Spring??

Well you know the four seasons in Utah. Almost Winter, Winter, just after Winter, and just before Almost Winter. The weather here can't make up its mind. It was 60 degrees yesterday and right now it is snowing hard. The lawn is already covered. Yesterday was so Nice I fertilized the lawn. Hopefully when almost Spring ends I will have green grass.(yeah right) Well I saw a video of Braden's fishing trip in Japan. It was awesome. If you haven't seen it look him up on facebook. They caught a bunch of nice fish on the ocean. I am jealous. I am sure I still caught the biggest fish. We saw Jayme the other day and she is doing well. I think she is buried in school work and work. It was good to talk to her. The Giles clan seems to be doing well, except for Court's car. The thing needs some major work. Looks like I have an excuse to visit! Yes! The boys are doing great. Andrew is doing well in school, and Preston is just being Preston. Drew said he was participating in the school assembly so I need to see how it went. Preston calls me once in a while and he will actually carry on a conversation. He is a chatter box. It's great. I have video pf Preston on my phone that Isabelle has to watch every day. She laughs so hard when she hears Preston's voice. She REALLY misses those two boys. Whitney is doing well. Brooke and Tim are starting to look at homes, but they keep looking in Wendover. Not really they are looking in Riverton (but it may as well be Wendover, It's way out there). Tim is almost through with school. Brooke is doing school and working, working. I know she can't wait for Summer and 90 degree weather. Dad and I had our last game coaching the Jr Jazz Team. They were awesome. The final score was 48-6. Our team could not miss. It did not matter who was in the game. They played great. Even when we had the smallest line up in the game they scored a bunch of points. Brenner scored 22 points himself. Whatever Tanner was telling them on the bench worked. Well I better go shovel the snow. Keep warm everyone. See ya in the Spring!

Winter, Spring, Winter?

Hi everyone. Well let's update a bit. Last week Stacey and I were able to go to see Courtney, Doug, Andrew, and Preston. It was fun. They are doing well. Andrew is riding his bike everywhere and can even turn right. Preston isn't far behind him on the riding the bike thing. He can almost pedal his bike well enough to keep up with Drew. They are just growing and growing. Doug's company has bought a new office for him to work out of in Mesquite. It is very nice and much larger. Preston loves to go to the dollar store. We went to the park and Andrew can go across the Monkey Bars like a Monkey. They just go, go, go. Court and Doug attended a Cancer benefit with others from his work. Stacey and I rented a Ford Escape it was very nice and got great gas mileage. It was fun to drive. I was able to talk to Braden on Skype the other night. He called me at about 1:30 a.m. He said to tell everyone Hi, and he is doing well. He looked good on the camera. Jayme is back from Japan, and she was able to see Braden. Jayme is studying hard so she can finish school this year. Go Jayme! Whitney and Izzy are doing well. Isabelle is getting so tall, and she is a chatterbox. She can sing her ABC's, and count, and everyday is a new adventure. Brooke and Tim are working and going to school. Tim graduates in April. Stacey is flying a lot this week. She is doing well also. I can't believe it snowed today. I think his is the most snow I have had to shovel this year. What a strange winter. We went ice fishing a few weeks ago to Fish Lake and it was Awesome. Dad, Scott, Brad, and I went. It was a great day and we caught a lot of fish. The day was pretty warm and the ice was very noisy. Dad and I have been coaching Jr. Jazz and it has been very fun. So far the team is undefeated. We miss Andrew on the team. I am participating in Toastmasters at work. It is a program to expand on speaking abilities. I have given three speeches so far. It is a good group. It is a year commitment and the leadership changes every six months. Last week they asked me to be the President of the group for the next six months. I know, and i agree with you, they must have been drinking a lot when they decided that. Work is very busy, so that's good. You won't believe this but, I actually started to clean out the garage yesterday. You will believe this though... I had to stop to go with Brooke and Tim to look at some homes. So the garage is not done yet, or ever, ha, ha, ha. We took Isabelle swimming a couple of days ago. She is a water dog. She loves it. She is just like Drew and Preston. They can't get enough. Even when their lips turn blue they still want to stay in the pool. I hope Spring gets here soon. I know Stacey hopes warmer weather shows up quick. She liked the 74 degree weather in Mesquite. I can't wait until we can get the lawn chairs out and sit in the yard. Even if I have to mow. Tomorrow is Presidents Day, and I have no idea what I am going to do. Probably sleep in until 7:30 or 8:00. Nice. Have a great week everyone. Be Safe. Braden if you look at this we LOVE YOU and miss you. BE SAFE also.

