A Boy and His Blanket

Graham is getting more and more attached to his blanket. When he gets out of his crib in the morning, he has to bring it with him to breakfast. If he sees it, after being away from it for an hour or more, he starts fussing and running to it like he has found an old lost friend.

Extreme Home Makeover

For the last week, my parents have been here visiting. They just left this morning. Because they're so great, they helped us decorate our apartment while they were here. They really did a lot of manual labor, and everything looks great. Beth and Jason can attest to how boring and bland our apartment was before. I had to share some of the pictures. And, of course, a big THANK YOU to Matt and Nancy, who gave me some Home Depot money for my birthday. We put it to good use. Also a big thank you to Bryan, who put together a lot of new furniture.

This is the kitchen. Bryan put together the sideboard. We don't have a lot of counter space, so these additions were great.


This, of course, is the boudoir. It's amazing what curtains and a few throw pillows can do.

This is the dining room. Ignore all the stuff on the table. That mirror is gigantic -- I love it.
This is the living room. Try to imagine it before -- basically nothing on the walls (which were white), no curtains... It turned out really great.
We had this weird corner where there was in indent in the wall. My mom had a great idea -- build shelves there. This is the result.

A Winter Pick-me-up

This is George's favorite video to watch these days! It is from one of the happiest movies ever - "Enchanted." He loves it for some reason and he always laughs when the prince gets run over by the bikers. I have been a little depressed so it is so fun to watch with him. I hope you all enjoy it, and that it brings a bit of happiness to this yucky winter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYU4cqUAUs

Did you know that Christmas is over?

Well, tomorrow is February so I guess the holiday season is finally over. Time to get back to work. This month has been great. I have just hired two new agents and they look like they are going to do well. Brad Nye (Yes, my next door neighbor) is giving it a go as well as Brandon Fenwick. Looks like a boomin year for the rug business. Mom sure misses you guys. We can't wait for the triathalon in about a month. Take care.

A Shout out to Chelsey!!

I forgot to blog on Chelsey's birthday, January 4th. I did remember to send her a birthday text though, so I half remembered!!!

Chelsey is such a grand addition to our family. She fits right in. (some days probably not the best compliment). Most of all she and Bryan are a great pair!!! We were so happy to have you home with us for awhile. I look forward to coming and seeing you in May!

I hope you had a good birthday, and enjoy your painting when your parents come.

Happy Birthday Maggie!!!

Today was Maggie's birthday. I have been thinking of her all day, and hope that she had a good day.

Maggie is really incredible. She says she has no friends in LeMoore, yet everytime I call she is reading a book for some book club or throwing a baby shower for a friend with another friend. For a person with no friends, she sure keeps busy!!!!

Maggie is a good daughter and sister. She was always kind of a peace maker in our home. She was part of the younger kids and older kids, too. We are proud of Maggie and how she has built a good life and family. She is an example to all of us. She has strong values and beliefs that she can keep and still be a good friend to everyone!

I am glad that Maggie is part of our family. I wish that she lived closer, so we could be a part of her everyday life a little more!!!

Sure is quiet!!!

We had such a great time with everyone here. Sometimes the tension is up, but for the most part I think we did great, biting our tongues and letting everyone have their own opinions!

Dad has gone back to work. He is training one, maybe two new agents. The house is back together and we are very lonesome. Even the Thompsons have been absent. Oliver comes over once in awhile to play video in the placement, but that is it!!!!

I just want to tell all of you, children and their mates, (we really don't think of the mates any differently, to us you are all our children) how much we love and admire you. In your own spheres you are all so successful and such good influences on the people you associate with. Believe me, not all parents can say that!!!!

We are so fortunate to have a family that all love each other, and want to be together.

Thank you for the good times we had. We are already lonesome for the noise and confusion!!

Back to life....back to reality

I hope every one is recovering from the Ray invasion. We are having a hard time making our way back to reality. Graham has been a little feverish and Lucy still says at least once a day, "I would happy if we could just go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house!" Or at least something very similar. We had such a great time with everybody. Thanks to Mom and Dad for making our Christmas so great and helping out with our little ones so much. We love you! Only 3 more shopping days until someone special's birthday!!

Happy holidays from snowy Rexburg

We definitely had a white Christmas here in Rexburg. Between the night of December 23 (when we arrived) and yesterday morning, it snowed over 7 inches. We used a very scientific method to calculate that figure -- we measured how deep the snow was on the rail of our deck (below).


We had a really nice time, and we're looking forward to seeing you all in Utah tomorrow to finish out our holiday celebration.

Looking back . . .

I can't believe it is almost Christmas! What's even weirder, is that George was only 3 months old last Christmas, and now he is so grown up. I can't wait to have all of the grand kids together! George and Graham will be soon partners in crime! We are so excited to have the whole family together!

Thank you one and all!!

