Hard at Work in Chicago

Here is a picture from John in a suite at the White Sox and Royals game. He sent this to me from his phone and I don't know how to get it bigger. He is being served all kinds of shrimp, ribs, steaks, etc. Poor guy. These business trips must really be tough!!

He went to The Cheesecake Factory yesterday and ordered our favorite: Avocado Egg rolls. mmmm! They are sooo good. He also ordered a piece of peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake. Then he went to see Bourne Ultimatum with his boss.

He did squeeze in some work today and will do the same tomorrow. I think he felt pretty guilty because he actually offered to fly John, Emily, and me out there. Then he laughed. He almost had enough in him to actually use frequent flyer miles....almost. We love you John and we miss you! See you soon!

Promontory Point aka:Golden Spike

I didn't think these words would ever come out of my mouth...."thank goodness for scouts". If it weren't for scouts, we wouldn't have been to Golden Spike or done several other fun and interesting things with the family. I like the opportunity it gives us to do things together. Here we are at Promontory Point. We watched the trains come in then set up just like they were back in 1869. We then watched a reenactment of what went on that day with the east meeting the west. It is way out there, smack dab in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

The trains were beautiful. Not just boring black and white, as you would imagine them being. It was so neat to hear and see the things that went on for this momentous event. A telegraph went to Washington, D.C., New Orleans, and San Francisco when the last spike was driven...and bells were wrung all across the US to signal this significant event. Right here in gold ol' Utah.
Golden Spike will be on our Utah state quarter that comes out this December.
This first picture is of Little John in front of the rocket display at ATK (Thiokol). This company is out in the middle of nowhere, very near Promontory Point.

Itty Bitty Bountiful City

John and Lisa put together an "itty bitty bountiful city" for the family tonight for Family Home Evening. We walked Main Street, 100 East, and 200 East from 400 North to 500 South. They took pictures of different items on all those streets, gave us the pictures and we had an hour and a half to go find them. We were in teams of our own families. John is in Chicago so it was just the kids and me. But we had fun and the kids did great. We were Team Chicago!
Although, we were slowed down a bit, and these two pictures show why. It was a great evening. We ended at the Bountiful park for treats. Grandma and Grandpa came in second and Robert, Teresa, and Zach came in first. Good job. THANK YOU RICHARDSON'S. WE SURE ENJOYED IT!!!
Near the end, Lisa picked up Thomas and Jack, and John, Emily, Sam, Max and I cruised down Main Street.

80 Years of OC Tanner

And John has almost four of them under his belt.
We are in the lunch room enjoying yummy cookies and salad made by the head chef, Frank Mendoza. And Sam is enjoying his time under the table.

There was a contest to rename the lunch room after it had been remodeled. John sent out an email asking for ideas. Nairn calls Robert, treboR, which is one more letter than Obert so he suggested Trebo. Well, after 600+ entries, John won with Trebo. Way to go Nairn. John will get a month of free lunches!! Thank you.
Here is Jolie, Katie, Grandma, Grandpa and Sam in John's office while he shows them fun product from China. CONGRATULATIONS JOLIE!!! SHE IS HAVING A BOY IN FEBRUARY!!

Here is the rest of us checking out John's office. His office is the funnest one in the building (according to a co workers children and of course us). He has all kinds of fun gadgets and dried up oranges.
Thanks to Sean, Jolie, Zachary, Anna, Katie, and Grandma and Grandpa for supporting John and sharing in his love of his job. Everyone left with a wax mold of a ring, a little keychain with "80" on it and a neat little flashlight that John had sourced in from China. He ordered 6000 of them and they were a hit.
John has done great at OC Tanner and loves his job. He has bridged the gap between the different departments and he is loved there. Why wouldn't he be!!!!! He is happy, friendly, and easy to get along with. We love you John!!

Yum, Good Bye, and Ohhh, Cute!

Maria sometimes gets an itch to cook. (That is a huge understatement). We were lucky enough to be recipients of this beautiful cake. 15 layers. And oh so yummy. Thank you Maria!!

Saying Goodbye to Richard! Watch out Kennewick. You don't know what's coming. You are going to be great Richard. We love you. Thank you for your example to so many who look up to you.

And look at these cute little jail birds. Samuel and Ethan. Do you think they might be related? They are about the same size but 4 months apart in age. They were both given the same outfit as a gift. And don't ask me what Sam is doing with his tongue. For about 20 minutes he just let it hang out of his mouth then he was done. Of course it had to be when we were taking the picture.

Wow. I did it.

It took me three days and I took longer than most!!! It was a great book and I highly recommend it. Check out http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/.

This book was inspired by a dream she had and now she is unstoppable. I am amazed at the way some minds work. What a gift she has.

I would love to hear your thoughts if you have read it or after you do read it. If you haven't heard about it, I'll give you a heads up. It is a high school vampire love story. Strange, eh?! Wonderful!! Something different. The best description I have heard of this book (from a mormon, mission presidents wife) is that it is a "guilty pleasure".

Now I'll take a short break to get my house in order then fall right into book two..."New Moon".

Samuel Bruce and Jack Ryan

Sam is getting pretty tricky. He rocks like crazy and goes backwards pretty quick. He also pushes up onto his feet. Strong little man. He rolls all over the place and finds ways to get where he wants.

He recently learned to sit up.