Jr Jazz and such

Well I thought we would have a Jr. Jazz basketball game this weekend because we have pictures taken this Saturday. But no, I was wrong. It is another bye week this week. It seems like we have not played in months. I am sure going to miss having Andrew playing for our team. He is great fun to watch play, and I hope he had fun. He does get to play with us next week though. They will be here next week because Courtney is going to walk at her Nursing Graduation. Courtney Giles, RN. That sounds pretty cool. Nurse Giles. She takes her NCLEX Nursing Board exam tomorrow. Good Luck Court.
I don't know if I have mentioned that I have joined a Toastmaster group. Toastmaster's is a group where you have to give speeches every once in a while. I had to talk yesterday, and I gave my speech on the benefits of Coca-Cola. Yep, Coca-Cola. I spoofed the whole thing. It was fun and I actually won the blue ribbon for the day.
It is so nice to be at another weekend. The New years weekend went so fast. I did have a good time at Dave and Robins house for New Years. Izzy stayed awake until about 12:30 and immediately fell asleep as soon as she sat into her car seat. I think she had fun too. She played with all of the older kids. They are so good with her and she loves them all.
Courtney just sent me a video of Preston riding a bike with training wheels. AWESOME. When he was here we could not get him to figure out how to pedal a bike. He always wanted to pedal backwards. He is learning everything so fast.
Andrew is back in school and he is loving it. He said his teacher is Mrs. Billingsly (I think) he also said she is nice and that one of the kids on his street are in his class. When I asked if he had homework he said "Yes" in a very quiet depressed tone. I hope they are all well, and I am very glad they are all back together.
I am gathering a few items to send to Braden, He wanted another blanket, a folding pocket knife, and some other items. I am so dumb. In my rush to get him the knife he and I decided on I ordered the wrong one and it already had shipped by the time I realized it. Dang you Amazon. I have already ordered the correct one so in a couple of days I will need to find out how Amazon works their returns. I hope it is easy. That's what I get for trying to get things together quickly. It is good to be able to talk or trade texts with him when he can.
Jamie is going back to school and working so she is getting very busy. It is great to see her every once in a while too.
I have been listening and following some of the political mumbo jumbo going on lately. What a mess. Current congress (both parties) are like little kids (I can't say that because little kids are smarter than congress) Go Mitt!
well I gotta go. Have a great weekend everyone.

Happy New Year!

Wow what a year. Some very BIG accomplishments (not by me)and some really cool things happened. Let's see... Braden is now in Japan. Okinawa to be specific. He is doing well. He said that the Japanese do not care for us over there.He has not been able to see much but we have been able to Skype with him which has been very nice. He wanted everyone to know that he is well and he misses everyone. Jamie is working and getting back in the school work thing. Right now she is not feeling well. Jamie and her sister are sharing an apartment.
Courtney has GRADUATED Nursing School. She is an RN! What a tough 1-1/2 years for her and their family. They are all back in Mesquite and shared Christmas together as a family in their new home. Preston is now talking and singing like crazy. He is also in the middle of potty-training. Yes, he is a BIG BOY, just ask him. Andrew is starting in his new school in Mesquite and I thing he is more than ready to get back to school. Courtney said he is bored. I am sure that all of this is also a huge adjustment to Doug. Now the house is full of noise, yep, "Joyful Noise." I am glad they are all together again. I need to find a way to get Drew here each weekend for Jr. Jazz. He is a star. It was fun to have them here.
Brooke and Tim are always at a USU game or the cabin lately. I saw them today and they said that Scofield Reservoir area does not have much snow at all but the lake is frozen over. Ice fishing time.
Whitney and Isabelle are well. It was nice to have one little one at home for Christmas. She is like the others though. Toys get attention and clothes get tossed behind you. Christmas was fun.
Stacey is well. She reads a lot and plays with Isabelle. they are joined at the hip. Well actually they are joined at the knee since Izzy is quite a bit shorter, but probably not for long. Izzy is getting tall. She is so smart and silly. She can also be very moody. Yep it's a girl, ha,ha. Just kidding girls.
I am fine and hoping for warm weather.
I hope all of you are well and that you had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

October is here.

