)


Then, we quickly set up tables and chairs, had a yummy feast and a really nice program about her life. Catherine told about she got the "shopping gene" from Grandma and how her little Elizabeth thought Nordstorm's "must be heaven"! James told about her tradition of taking the grand kids to lunch when they are at BYU and going to Brick Oven and her always ordering a pizza with double pepperoni. Amy told about how she always had snacks in her home and where ever she traveled. I got to speak about what a devoted friend she has been and Karen spoke about her love of family. David told about her spiritual legacy and Alan about her love of learning. Annie told about all the places she had traveled and we presented her with a beautiful large framed map of the world with pins in all the places where she had traveled and lived, and where her missionary children and grandchildren had been. We gave her a few questions to answer about her life and it was very touching to her responses. We love you, Mom! Thanks for a priceless legacy!

Jared comes to visit!

Jared arrived at our house early Feb. 7 at 5:30 a.m. He had flown into Las Vegas, where he was picked up by an old mission companion, Brady and his wife, Melissa. Then they all headed for Provo, where they were to spend the night at our house. They thought they would get here about 2:30 a.m., but rolled in at 5:30! Needless to say, they all went to bed, and then around 11:00 a.m., Jared emerged from the downstairs bedroom and we got to visit! We ended up going out for a late lunch at Magleby's Fresh and Ryan and Becca and Janie joined Dad, me, and Josh for our all too short visit with Jared. He managed to see Grandma Jackson before he met us, and then later went to Salt Lake for the Keith Neilson's wedding and reception. Then Sunday, they all left for Las Vegas again with a stop in St. George to see Grandma Mimi and John. They had a wonderful lunch together and then it was off to the airport. Whew! What a quick but productive trip! We loved seeing Jared and talking with him. How much we miss him! We wished he and Jen and Tanner were close by!

Making Valentines

On Sunday night, Feb. 1st, Becca, Jane Anne and I made Valentines. This is turning into a tradition. We made Valentine's last year, too, while we were staying at the Zermott Resort in Midway. We had so much fun...lots of fun papers, ribbons, die-cuts, stickers, etc... and our amazing creativity. The men were all happy watching the Superbowl, too bad that Arizona lost! It was fun to have some "girl time"!!