Just wanted to comment to each of you on how much I appreciate your posts! I really enjoy reading them and going to each of your blogs and seeing what is going on with you. I hope we can keep this going.

Americas Next Top Model

Check Lucy out.......this is her new favorite pose.

Thanksgiving with the Virginia branch of the Hickmans

Bryan and I really enjoyed our first Thanksgiving together. It was great having Beth and Jason here. We ate a lot, took naps, and even managed some sight-seeing. We also played a lot of the game "Scene It." It's movie trivia, so I'm sure you can guess why it's Bryan's favorite game.

I was pretty proud of the place settings -- watch out, Martha Stewart!


We took Beth and Jason to Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate. This is the view of the Potomac out his back door.

Santa is Watching!

We had a little package delivered to our house on Saturday night. Lucy and Graham got a gift from Santa and his elves! (We love Grandma and Grandpa!). The elves rang the doorbell and ran (Jason is quite the sprinter). Lucy was so excited to find the Polar Express DVD and the big bell. She was beaming from ear to ear when we read the note to her from Santa and the elves. She called and told her cousins, Abby and Oliver, about her surprise. She was so happy to find out that they had gotten a similar package. The next day she told a few of her friends at church that "Santa is watching everyone!" On the way home from church she asked Jason, "Did the 'A''s give some to Abby and the 'O's to Oliver?" She's a little confused about the elves being elves and not 'L's (as in Lucy). So funny!

Whenever we're in the car we've been listening to Soft rock 98.9, because they're playing only Christmas music from here on out. Lucy came walking into my room singing the stations little jingle, "Sofrod....98.9!" I had to try not to laugh because I wanted her to keep doing it.

This is Graham in his brand new coat. I couldn't stop laughing as I watched him walk around. So flippin' cute! It's been a freezing 59 degrees here in Lemoore (that's cold for us....I know, we're wimps). We felt like the guy needed some gear. Especially because we're heading to Utah in 16 days! Whoopeee!

Married with a kid...and proud of it!!

The other day was especially annoying in my sociology class. The topic was on marriage and families and pretty much every word that came out of the professors mouth was negative and anti-marriage. It was really annoying, she always talks about how people in Utah are stupid because they get married to young, to poor, and too dumb. So much of what she was saying that day was basically a direct attack on every decision I have made in the last few years. I realize that I was very young to get married, and VERY young to start having kids, but you know what...I'M STILL HAPPY I DID IT! And just because 50% of marriages end in divorce doesn't mean that nobody should get married, or that it doesn't work out for some of us! She was bugging me, I almost raised my hand and said something, but I was too chicken.

So I just wanted to let everyone who might read this know... I got married young, I had a kid within the first year, I'm poor, and I'm really happy!

Happy Birthday, Beth!!!

It is Beth's 22nd birthday today. She and Jason are coming home from DC after a visit with Bryan and Chelsey. We are having her birthday dinner this afternoon.

It is hard to believe that almost a year has gone by since we were planning her wedding last year!! Our house has been very quiet since Beth left. I always had someone to visit with, and get opinions about my hair, dress, etc when she was here.

Beth has been a great youngest child in our family. She is bright and witty and thoughtful. You would think she is pretty outgoing, but she is really very shy.

I miss Beth, but I am so happy she has found a great guy!

Beth is very busy. If anyone tries to tell you that Elementary Ed is an easy major, don't believe them. Beth has hours of homework and paper writing everyday!!

We are proud of Beth and all her good work. Have a great day today!!

Blaine's Birthday!

It was a success! We managed to surprise Blaine a little with a friend party! Here we all are (Kip was taking the picture!) Matt and Nancy - Thanks for raising such a wonderful son! I sure do love the guy!

Holiday Season Starts!

Today is Blaine's 24th birthday. I personally can't believe that he is that old. It doesn't seem that long ago that he was born. He has been a blessing in our family, and we love him very much. He works full time, is a full time student, and has a great family!! What accomplishments!

With Blaine's birthday, it is the start of our holiday season here. In 10 days Beth will be 22 and married almost a year! This year Thanksgiving is before Beth's B-day, and then on to Christmas!! I watched The Polar Express with Heidi's kids last night. It is worth watching again if you have seen it. If you haven't seen it, watch it this season.

We are looking forward to seeing Chelsey and Bryan again during the holidays. It is great to have the Rays and the Hickmans come home to see the rest of us. We are very happy!!!!!

Well, Happy Birthday Blaine. I love you very much!

So Easy a Caveman Can Do It!!! .. (Beat Layton!?....Never Mind!)

Layton only brought their B game to Rice Eccles but that proved to be enough to send the Stone Agers back to their Timpanogas Dwellings. Layton 28, American Fork 14.

The Triathletes have finished and Survived

We are very proud of our triathletes who finished the course at Treasure Island in San Francisco. As you can see they have a fan base of at least two. As for Nancy and I, we arrived 40 years too late to enjoy the flower power.