Hi. Well since the last time I wrote... Andrew turned 6 years old. He had a party at the park with friends and I think he had a great time. Courtney, Stacey, and Whitney worked to put his MARIO party together. They played pin the mustache on Mario, Mario matching game, and Mario bingo. It was fun to watch the kids. Doug was able to come up for the party and it was nice to have him there. Andrew's grandma and grandpa Giles were also at the Party. In fact Grandpa Giles had to get stitches put in his cheek because the party was so much fun, but that's another story. I think the party was a big hit. Yep, BIG 6. he is loving school and had a pizza party with his teacher and a few other students last week. He should be starting Jr. Jazz in a couple of weeks. He is excited.
Preston is getting so big. He is getting to be chatty. It is fun to listen to him. He can really sing. You can't recognize all of the words but he can carry a tune. He is a tough guy. I think I might have mentioned before that he had to have his chin glued because he cut it at school. He also had strep for a while and boy was he miserable. His mouth was so sore. Even not feeling good he tells me hi everyday and gives me a hug.
Izzy is getting so tall. She is talking and talking and talking...and she LOVES "Horton Hears a Who!" But she is not obsessive about it. I only had to watch it five times on Saturday. Poor Izzy now has what Preston had, I think. She is always quick with a "HI PAPA" for me.
Courtney is working at the hospital to get her hours for school and she is in the Surgical Room performing brain surgery on African range monkeys that have made it to the U.S. by hijacking weather balloon's. Okay, not really, but I had to see if you really were reading all of this. She loves being involved in the surgeries. She is doing well but I can tell she is ready to be done.
My two little twins had their 22nd Birthdays today! Ah they grow up so fast. Awesome. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE and BRADEN!!
Brooke is doing well at her job and is just go, go, go. I don't mean she is a go-go dancer she is just very busy with work and school. I didn't get to see her much. Tim is doing well and his coaching seems to be going great. His team is kicking some butt. His calling offense and doing very well at it.
Braden, was here for the weekend. That was a surprise. He looks great and seems to be doing well. He has been on training exercises out in the field for the last 10 days, I think. Jamie was here for the last week and she is doing well. they have an apartment in San Clemente, California, and I think they are just minutes from the beach. Yes, I need to visit.
Whitney is doing well chasing after Isabelle. Of course if they are here Grandma can always get Izzy's attention with a Popsicle or candy. Whitney is working, working, working. Probably just to buy more sidewalk chalk since Isabelle and I have to color pictures each day. Right now Whitney is trying to decide on a Halloween costume. I am sure it will be crazy.
Speaking of costumes, Andrew is going to be a SWAT team member.Of course if you ask him he is "Barricade" the police car from Transformers. Preston is going to be "Bumblebee" the Transformer. He is excited about that. Isabelle is going to be a pink pony. Yes, a pony. It is a crazy costume.
Well lets see...Stacey had a little surgery to remove a lump (no, not me) and she is recovering, although her arm is sore with some blood clots from the IV. It is very painful. She is very tough.
I am just working and trying to get the lawn mowed each week. Other than that I don't do much around here. I am just another pretty face. Wow, that was stretching it pretty far.
Grandpa Quinn left three pumpkins on the porch for the kids so we are good to go for our Jack-O-Lanterns.
I don't know about you but I can't believe it is almost winter. We have already had some snow, and today I had to scrape the frost off of the windshield. Yuk!
I hope everyone is doing well. I will try to write again soon. I am not sure what soon is, as you can tell. Have a great week everyone.
Remember to be thankful for our kids, whether they are 1, 2, 3, 6, or even 22, what we do without them? That's rhetorical, do not send me a list of things I could be doing. See ya later.
See ya later.

Muddy, Muddy, Weekend

Well this last weekend was a little different. Stacey, Courtney, and Whitney ran in the "Dirty Dash" up in Heber. The race is at Soldier Hollow and is a 5K or a 10K race for charity. Every where on the trail are places where you are going to get wet and muddy. Doug, Andrew, Preston, Isabelle, and me went to watch them run. It was great. They did a great job. For not training, they all finished, and faster than I thought they would. Not that I thought they would be slow. The point that we were able to see them, they had to swing on a rope across a mud bog, then run up a hill (a long way) to a water slide, down the slide, then run to, and through, two 3-foot deep huge holes full of mud and water, then to the finish. They were all tired but had a great time. We had fun watching them participate. Now it's Sunday and they are all SORE! Good job girls! You did great!

