Erikah has come a long way...

This is her at 9 months... She has come a long way!!!
Checking for pneumonia....

Waiting to be admitted....We just can't let our guard down with her...

even when she doesn't act sickly!

Most likely she was watching Snow White...it's her favorite at the moment!

This may be a very nice hospital but I'm not feeling it right now...Look what they put in my hand! Good thing I'm left handed!!!

The food's good...now if only I were hungry!!!!

My new shadow...and my new toothbrush!!!

Look what I got....Princess clothes!!!

This place just gets better and better...

Now it's my turn to get better and better!!!

I'm a Queen B.... They gave me a crown and everything!!

They want me to drink so I get popcicles!!!! I know just what I'm doing!!! ;)))

You're funny Dedushka...that's mine!!!

Feeling a bit better now...can I go yet?

Whoo hooo...they let me out of the room...and I can go play...

Tomorrow.....HOME!!!! YAY!!!!

Another ending and another beginning!!!

Hey hey hey....it's a new year... we ended the old year with some new adventures... first a good hearty (no I didn't say healthy) breakfast of Donuts and sausage rolls...yummy!!! The grandkids and I made some crafts, a small wastebasket, some owls, and some fortune cookie Valentines to name a few. I baked up some ice cream cones, made homemade HOT enchiladas, we made some play doh with sparkles and the kids kneaded in the colors, and added new art to the walls!!! It was a year to do things we never tried before! Thank you Pinterest!!!We went swimming on New Year's Eve...brrrrrrrrrrrr....even inside pools are not warm enough for me, at least this one wasn't. They said it was kept at 86 but I don't know about that. Maybe I just need it to be 107 degrees instead!!! The kids had a good time though and are already ready to return, but then again, they were ready to go back 30 minutes before we left!!!

Piter and David along with Nathaniel learned a new way to play the accordion and tried dueling accordioning!!! Is that even a word? It was quite the talent show!!! The kids played some new games and of course some Wii games and had fun... Usually the kids and I make sugar cookie ornaments but since they weren't coming over until after Christmas and it was just me this year I made M&M ornaments...they had a hard time choosing between those and the normal candy canes always on the tree each year...They got lots of snacks at grandma's house and enjoyed every one of them!!!

Perfect holiday??? Of course...NOT, but we tried to have a good time, and I believe we succeeded!!! They wanted a picture with their furry friends on Sunday, those friends stayed home but the grandkids were excited to see new friends again in our Ward on Sunday!!! The only resolution I've considered making so far (I'm a resolution as you go kind of person:), is making those enchilada's with green chilies instead of jalapeno's next time!!! That is one place I don't like the heat...spicy I'm not!!! Well....maybe I am, but in a different way!!! ;)

As for me...I had a blast and being so busy helped the kids have a better less stressful time!!! Not as much idle time to think of ways to get their siblings!!! I look forward to the next new adventure!!! And more dates with my charming chicken this year! (he got me this plant for my birthday which once again fell without fail on the last day of the year..go figure:)! Oh yeah, I claim that I turned a backward 25 this year. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Happy 2012 to all and to all a peaceful funfilled year!!!

We love you!

Just a couple of things from my head to actual 3D this Christmas!!!

Do the children in your family fight over who's is who's if their items are all the same? Ours sure do, so this year I made them each their own ornaments and bookmarkers!!! I used different colored beads and yarn for the bookmarks and gold thread for the ornaments. I sewed them into their laminated cut out photographs and it looks like they are either holding on or falling off!!! I put the year on the back so they will always know when it was made!!! They will also never fight over who's is who's!!!
I think they turned out pretty cute!!!

Another thing I tried this year was colored deviled eggs....the kids liked the colors much better than the adults, (we're kind of used to normal white) but I was pleased with how they turned out even though they were more hot pink and blueish green!!!

Piter made some Oliveya for us and I made from scratch in my bread machine hawaiian bread...Both were yummy!!!

I hope you and your family had a very creative and yummy Christmas as well!!!

We love you!!!!

Talents anyone????

