In Memory Of My Wonderful Mother!

I couldn't go to be tonight without paying tribute to my wonderful mother who passed away 10 years ago today. I remember the literal pain in my heart as I received the phone call. She had been in perfect health except for a bad knee. She decided to have it replaced so she and my dad could travel the world together. Six weeks later she died of a pulmonary embolism which had been misdiagnosed by her doctor. She was about to turn 74 in a few months.

My heart still grieves her passing. So often, even still, I find myself wishing I could go and pick up the phone to tell her about the cute things her great grandchildren are doing or saying. She would have loved all of the ball games. As we prepare to welcome 2 new grand babies into our family I think how she would have loved to be here. I know that she isn't really far away and probably enjoys activities and events with us more than we know. But it is just not the same.

Mom I love you, miss you, and look forward to the day when we will be together again. In the meantime give my baby boy a hug for me and say hi to all of my friends who have joined you on the other side.

PS...Marlon could use your help in the race on Saturday. I know if you were here you would be his biggest fan!

Mom and Dad on their engagement day!

Mom and Dad with Cheryl and me!

Mom and Dad visiting us on Kerry's and mine 25 anniversary! We talked them into having their picture taken as we were having family pictures. I am so glad we did as a few short months later she was gone.

Love you Mom, Marlene

Celebrating Easter

The grandkids all came for Conference weekend and so we took the opportunity to do our Easter celebrating then. I love dying easter eggs, it is one of my favorite things to do. As you can see, the kids enjoyed it too.

Drew, Addison, and Marlie showing off their favorite eggs.

Kennady was having a ball collecting all sorts of stuff in her Easter basket.

Drew and Addison modeling their Easter skirts and shirts. I made all of the girls skirts and the boys got matching ties.

Life doesn't get any better than this~

A New Puppy! HUM.......

Well, as Keri Beth and I were driving in the driveway a few weeks ago, she said, "By the way, Dave is bringing home a new puppy." Just what I did not want. Good thing he's cute! It was a process choosing a name, but it is officially BEAR.

Marlie wanted to make sure he traveled in safety.

If Bear survives Marlie it will be a miracle.

The 3 stooges, Hudson, Bear, and Marlie. Enough fun to keep me laughing all day~

Happy Birthday to McKayla and Kennady!

Two of our beautiful granddaughters, McKayla and Kennady celebrated their birthday's together. Kayla turned 14 on February 28th and Kennady turned 2 on March 21st. They are both delightful and I am so blessed to be their grandmother.

Honestly, the cake was almost as big as Kennady and would have feed the entire subdivision!

Kennady was having a very difficult time waiting to sample her cake.

Beautiful girls, beautiful smiles.....happy birthday to you both!

The Blessing Of Grandchildren-Compensation For Growing Old!

When I look in the mirror I sometimes feel sad as to how old I look. The years are flying by so fast. My theory is that God gave us grandchildren to compensate us for having to go through the growing old process. It is the ONLY thing about growing old that makes it worth it! No parking spot or discount is worth the price of watching yourself evolve into an old person. I don't feel old, but it is hard to tell someone that you are 60 and not have them think "elderly". There are no order to these pictures, just some memories of why growing old is worth it!

Marlie ~ as pretty as a flower!

I can just hear the giggles when Drew, Marlie, and Addison get together.

I know one thing~I am too old to have a puppy in the house. Good thing the puppy and grandkids are cute, it is the only redeeming quality about the experience.

Cousins, Marlie, Kennady, and Addison all just hanging out!

I love Kennady's precious smile!

Sisters~Madison/McKayla showing off their cute personalities.

Hudson and Mason could see each other everyday and they still would run and hug each other every time they get together. What a special relationship they have.

McKayla and Grandma on a "date" at Maddox.

Marlie and her Poppa are special buddies. She is his shadow on the days that he is home.

Mason is everyone's buddy. He is so good with the little kids as you can see here with Addison and Drew.

I love being a Grandma!

Grandchildren are the only good reason for growing old! And we have 2 more on the way!

Happy New Year ~ 2012

All of the kids except Marlon were home to say good-bye to 2011 and to welcome in 2012. I thought that the young ones (and maybe some of the older ones) would not stay awake until mid-night, but everyone hung in there. At mid-night we all put on our party hats, grabbed a noise maker and went outside to celebrate!

We played games on the Wii which always brings a lot of good laughs. Tim wanted pizza, Cam wanted steak, and so we had both with a lot of good salads and other munchies. We never have a lack of food at our family gatherings.