End of summer

Well here I am setting in a hotel room in Denver with no place to go. I have already walked about 7 miles today. Up and down the 16th street mall, to Coors Field home of the Rockies, which by the way is BEAUTIFUL, of course it is a ball field, then I Walked clear up to the other side to the Capital Building so I could be exactly 5280-feet, yep one mile high above sea level. Well enough about my boring work trip. Let me give you an update on other things. Braden is now back at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California. He did absolutely great in his training back in Virginia. He is the only person they know of to go through the training scoring 100% on every test. No-one has done it before. Awesome. He received another promotion and is a Lance Corporal now. Jamie has been out to see him and they have an apartment in San Clemente, CA. She came back for is National Guard duty. Brooke is going to school and busy, busy, busy. Tim is now calling the shots for offense at Juan Diego. Pretty big step. Courtney back in school and three days a week they have her in an med-surg (yes, surgery)at the hospital. She is liking it although she has to be there early in the morning. Andrew is in Kindergarten and he loves it. He is doing so well. He loves his teacher Mrs. Nessen. She calls them kinderbugs and he thinks that it is pretty cool. Preston had to go to the hospital today because he cut his chin open pretty good at pre-school. They were able to glue it together though. He's tough. Isabelle is getting so tall and such a talker and a singer. She absolutely loves Dora the Explorer. She is a ton of fun, and she has her grandmas sweet tooth. Speaking of Stacey, She is still playing softball for Skywest and having fun. Oh yeah, we all went to Lagoon for my work party. The kids had a ball. Preston is not too keen on the kids ladybug drop ride. Andrew likes all of the rides, and Isabelle loved Bulgy the whale. even to the point of putting her hands in the air. The kids were fun to watch. So here we are and life goes on and leaves are starting to turn. Where does all the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday we were waiting for the rain to quit in June, so we could start Summer? Pretty soon the bikes, trikes, scooters, and power wheels will be put away an replaced with the snow blower, sleds, and shovels. I can wait. I hope everyone is well. Have a good, fun, fall season. We will try to also. Remember, Halloween is just around the corner...

Thank goodness for change.

Well tonight was Andrew's last T-ball game. His grandpa Giles was there to watch him play and he reminded me that I had not been writing. So here I go. Everything is changing... Soon my kids will all be married, the grandkids are getting big and doing more, and there has been a big yellow thing in the sky...I think it might be the sun.
Like I said Drew has been playing T-Ball and he is doing well. He probably throws better than anyone on any of the teams (of course I am grandpa and a Little bit one sided) seriously though he play pretty well. He can hit a pitched ball instead of from the tee (if I can toss him a pitch worth hitting) and he anticipates the ball being hit when he is in the field. It has been fun to help with the T-Ball team. BIG news... Andrew can ride a two-wheeler without training wheels. He was so excited he was jumping up and down yelling "I did it!" Preston is right behind drew all the way. He can't wait to be on the field. He is enjoying riding his power wheels four wheeler and fighting over everything with Isabelle. He and I are always teasing each other and he is always telling me "Don't Waaff" which means "don't laugh." He is so funny. Isabelle is getting taller and her features are changing. I guess that means she's growing. She is Preston's wrestling partner. They can scream and argue over everything. It's comical. Stacey is playing softball again with Skywest and a couple of weeks ago she was hit with a ball in the side and has a very nice bruise. She pitches and she plays the game well.
Braden has graduated from Boot Camp at the San Diego M.C.R.D. It was so good to see him. He looked great in his uniform. He was home for ten days (of which it rained 9 of the days) and it was good to have him around. We were able to go fishing on the only dry day. It was a lot of fun. He is now back in San Diego at Camp Pendleton for his Marine Combat Training and after that he will go to Virginia for a couple of months. It's odd to think he is in the military. Brooke and Tim are getting things together for her wedding on July 5, 2011. She has her dress, and it looks good on her. Sorry Tim I have no pictures. Things are a bit crazy, the wedding is coming up so fast. Stacey is organizing, checking on things, and doing as much as she can between flying and everything else she has going on. Courtney is back in school again. I think she is doing well. Every Saturday she works in American Fork at the Hospital. She seems to really like it, other than they are long days, and if you have not seen her lately she has been hoola-hooping, waking, and has lost weight. The problem is I keep finding it and putting it on me. Doug was up here last week. It was good to see him and you can tell the boys were glad to see him. Doug has now traveled up and back to Mesquite without any car problems. Yahoo!! I hope I did not just jinx the whole thing.
Whitney is working, working, working and doing well. Jason is flying now and stationed in Utah. Isabelle is the beauty queen. She is so fun. She is a water dog just like Preston. Those two are so much a like. She played in the water the other day until I was cold watching her. You need to see her ride her four wheeler. Thanks to Aunt Ginger she has a Pink Power Wheels 4-wheeler.
Other BIG news. Yesterday I received a text from Jayme. She is in the USA. She is in Washington. I am so glad she is in the U.S. I think she will be there for a couple of weeks and then she will be home. Is that cool or what?
Well, there has been a lot going on and I just have not had time to sit and write but I am glad I did today. Thanks for reminding me. Thank goodness for change. Braden has been home, Jayme is coming home, all of the grandkids are learning new things, Brooke and Tim are getting married.
I hope everyone has a great week. Be safe. Jayme, we can't wait to see you! Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful). Love ya.

Spring???