I read an article yesterday that got me thinking about talents….Some of us have talents that others are envious of, I wonder if the following are some of them:

Butt dialing…I’ve heard of many who can do this effortlessly…I’m not one of them

Armpit farting…not my talent either…Yours?

Knitting…that’s a good one to try….

Thinking outside the box…wow I’m too narrow visional for this one….but then again, I heard a story about an e-mail sent in asking that the deer crossing sign be moved to a better location since there was too much traffic for it to be in that area…..Nope not envious, but very amused!!!

Whistling…Well, I can get one or two sounds out in a row then I’m finished…some can whistle a whole song in key…Now that’s a worthy goal, but I’ve practiced every since my embarrassment in grade school where we had a relay race and as one part of it had to eat a cracker and then whistle before moving on…well, those of us… a.k.a Me…who couldn’t whistle had to sing a verse of Old McDonald…Quack Quack…YES I am definitely Envious in this talent…grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Swallowing stuff…swords, live goldfish, nails, etc….not a good talent of mine either however…I could definitely use a bit more pride swallowing practice !!!

Maybe if I had more persistence like the person in the article I mentioned earlier, I could perfect some if not all of these…alas…I’m not that interested in those pursuits!!! The article that got me thinking about this absurd post? I’m glad you asked…. Read on!!!!

Persistence and a Sense of Humor

Those who knew President Heber J. Grant personally agree that two characteristics stood out among the many good qualities he possessed: his persistence and his sense of humor. President Grant often referred to the story of an ant that made 69 attempts to carry off a grain of corn before it was successful. “This wonderful lesson of perseverance by an insect has been an inspiration to me all the days of my life,” he said.

An example of his persistence is demonstrated in the way he learned to sing. When President Grant was 43 years old, he decided he wanted to sing, despite the fact that he had never been able to carry a tune. As he explained:

“I had a private secretary with a beautiful baritone voice. I told him I would give anything in the world if I could only carry a tune. He laughed and said, ‘Anybody who has a voice and perseverance can sing.’ I immediately appointed him as my singing teacher.

“My singing lessons started that night. At the end of two hours’ practice I still couldn’t sing one line from the song we had been practicing. After practicing that one song for more than five thousand times, I made a mess of it when I tried to sing it in public. I practiced it for another six months. Now I can learn a song in a few hours.”

President Grant’s sense of humor was evident in the stories he shared of his efforts in learning to sing. He told of a time when he was practicing his singing next to a dentist’s office. He heard someone in the hall remark that it sounded like somebody was having teeth pulled.

While I am a bit…okay a lot envious of those who have a wonderful singing, instrumental, or artistic talent…and there are MANY of you….I don’t believe I have ever sung something 5000 times just trying to learn it…
Moral: There is still time so.....count your blessings and enjoy everyone’s talents…find your own talents and share them with others…who knows…someone might be envious of your special uniqueness!!! Don't be Green....with envy!!!!

Oh give me a home...where the buffalo roam....

This trip was the most relazing (yes it's a new word...relax/lazy) trip I have taken in years!!!! The view was awesome, the people were amazing, and the drive surprisingly enough was easy and relaxed!!! Our targeted destination...Idaho! Namely Chubbuck, Idaho! The little America rest area/shops were also a little expensive...the hat on Piter was more than $200 and one skirt was $1000...whew!Gotta love the elephant tree!!!

Piter thought when I was packing that I was planning a trip to Ukraine with all the warmer clothes I was taking...but....it was cooler up north than he thought it would be...although he still had his shorts.... the weather was absolutely beautiful and I got to wear long sleeves!!!

I packed up TONS of snacks as well but we were happy to have them!!!! We ate them all the way there and back again...we also shared while we visited and now I can pack some in my lunches for work so nothing will go to waste!!!

We started out and dropped the pets off with the sitters and got on the road about 1 pm Friday the 26th and drove about 7 hours....we were of course still in Texas...we stopped at a couple of places to ask and say no about the pricing and got about a $30 discount because of it!!!!

