So today Brooklyn turns 5. There are not many children who get as much out of life as Brookie does....she lives every minute to the fullest. I called her this morning and sang her a song I know about turning 5...her immediate response was "Grandma it sounds like you could dance to that song!" So I sang the song again while she danced on the other end of the phone. I know whenever Brookie has the choice to sit it out or dance....SHE'LL DANCE. If you have ever spent time with her you know what I mean, she has an imagination to top all others....she can be the best dog ever or practice being the perfect princess! We are blessed to have a grandaughter as precious as her....just ask her dad....she came into our lives and stole our hearts! We love you Brooklyn. I hope you have the best birthday ever!

Happy Birthday Tyler

Grandchildren are what make having children worthwhile. Today is Tyler's 9th Birthday.... Happy Birthday Tyler!! What a special day for a special grandson, I only wish that we could be together for this birthday. Grandchildren are so amazing and we are especially blessed to have one as awesome as Tyler. He is our oldest grandchild and no grandparent could ask for more. When he was a baby and Steve was in school and Amy was working, I was lucky enough to be able to babysit him sometimes....what a special opportunity this was for me. I always looked forward to our time together. Tyler has always been what you would consider the perfect child. He is so so smart and has shown this quality since he was little....I think he gets it from his Dad. Tyler loves life and has always excelled in whatever he does. He learned to swim at a really early age and last year when he swam for the Blast Swim Team he won tons of medals and ended the season placing second in his age group for the whole city of Tucson!!! It has been so fun to watch him grow up....he is such a good big brother and you can see that him and Savy will have a bond forever. We are so proud of Tyler....just the thought of him brings a smile to my heart! We Love you Ty.....

Here are some random pictures so you can all see how cute Tyler has been his whole life!!

An Afternoon at the Bellagio....

Mom's sisters, Fern and Norma, have been here visiting....they are escaping from the extreme Canadian cold and catching up on bonding time with Grannybird.  It is exciting to have them here.  We have always thought our Canadian relatives have something extra special about them...they are just "good stock".  Anyway it is so fun to have them here and it was extra special for me to be able to spend an afternoon with them.
We went to the Bellagio to see the garden display.  They have it decorated for the Chinese New Year. 

This is a replica of a statue that many Chinese have in there homes, it helps bring them prosperity.  If you throw a penny and in lands in the center of one of the gold dings them you will have prosperity for the coming year.  If you throw it higher and it lands in the cup then you will be set for life....Grannybird landed her penny in the ding on her first try!!!
We had lunch in the cafe and since we had all gotten our pennies in the dings we thought we would try our luck at Keno....we only marked the cards for fun, which was a good thing because no one would have won anything!
The Bellagio has the largest chocolate fountain in the world.  It is worth going to see and while you are there you can check out all the scrumptious desserts they make....to die for!!!

In the interest of calories we all shared a Gelato....

It's going to be a Great 2009

It's a new year and one of my new years resolutions was to keep my blog updated....I think that I am already behind. At the end of last year I was sad that I had missed several opportunities to post about special times and special people....hopefully I can redeem myself this year. I have learned that I am going to have to get back in the habit of taking more pictures and posting promptly.  Anyway we had a wonderful Christmas and were so blessed to have all of our family with us....so fun.  I am truly blessed to have such wonderful children, daughters in law, son in law and grandchildren....and an amazing husband.  I am also blessed with an awesome extended family! Lets hope 2009 blesses us all!

We all spent New Years Eve at the house...except Brittany whose boyfriend Jordan offered her a better option!  We had a fun filled evening starting out with dinner.  Wilbur and Rhea joined us which was special for us all.  Grannybird also came down.  We started the night out by telling our fortunes.  This is an old Swedish tradition that we learned one New Years eve that we spent the night with our friends the Hollands.  You melt lead and then pour it into water and tell your fortune from the form it makes....Everyone looked like they would be going on a trip.....

Lloyd and Wilbur figuring out what Wilbur's year will bring

The hit of the night was Guitar Hero....Everyone joined in and tried there hardest to be the best

Note the concentration on their faces....can anyone guess who might be the most competitive??

Just hanging out and waiting for the New Year....

On the internet we read that if you eat black eyed peas on New Years you'll have good luck in the coming year.....now who doesn't need good luck in 2009???  We decided this might be a fun tradition to start....so here's our pot of peas.  If 2009 turns out to be good...or even ok....we'll continue the practice.

  Lloyd wanted as big of bite as possible.....he needs lots of luck in '09!

The only one who wasn't excited about having the black eyed peas was Josh....I don't know if he doesn't need good luck for '09 or if he just wasn't happy about being disturbed from his power nap!

The only kids that made it to 12:oo were Brady and Tyler....now does that surprise anyone?

Kara's Birthday

Happy Birthday Kara..... Last week over Labor Day we went to Lake Powell and there we celebrated Kara's 28th Birthday. I just wanted to let Kara know how much she is loved in our family. She seems more like a daughter than a daughter-in-law. I knew she was a keeper when in high school she was willing to change her prom dress for one that met my approval. (Those were my rougher days!) I love how she never ever complains and always looks on the bright side of everything. She is such a positive thinker you would think she took lessons from me! She even says that being happy is a choice and she chooses to be happy. She is an amazing mother and having children has always been her main priority. I know my grandchildren are getting the best of care, they must have been really special spirits in heaven to be blessed to be sent to her. I think she should have 10! She hates any kind of contention in the family and always goes above and beyond whatever it takes to keep peace.... she's the only one who can control Josh! It's just her nature to be concerned about others... she's always taking extra time to check on Grannybird and make sure things are ok with her. She looks for opportunities to help others in need and is sensitive to the spirit in her decisions. She even manages to take Lloyds joking.... We are so blessed to have her in our family! I know I speak for all of us when we say..."We Love You Kara"
Brooklyn was so excited to help us to get ready for Kara's Birthday. It was her artistic talent that made Kara's cake so adorable!!!

WHAT A CUTE FAMILY!