Well we woke up to six inches of snow this morning. I did not expect that. This weather is crazy and I want to go fishing. Two more weeks and Braden's graduates as a Marine. He is doing well and seems to like what he is doing. H was the top shot in his platoon and I know he was excited about that. I can tell that he has learned a lot while he has been gone. It seems like he has been gone for a year. I am really excited to go to California and see him graduate. I was able to talk to Jayme tonight via Skype. She is doing well and trying to get things in order to come home. I am not sure when the day is but I am excited to have her back. Courtney and the boys are back in Mesquite this weekend with Doug. They went hiking and looked at some petrogliphs ( I have no idea how to spell it) today. Andrew has been on medication for about two weeks now and, knock-on-wood, he has not had another seizure. That has been great. He just attended his kindergarten orientation. He was very excited and full of information when he came home. Preston is talking like crazy and wearing big boy underwear, yep a big step. Doug just had his Birthday he is 12. Well that's what drew told me. Jason is now flying for Skywest. He is doing well. The weird thing is that he is based out of Palm Springs, CA. So he continually needs to travel to California for work. Whitney and Izzy are doing well too. Isabelle is growing up too quick. Chatter bug, Chatter bug. Izzy and Preston can't seem to be outside enough. They love the outdoors. Brooke and Tim have work school and oh ya, a wedding to keep them busy. Stacey is busy with the wedding as well, and I am just trying to stay out of the way. Things are good except for last Monday I did something to my back. My back is somehow a pain in the butt. Preston, Andrew and I built a couple of tiny birdhouses last weekend. The boys did a great job. The houses are on our fence in the front yard and they look great. Andrew had his fist tee-ball ball games. As luck would have it we played in 30 degree wet weather. I am trying to help out the coach, and it is like herding cats. There are only four kids that know that you run to first after hitting the ball, and they are Andrew and three girls. Go girls. The rest of the team manages to run to the pitchers mound, second base, or third. Drew is having fun and I noticed that he actually anticipates the Ball being when each batter is up. That's cool. Well I an going to go back and put the heating pad on my back. Have a great week everyone.

Marching, marching, marching on!!!

I thought I would take a minute and let you know how Braden and Jayme are doing...Well we have received a couple of letters now from Braden who is at boot camp. First of all he wanted me to tell everyone who wrote to him THANK YOU very much. He was so glad to hear from you, and that the letters arrived at just the right time. He said that they have been practicing marching, push ups, pull ups, and running several miles each day. He said that he can climb a rope now and they have been issued their M16 rifles. He said that this week they begin swimming which he said was going to be a welcome change and he could give his feet a rest. After this week they go to the mountains for three weeks. All in all he sounds like he is doing well. He wants everyone to know that he misses loves you all. I was also able to talk to Jayme on Skype the other day. She looked great and is doing well also. It is starting to get hot in Iraq and it was already in the 70's there. She is working from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. She also wants everyone to know that she misses them and sends her love to you all. She comes home in about three months. It will be nice to have her here.
On another note, Isabelle (the really cute 1yr old redhead) has to have tubes put in her ears because she keeps getting ear infections. It will be nice to get them in and get her healthy. She is such a funny kid. Let me tell you, she runs the show. She is awesome.
Doug is in Florida at a Physical Therapy Training thing but I think it is just an excuse and he is just at Spring Training with out ME!
Brooke and Tim are going to Mesquite this weekend. She gets to take care of Daisy while she is there. I hope the drive safe and have fun.
Jason is finishing up his final weeks in ground training and I know it has been tough but he can do it. Whitney is doing a good job keeping things going while he is away.
I have not seen Andrew and Preston today but I am sure that drew is playing video games and Preston is playing with his trains. Courtney is doing well in her nursing and it has not been easy lately. I can't wait for Andrew to start T-ball. It will be nice to be out of the house. I don't know how we will keep Preston off of the field because he will want to do what his brother does. Preston is really start to talk up a storm.
Well its time to clean up and get ready for bed. Have a great weekend. Happy Fishing.