Second day more driving...and another discounted night!!! We're doing well...drove about 12 hours this day....by drove I really mean traveled because we stopped several times of course!!!This sign was at the Wyoming/Idaho border...

Day 3 and the view is really awesome...mountains, valleys, canyons, forrests...wow it really is a Heavenly view....and I was very much enjoying it all...

We found out the night before that we were invited to lunch with Tyrel's family so we drove to their place and got there by 2pm....We had a wonderful time, great lunch and good company!!! Piter of course was the matinee!!!

Afterwards we went to Alyona and Tyrel's to meet up with Robyn and her brother who were traveling through....we had a good visit with them and got to hear more of Piter's music...Robyn serenaded us as well!!!

We stayed with the Oborns' and got to go to new places...

Day 4 We went to the Idaho Falls Temple...it is right off the falls and of course so beautiful!!!! We didn't go in since it was Monday and closed but we enjoyed it nonetheless!!! Afterwards we went to the potato museum....very interesting but don't plan your visit around it!!! It has the worlds largest pringle there...Guinness record... and it has the largest potato statue with butter!!!!

Those worm looking things are actually potatoes!!!

Day 5 was Yellowstone National Park and The Grand Teton mountain range...the Targhee National forest was in there as well....

While we were hoping to see more animals on our trip they were very few and very far between:( We did however come face to face with a huge Bison (Buffalo) just moseying along the highway...We also saw a few elk or something in a field. The craziest thing was that everywhere there were warning signs...Be Bear Aware...Bears frequent this place, Make a lot of noise, carry Mace, Don't feed the animals, stay 500 feet away from wildlife, (they may look friendly but they aren't)and at least 75 feet from the dear and bison...keep all food secured, the animals can smell it from afar....then you would see a sign for your picnic area!!!! Maybe that's how you see a bear...you are their lunch!!! It was beautiful though! We also got to see Old Faithful and some VERY HOT water filled craters!! That water was soooooo blue!!!

Day 6 Unfortuately our trip had to end and we headed back home... the trip was also very good. We came back by way of Utah....we got to see a lot of Temples on this trip...most of them from afar, like, Rexburg, Bountiful, S. Jordon, Logan, etc. too many to recall and name but we did get to see two up close...one of course was the Idaho Falls but the other was Monticello Utah, here we stopped also! They were all on the mountain tops like a beacon in the night!!! ...We got to go to see the Four Corners as well....this is mostly a monument surrounded by bazaar type shops with handmade jewlery and crafts that the Indians make. It's not an over the top place to visit but if your ever in the area...you might want to spend the $3 per person to at least say you'd been there, done that and have a picture to prove it....(hey they keep saying you can't be in more than one place at a time)...go ahead...prove them wrong!!!! Continuing on we drove a bit though Arizona and on to N. Mexico where once again we stopped to ask how much for the night and this time were told $99...They offered no discount price...ugh....so we go to have dinner and then the blessing came....Piter while in the restroom saw a advertisment magazine and actually understood what it was!!! When he showed it to me, I told him I would look at it later but he told me it had hotel coupons so of course I looked and that same place had a coupon for $45 a night....guess where we stayed!!! Awesome...we used that same book for the following night as well....RoomSaver...pick one up for your next trip!!! Yes that tiny white spot is one of the many Temples we saw!!!

Day 7 more driving and the view was absolutely breathtaking for most of our trip...Piter was snapping pictures and video taping as fast as he could...we had 4 camera being used and over 3300 pictures and videos taken the whole trip (really we had more of these than miles driven!)... but for this blog of course I have narrowed it down...(aren't you glad I did?) This was the last night spent outside of Texas...we stayed in Tucumcari N.Mexico.

Day 8 Sept. 2nd 2011 back on home territory again, picked up the pets and visited with Chalea for a bit then came on back home, arrived about 6pm....Another blessing...we woke up to a flat tire!!!! The blessing of course is that after 3305 miles of driving up and down mountains, through rough and rocky roads, curving highways, 9 states including, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico....we made it home safely!!!! All is well!!!