HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!

Two days ago, on Monday the 19th, Kevin and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Well, we didn't actually celebrate...but we have been married for 30 years now. It has always been a special day, as it is also Vicki's dad's birthday. His number is a lot higher than thirty! He's 78 now. Life is good, it's always been good to us. We just have more wrinkles, more gray hair, and more achy bodies, but we have 6 great kids, 5 cutie pie grandbabies, and most important, we have each other...still. That feels good.

Tibi outdid herself again with another cake, this time for us. She and Michaela went around town and gathered up roses too. (It's allowed in Logandale, evidently) They dressed the front room up with rose pedals to make it "romantical." Happy Anniversary to us...

BACK TO GRANDPA AND GRANDMA'S HOUSE

Sharrid and Lexie are back for his week of testing for the Nevada Corrections System. Lexie and the boys stay here with us and play while dad goes in every morning for a different test each day. Sharrid will finish his testing on Thursday, then get to rest for the rest of the weekend until they head back home next Monday. Aren't these boys cute?

Phoenix and Marce
Tibi and Phoenix are becoming fast friends.

Marce was being creative in his game playing...and Phoenix was getting pretty curious. These boys play pretty well together.

Christmas PJ's for the Grandkids

I had to steal these pictures from my kid's blogs...so these are posted for everyone who doesn't read their blogs. I have to admit, I have the cutest grandkids in the world, and the pjs make them look even cuter. There's nothing like all the grandboys in matching pajamas. Eden's was especially fun to make though, because she is the only girl! This shows off their matching pillowcases, too.

BASKETBALL HAS BEGUN...

Basketball has started for Landon. He is on the middle school "A" team, which consists of mostly 8th graders. He plays guard for the team. He has improved a lot since last year, though he didn't get to play much then. He played this whole game, except for about two minutes. He ended up getting four fouls, two of them offensive! What a charger on the court!! This next one is a true "action" shot! He's a little competitive like his dad.

BACK TO THE GRIND (I mean, time to get these resolutions in gear)

See that water tower...that is where I have been walking to every morning. Well, that is where I HAD been walking to until about 3 weeks ago when the holidays hit me between the eyes. So today, it was calling to me again...so I got into my warmest clothes (it's about 40 degrees out there), grabbed my IPOD, and took Kit on our hike up the hill. I usually go up to the tower, run back down, and then keep going about 3 more miles through Logandale neighborhoods. It was freezing out there today, my fingers were numb under my sweatshirt, and I was praying that I would not end up with ear aches and a cold. But, I know that I feel better, look better (this hike lifts my buns more than even my weight workouts), and just need to do it for myself. So, every morning this water tower just needs to wake up and yell over this way, "Vicki, get your butt up here!"

No...this is NOT me. But she is my inspiration. Tosca Reno, 49 years old, and fit as a fiddle. I figure if I can look HALF as good as she does, then I am one happy camper! So I am getting back into my weight lifting, mainly so that my motabulism kicks into gear again. Those two weeks of vacation killed me...in a lot of ways. I have eaten so much junk, stopped working out, and boy, do I feel it. Ever since the kids went back to school on Monday, I have sent them off, and gone back to bed. How pathetic! So, come Spring, I better be looking better. If I don't look better, I better at least feel better. Ready or not, here I come...

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Many of you already know that two days before Christmas Day, we received a phone call from Kevin's brother telling us that Grandma Willard had passed away. We had been with her Thanksgiving weekend the month before. She was not able, for the first time in her life, to be at all of the festivities, including Thanksgiving dinner. But we had no idea, that we would lose her the very next month. She was 91 years old, had lived a long good life, and had just lost grandpa the last Thanksgiving. All of our kids were here at the house when we got the phone call, which I am truly grateful for. We were all together, took some quiet time to remember and reflect, feeling a little bad that we had not gone to St. George the day before to visit her like we had planned. She had been sleeping on and off for the two days before she died, which probably would have prevented much visiting. That makes us feel a little better about not going to see her. Kevin had a good cry, I hugged him for a while, and we let it sink in. Today we went to the funeral. I feel bad that the married kids had to go home before they had a chance to go to it, so these pictures are posted mostly for them...I know that they would want to see them, so skip through them fast if you are not in a reflective mood.



Part of the display in the foyer.

Kira drove down from Orem to be there. She and Michaela in a quiet moment.

Grandma looked like she was sleeping. I don't think I have ever seen a person that has looked so natural and peaceful.

Time passes much too quickly...it seems like we had just done this. Grandma only had to live without grandpa for 13 months. We are grateful for that...

Kevin's older brothers, Paul and Parry.
A hug from dad.

Things were so familiar that we were even in the same places in the line that we were a year ago.

Kevin's brother Randy, only sister Teressa, and oldest brother Sherm (half hidden.)

Saying goodbye...


The day was beautiful. It couldn't have been more perfect.

We are grateful that grandma was able to spend the holidays with grandpa. We will miss them both. We will miss the homemade soup she always had waiting for us when we would visit. We will miss picking into the pretzel sticks that she always had on her kitchen counter...and the mini Twix's she had in her pantry. We will most definitely miss her Scotcheroos, the best we have ever tasted. But girls, we received a treasure from her to all of you...a CD with all of her recipes on it. We will always have a part of Grandma Willard with us.