USMC - Marine Recruit Braden Quinn

Hi all. Well it finally came…Time for our Marine to leave home and go to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California. Yep, he is a “Hollywood Marine”. Our family had dinner together Sunday night and after dinner Stacey and I took Braden to the hotel that they put the recruits up at. I think they do this so they know where the recruits are at 4:45 a.m. on Monday morning. I doubt Braden slept at all on Sunday night because he had a cold. On Monday morning I called the MEPS office (Military Entrance Processing Station) they person that answered said that they would “probably” swear the Marine recruits in between 11:00 and 1400 hours. Yes it was like setting an appointment with Comcast. I was able to see him sworn into active duty and it was cool. He was ready to go. It was great to see him although I hated to say goodbye again. That was a week ago already, and last night we received a call from a member of the Bishopric who said he had seen and talked with Braden. I was so glad to hear that someone had seen him. Braden has a bad cold but is doing ok. He said that he was very impressed with Braden. He said that this group of recruits were the best he had ever seen, and he has been a Marine since 1947 (Yes, he is retired). He gave me Braden’s address and told us to write as often as we could. He said that Braden will graduate on May 13. They have a parent’s day on May 12 where I think the recruits can show their parents around and introduce them to their officers and other recruits. So I can’t wait for May to get here. I will try to keep up a little better with my blog so that everyone can see how he is doing. Thanks to all of our family who helped out with the parties for Braden before he left. You guys are awesome! Taylor and Scott, thanks for going shooting with us before he left, it meant a lot to Braden and me. Thank you also to Braden’s friends who came to see him. It was great to see and meet all of you. Semper Fi Braden. We LOVE you. ( P.S. I think I can do 10 or 8 or maybe 2 pushups)

Almost Time

Well just a few more days and Braden goes into the Marines. This is really strange. We have not had anyone in the military and now we have Jayme and Braden. Braden and I spent last Friday together just goofing around at Cabela's and to a range to shoot the guns. It was nice to spend some time with him. He leaves on the 7th of February, which used to be miles away, but now is almost here. I saw Jayme on the webcam the other day and I felt so bad for her because she was sick. It was still great to see her. I am trying to find out if the Marines will let Braden fix our cars from San Diego. Maybe he could just text me how to fix them and keep them going. I hope he does well. He did get his motorcycle running and it sounds great. You know I like to ride the motorcycles, but his is so fast it scares the crap out of me. Well the Marines are lucky to be getting Braden. Love you Braden.

New Year? Where did the old one go?

Hi everyone. Just before Thanksgiving, yep before Thanksgiving Andrew wanted to know where our Christmas tree was. Well we found it. Of course the grandma said now that we have it it needs to be up. Our tree was up before Thanksgiving. Andrew and Preston decorated it, so all of the ornaments are at a similar height and grouped together and that's where they stayed the whole Christmas season.

Now let's talk Black Friday... We were at Walmart from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. trying to get what we needed (or wanted). One item was on sale at midnight, and when midnight came they told us they did not have the item. What a kick in the ____ (insert body part here). We lucked out and they tried to make it right. It was a long night, but it was fun being with Stacey, Brooke and Whitney. Then as always we went to breakfast. I am surprised we did not all fall asleep in our food. Yahoo Black Friday!

Christmas was very fun. It was nice to get together with the extended family for our Christmas party. A couple of years ago Stacey started a tradition on Christmas eve at our house. She always has new pajamas for everyone. Christmas morning was very good. Everyone was over to our house to open gifts. It was nice to have little kids around. They were so excited for each gift. Preston opened up his first gift and it was a train. Big mistake. He was totally excited for the train and was OK not to open another gift. All he wanted to do was play with Thomas the Train. Andrew, on the other hand, was excited to open more and more presents. He helped grandpa pass out the gifts to everyone. I think he enjoyed it. He opened one gift and said "it's just what I've wanted my whole life." Lucky kid. Isabelle looked terrific as aways and is getting good at tearing wrapping off of presents. I hope Braden had a good Christmas. He received a gun from Santa. Christmas is always good when you get a gun. Hopefully he will not shoot his eye out! He did not get any new clothes. Just like he wanted. Brooke and Tim received new pots and pans, so could someone volunteer to teach them how to cook? It was nice to have Whitney, Jason, Courtney and Doug all here.

We did miss one person, and she is in Iraq. Jamie we all hope you had as good of a Christmas as could be. It will be nice to have you here this next year. Thanks for what you are doing in Iraq for all of us.

That reminds me... Doug had quite the trip getting here for Christmas. Doug's car broke down in Santaquin. Braden and I went to see if we could fix the car and it took us forever to get there because dad did not listen to Braden and took I-15 and they just happened to be fixing pot holes that night. We were stuck. When we finally made it to Doug, we popped the hood and could see that the idler pulley had almost come off of the car. Everything was closed so we towed the car home. I think we got home about 12:30 in the morning. The next morning, Braden took the car apart, while Doug and I ran for parts. With the help of Checker, Autozone, Pepboys, and Napa Auto we were able to get all of the parts. Pretty soon the Altima will be brand new. (At least under the hood)Stacey and I got some very cool gifts from the kids. Thanks kids. Courtney and the boys went to Mesquite for a few days and they picked just the right day to leave, because now we have a ton of snow. They had a lot of water at their house last week. I even saw their street on the news. I am glad it all worked out.

I hope all of you had a warm, safe, enjoyable Christmas and that everyone's heart grew three sizes that day. Just 360+ more days until the next one. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Another Christmas Season!