We hope and pray for a safe, healthy, prosperous, and happy New Year for all. With it being a presidential election year, it will be interesting. We look forward to Tim and Kim giving birth to their 3rd baby girl; praying that Marlon will make the Paralympic team again; hopeful that Mary and Cam will find a suitable home to purchase; and that the Morris family will have lots of wins on the various ball fields that they will find themselves at this year.

Kerry with Mason, Hudson, Marlie and Addison.

Maddi Lou with Daddy Dave!

Grandma Marlene with Kennady Janae!

Cam and Mary "skiing"on the Wii.

Cam teaching Kennady and Hudson how to ski.

I love the looks on Keri Beth and David's faces!

Welcoming in the new year!

Tim, Kim and family.

Keri Beth, David and family. They are missing McKayla.

Mary, Cam, Hudson, and Kennady who looks like she's ready for some sleep.

Grandma Marlene and Poppa Kerry wish everyone a

~Happy New Year~

So Happy I Can Blog Again ~ Overview Of The Last 6 Months in 2011.

I am so exited to be able to blog again. I am not sure what I did to mess things up, but thanks to my computer genius of a brother, Dale, he got me up and going again.

We have been so blessed again in 2011. Below are a few of my favorite memories beginning with our trip to Tahoe. We have so many pictures that I can't possible begin to post them all, but this is a pretty good representation of our live during the past 6 months.

This is the beautiful home that we stayed at in Tahoe.

This lake is amazing beautiful as you can see.

This was the private beach we had access to.

This was our own little piece of heaven on earth that we staked out early in the morning.

The aprons I made for everyone at Tahoe.

Poppa and Shirley with 3 of their beautiful granddaughters.

Kim, Michelle, and Mary spending some time in the kitchen together.

Sean getting acquainted with his little cousin Kennady.

We spent Sunday enjoying good food and fun times visiting.

Our long time friends, Darell and Cerise made it up to spend some fun with us at Tahoe also.

Kerry and Cerise with Kennady and Marlie.

The "gang" is all here.

Poppa and Shirley with 7 of the grandkids. It has been a while since they have been together.

I love this picture of Mason and Maddi with Shirley and Poppa.

Mason is such a good cousin, always playing with the little kids.

Keri Beth, Kim, and Drew enjoying so fun in the sun.

Tim and Marlon on the long boards that we rented. The kids had a great time with them.

Kerry bought this inflatable kayak a couple of years ago and we have had so much fun with it.

Tim, Kim, and girls also enjoying a little kayaking.

My kind of fun.

Geoff and Jenny checking out Kayla's crawdads!

Cam, Mary, and Kathleen.

Marlon, Daniella, and Dalene.

If you weren't there you might want to think about coming next year. We had soooooo much fun playing games and laughing together.

Down stairs was all kinds of games and room for everyone to have a lot of fun.

Some of us made a trip into San Francisco, stopping to visit Geoff and Jenny at Geoff's boat where he lives.

Kerry and I with Alcatraz in the background.

Mary, Cam, Kennady, and Hudson at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Until next year, the memories of Tahoe will hold a special place in our hearts. Thanks everyone for making it such a special vacation.

While at the cabin we were able to celebrate Kim's birthday. We are so grateful that we get to spend so much time together.

It is always so fun to watch the grandkids with Poppa~he is the first person they always want to play with!

Cerise made a trip up to Utah for a quick visit. It was fun to see her 2 times in such a short time. We sewed, and kayaked, and just plan had a good time.

Cerise was named an honorary grandma, and now will be known as Grandma Cerise.

It was fair time again and as usual it started out with the parade. I have never seen a child enjoy a parade as much as Hudson. He never lost interest and cheered everyone on.

Kennady and me enjoying my all-time favorite ride. There will never been anything better than the carousel.

After the parade, there is family night at the fair. All of the rides are only 1 ticket so this is the night that we let the kids ride all of the rides.

I had always wanted to enter something in the fair but had never done so. I decided to make 2 sets of apron's, one for each daughter with a children's apron to match. These were Keri Beth's of which I received a blue ribbon.

I won a blue ribbon on these also and gave them to Mary and Kennady!

Kayla did well this year again with her lamb, however, made sure she will never forget him by taking off with her and throwing her up next to a brick wall which resulting in a trip to the ER and sutures above her eye.

Maddi did great this year with her lamb also. She participated in showmanship and came in first place for her age group winning herself a lamp stand used for sheering. She traded Mike the stand for a lamb next year. Good deal for both of them!

Wishing my twin sister a happy 60th birthday. I truly cannot believe we are this OLD and went "over the hill" again!

Had dinner at Texas Road House with Mary and her kids.

Kennady loved the cupcakes that Mary brought to the celebration.

Dinner with loved ones at one of our favorite places was so much fun.

The kids had a surprise party for me the night after my birthday. TOTALLY surprised me. What a fun memory!

Doesn't this look like a fun time!

What a blessed grandma I am!

Guess I should be grateful to still be in such good health and to be surrounded by family and friends.

Tim and Kim took Keri Beth's kids on a photo shot and this is my all time favorite.

Poppa and Shirley taking in one of Kayla's soccer games.

Trying to catch her breath, Minnie Mc waits for her turn at the ball again.

Run, Kayla, run!!!

Tim and Kim agreed to a photo shoot with family and friends. We appreciate the pictures they took of Kerry and I. These are a couple of my favorites.

I actually like the black and white. Funny how I like old fashioned looking things. Maybe cause that's how I remember life as a kids.

Mason hasn't quite decided if he enjoys wrestling, but I can tell you for sure that it is NOT my favorite sport. It is too intense. I can hardly stand to watch kids throw each other around. Not sure if you will see me at very many matches!

I am on a committee at the hospital for emergency preparedness. Lynn Yeates, our county Sheriff, has taken us on 2 trips out west to help us learn the area. We toured the most beautiful places. We truly have some amazing scenery in Box Elder County.

The fall colors were absolutely beautiful.

I love pictures of running water.

I not only love the looks of streams but I love the sound of running water.

I love old barns. Might enter this picture in the fair next year!

The rock formations at the City of Rocks are amazing. I had always heard of this place but never been there.

Kerry and I try to go on a photo shoot every fall. The colors are always so amazing. The photo's don't do justice to them but give an idea of the beauty we see.

Oh how I love this time of year. I actually think it has become my favorite.

Kerry's Uncle Smitty passed away this fall. Kerry flew down to California to go to his funeral. Here is a picture of Smitty 27 years ago with our baby Mary!

Kerry and Val with their cousins (Smitty's 2 sons) Scott and Dave. It had been many years since they had all been together.

Halloween time again! McKayla, Madison, Marlie, and Mason.

Guess who? Keri Beth is the one who enjoys Halloween at our house! This picture was quite the hit on Facebook!

Halloween at the clinic. This is not my favorite holiday of the year but I decided to join the fun and dresses up as a "happy" witch.

Mason turned 8 this year!

Mason's baptism.

Some more aprons! These were for my sister and the 2 little girls that she nanny's for.

All the girls having fun in the kitchen on Thanksgiving!

Addie and Drew made sure they left room for some dessert.

Mason and Hudson enjoying some wonderful pumpkin pie also.

Every year at work our office manger gives us an item/items that we must use to make a Christmas ornament for our annual contest. This year we received a box for which I used as the base of my snowman angel. Unlike some in the clinic, I enjoy the opportunity to create.

I love decorating our Christmas tree's every year. This is the one in the basement that we call the angel tree. My mother-in-law, Marie, made the kids porcelain cherubs every year when she was with us, and my mother collect angels for me. There are some special ornaments adorning this tree.

Kennady doesn't remember the warm weather of Florida where she was born. She loves the snow but she doesn't know what beautiful warm beaches she's missing!

Maddi hurried outside to make a snowman before the snow all melted.

One of my all time favorite things to do is to go to Fonnesbeck's Nursery in Wellsville to pick out poinsettia's to take to those that we want to give a bit of extra Christmas cheer to. It is so hard to pick there are so many beautiful varieties. We go home with a car full every year.

Our friends, Alan and Suzanne Heiner, invited us to go with them to Salt Lake for dinner and then attend the Christmas program at the Conference Center. We had a wonderful evening and as usual always love the lights at Temple Square.

In an attempt to bring some joy and happiness to other, JanDee a nurse I work with, and I organized a caroling night with the families from the clinic. It was bitter cold, but the warmth of everyone's spirit made it a fun night to remember.

JanDee's husband was kind enough to get us a trailer and filled it with straw for us to sit on. We enjoyed hot chocolate and sugar cookies before going home to warm up.

Christmas Day ~ 2011