Fa la la la la, la la la la. Here we are again at another Christmas season. But wait it is different this year. We have little ones around. Awesome. Isabelle is laughing and trying to talk. What a hoot. She now tells everyone she sees "Hi." She is walking, climbing, and trying to run from grandpa when he tells her he is gonna get her. The little boys Andrew and Preston have both had birthdays. Andrew has turned five and is "much" older now, and Preston turned two and is doing everything he can to keep up and be like his brother. Jamie is back in Iraq, Braden is going to Marine "pool" activities, Brooke is working and playing. Whitney and Jason are trying to keep up with their daughter who's is giving them a run for the money. We had Preston's birthday party and Andrew was most definitely more excited than Preston. Don't get me wrong, Preston enjoyed it, but Drew absolutely could not wait. It was fun watching him be so excited for his brother.

Well I don't know if anyone else or if everyone else went to the Black Friday sales, but we did. It started Thursday night. ALL NIGHT. From 10:00 p.m. until Friday at who knows what time. It was crazy but it was fun being with Brooke, Whitney, and Stacey. I hope everyone else got what they needed to get. We did OK.

Courtney is finishing up another nursing semester and it seems like she is always taking another test. She seems to be doing OK.

Thanksgiving was nice. Almost everyone was at mom and dads for dinner and it was fun. The kids always have a blast. It seems that the house just gets louder and louder with laughter.

Well not too long until Christmas so mind your P's and Q's and no crying. You better watch out, he's watching. Have a great week. See ya.

Let it SNOW!!!

Can you believe it? It is snowing at our house. BIG HUGE Snowflakes. Way cool.

Well, I know it has been a long time since I have written. I have been busy with the boys and other things. Andrew had his last soccer game on Saturday and believe it or not his trophy said he is the "most outstanding player"... along with 400 other kids in the league. He is proud of his trophy and we are proud of him. Andrew had a lot of fun playing and it was great to go and watch. Preston wanted to be on the field so much that he would just wander onto the field with the team. He can't wait to play. Preston is starting to say quite a few words now and he loves to see his cousin Isabelle. Brooke and Braden had their 21st birthday last week. Yep 21. I don't know how they got to 21 since I am only 28. Weird. Brooke is doing well and going to football games with Tim. Braden had a big surprise on his birthday when Jayme showed up from Iraq. It was awesome. She looks great, and is doing well. She will leave again on November 3rd. It's nice to have her here. Whitney and I went to the temple grounds last Thursday and took pictures. It was fun to be with her and Isabelle. We also took a Photoshop class a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. I am trying to figure out how I use Photoshop to make me look thinner.

My dad had a stint put in his heart last week. He is doing well and looks great. If I jump all over please forgive me. Braden and Jayme went to Vegas for a couple of days. Remember you two. What happens in Vegas stay in Vegas, except herpes that crap will come back with you!

ISABELLE is WALKING!!! She is awesome. She does patty cake, and roll it, and roll it, and toss it the oven. Stacey just got back in from a long trip but she does not go back out for a while now. She is reading a new book. I know, surprise! The surprise is that it is not a vampire book. She has been tending Isabelle quite often and they are very close. You can not pry Isabelle out of Stacey's hand most days and Isabelle feels the same. She likes to be with me as long as Stacey is not around. Otherwise, she wants Stacey. Courtney is going to school and working part time at Health South. Busy, Busy, Busy. She is doing well. I went with my dad fishing before he had surgery and we caught a couple fish at the new Sandy pond. The fish were jumping like crazy. I wonder if the state will ever finish the road work on seventh east, or the work on 13th east, or 11400 south, or, or, or... It has been a mess for too long. It really makes it hard to go anywhere when all of the major roads in Sandy are tied up with construction. Okay no more soapbox. We took the boys up to Snowbird last week to see the fall leaves. There was not a lot of color up there but we did see a coyote in the Snowbird parking lot. It was a good evening up there. Halloween is this week so don't get spooked. Andrew is going to be Bumble Bee the Transformer, Preston is going to be a dinosaur (I think) and Isabelle is going to be Tinkerbell. I hope you are all well. Have a good week and a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Summer's end

Well here we are near the end of another summer. Man that went by fast. We have spent a lot of this summer building rockets and losing them. It has been a lot of fun. I guess we are not very good at judging the wind, because several trees now own our rockets. Andrew and Preston love to launch them. Jason and Whitney have joined us and so has Brooke and Tim. We have been going to Andrew's soccer games on Saturdays and it has been fun. Dejavu...it's like watching Whitney and Brooke when they were little. "Bunchball." We are working to get Andrew to be a little more aggressive. He seems to be having fun and that's what counts. No vacations this summer just staying around home. My dad and Dave C. and I went fishing yesterday and we had a great time. We left around 6:30, should have been 6:00, and we went to Currant Creek. By the way, the 7-11 on 12300 south and 700 east has no hot dogs on the grill at that time. So we did not get a Bahama Mamma before fishing. We caught somewhere around 30 fish total. The weather was great and the water was beautiful. Current creek has some Tiger Trout in it and they look cool. They are not very big yet, but they are cool. Stacey has been playing softball every Wednesday with her work and they are doing OK. Best of all she has not taken another line drive to her shin. I think her shin is finally not black, blue or green. Braden is going on the deer bow hunt with some friends and Brooke has just moved into a new apartment. Now for really BIG news...Isabelle is not only crawling she is going up the stairs! She is sooo smart. She loves her grandpa, but she loves grandma more. She can't take her eyes of Stacey (probably because she knows Stacey usually has candy or a Popsicle. Ok on to other news. Brooke's Congo hat business did not take off so she is now making contacts for near sighted homeless dogs and cats. She ha such a big heart. Now all of those animals can see where they are going and do not have to sniff everything to see what it is. We will see how this story ends. Braden has installed a stereo system in his truck that is awesome. He did a great job. The system can get loud. He is helping Brooke in her new contacts adventure by putting stereo systems in the Cat and Dog houses for the near sighted animals. They can have barking or meowing in HD Stereo. Well we can't leave out our soldier Jayme, who just gad a birthday. She is in Kuwait and will be going to Iraq in a while. I was able to talk to her the other day. It was great! She sounded good she said it is very hot 120+ over there. Jayme we love you. Be safe. Well thing are OK here, I hope everything is good for you out there. Have a good and safe Labor Day. Summer's end.

Its been a while...

Well lets see. The last time I wrote was ... too long ago. What has happened so far this summer? Jamie is in Washington right now getting ready to go to Iraq. We were able to go to the airport and see her off. Don't let anyone fool you, that is tough. These people that are serving our Country are amazing. They all just pack up and go because that is what they need to do. It was tough for everyone, but also amazing to watch. I hope she is well and doing what she needs to do. It will be nice when she is back home. (Jamie we miss you and love you. Be safe) Braden has quit working for Checker and is now working with Jamie's uncle doing lawn care. No, not at my house. I still have to mow my own lawn. (What little lawn still remains) He passed the test for joining the Marines. Now he needs to decide on what he wants to do while he is in the Marines. Head cook sounds OK to me. Brooke has purchased a new car. A bright blue Mazda 6. So far she loves it. It is very quick. Everyone has been spending time throwing bean bags and trying to beat Brooke and Tim in C_r_h_l_. (See if you know what that is) They are gooood at this game. She is working again for Cold Stone so go see her. Whitney has been little miss sewing machine girl. She is learning very quick and doing a great job making things for Isabelle and everyone else. Jason is working, working, flying. he made dinner for us on Sunday. It was great. He is "Ready for a Throwdown." Isabelle is getting so big and she now has her ears pierced (against her grandpa's wishes) but they do look cute. She is absolutely gorgeous and so much fun. She will be crawling very soon. The girls all went to see the Vampire movie together. It was a late late late showing, but I think they had fun. Courtney, Andrew, and Preston are her for the next year and a half. She is finishing her nursing degree here in Draper. Yahoo! Andrew and Preston are going to Preschool for a couple of days each week. (Thank you Jenny and Paul for making this happen) It is great for the boys and Courtney gets a break too. Stacey had a lot of fun watching the World Soccer games and is still playing softball. Last weekend we went to "Draper days" at the park. It was so hot that I am sure I lost weight. Not by sweating it off,or exercising, I think I lost weight from my skin melting off and sticking to everything you bumped up against. Now that's hot. We went over to the park later and watched the fireworks until Preston tossed up his lunch onto Courtney. Oh man did that stink! Preston is learning to say more words everyday, although he has not learned to say "I don't feel well. Andrew is learning to ride his bike and getting better at it. The boys and I went to see the dinosaur museum at the U of U. It was fun. Preston would love to ride all of them. Andrew wanted to keep digging for bones. We rode Trax to the Gateway Mall and played in the fountain. Preston can not ever get wet enough and Andrew is not sure he ever wants to get wet. When we finally went back to the truck we were all ready for a nap. It was a fun day. as you can see, things have been a little crazy, and hectic, but fun. I like it when the kids get together and just talk and laugh together. That's nice. Well I have got to get to bed. Yep, I still have the sickness where I have to go to work. I am hoping they find a cure for it. Thanks to all of you who help us out each week. Especially to Don and Judy who have Courtney and the boys living in their basement. See ya later