Here is Jack. We had him pose for a few shots to capture some of the cute and funny things he does.

This is what he does when he asks if he can have something or do something..."pleeeeeease".

This first picture is what he does when he points something out to us..."Mom. Look. Right there". And the second picture is what he does when he wants to show us something he has done. "Come see Mom. See" and he holds out his hands like Vanna.

And those are my boys. Jack can't get enough of Sam and Sam gets way too much of Jack.

I love my boys!!

11 years and counting!!!

In tribute to my "lotsa hotstuff", "sweet pie", bunches of oats", "honey buns", and more.....

Let me tell you why I love this man!!!

1. He ALWAYS gives me the chunks in the ice cream and the nuts in chocolate (and doesn't get mad when I pick them all out).
2. He knows I love to cook but hate to clean the kitchen when I'm done and picks up where I left off.
3. He has never done anything to make me question the love he has for me.
4. He knows my weaknesses as a mom and homemaker and keeps letting me go on. Always being an example and making me want to be better.
5. He loves me like I am the only place he has to put his love.
6. He likes to cuddle and doesn't stop me even when I make him roast.
7. I nag and criticize until I'm blue in the face, and he still won't say or do anything to hurt me.
8. He always asks for me to go places with him (when possible) and would rather not go if I won't be there.
9. He makes me laugh....everyday.
10. He wants me to feel beautiful and does all he can to help me feel that way.
11. He has followed the counsel of our leaders and treats me nothing less than a Queen....ALWAYS.

I love you John. Thank you for loving me. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. You made me feel a way I have never felt before and still do. I am undeserving of such a wonderful man but am so very grateful I was given to you.
Love, Pageant

"Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."

One of my favorite things......

is to be in a room with the Higginsons when they sing.
Today at Richard Kays "farewell", I was in the center of a row surrounded by Teresa and Robert, Leslie and Aaron, Mark and Suzy, Spencer and Kristi, and John. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed!!!
Thank you!!!
This morning was John's parents "homecoming". It was a wonderful day. Each of them gave great talks from the heart. I sure enjoyed it.

It's Great To Be 8

This is Emily's baptism announcement created by Robert. She even made the front page of his website with this picture. Beautiful!! Thank Uncle Rob.

Emily and her dad all ready to go.
And here is Emily after the baptism. Doesn't she look nice and clean?!!

Can you believe it? Every family member is in this picture.

Just the adults, then just the kids.

Caroline had a great idea in this picture. Thanks for wanting to make Emily feel special Caroline. This is most of her girl cousins but not all.

And the next picture is Emily and all of her girl cousins on the other side of the family.

This is my side of the family. We're getting BIG. Ryan, Laura, lil John, Thomas, Me, Emily, Samuel, Anna, John, Jack, Zach, Katie, Sean, and Jolie.

Scott, we love that you wanted to be a part of this picture. What do you think Dad is thinking?

Emily and her Grandma and Grandpa. She asked several times throughout their mission if they were going to be back for her baptism. Lucky girl. They made it.

Grandma, Emily, and Grandma Great Kimball at Robintinos.

After the baptism, we went to Robintinos for dinner with my side of the family. The next day, Ethan was being blessed and we had a dinner in honor of Ethan and Emily at Nairn and Maria's house.

It was a wonderful day for Emily. She was baptised by her dad. I gave a talk. Grandpa Higginson said the opening prayer. And her special girl cousins sang "I Like To Look For Rainbows" aka: "The Baptism Song". Thanks for everyone being there and making it nice for her. Spencer and Kristi and family came down from Oregon and Karey and Travis and family were there from Idaho.

Emily sure has a lot of great people to look up to. Thank you!!

Higginson Family Reunion

Here is Dad Higginson. Doesn't he look great? In honor of HIS family reunion. Lisa took these pictures. Thanks for good, fun, family traditions dad.
The reunion was at a park in Provo. It started with "gathering". Then a "meeting". Then the "auction". Then the "races". Then lunch and off to the church for a talent show and where have we served moment. We had to leave during the talent show to get ready for Emily's baptism. So I don't know what happened after that.

This is John being the auctioneer. The family donated $1000.50. The money pays for the reunion for the next year. We bought a picture of a lily that Robert had donated. And Emily bought this dog that belonged to Great Grandma Higginson (Merle Dean Harris Higginson). It was one of her favorites and we always remember her with it. Emily has a passion for dogs so she couldn't have been happier with this purchase.

Little John is running with Sam in the 0-2 races. And is that Jack? He is going so fast!!!! Good job Jack. He ran in almost every race that day.

Here is Thomas racing in his age group. Good job Thomas!!! You did awesome!

Emily running in her race. You go girl!!! And John in his age group. WOOHOO!! It was so fun to watch them race and I think it is a neat tradition. Even for the adults......

Kristi, Leslie, and I decided to take part in our age group. We just stuck together. As you can see, we are the only ones on the field, that's because we are way behind everyone else. And last, John racing with "the men". You were so fast John. Man. How did I end up with you?!

On over to the church for the rest of the reunion. First is a picture of the group. It is smaller than has been in other years. Do you see Leslie in back? I think she was the only one looking at the camera. But not only looking, cheering for the camera!!

Hey There Delilah!! Have you ever heard that song? It's a great song. Especially when these three sing it. It was adorable. Good job Spencers and Luke!

Emily and Kristina brought Richard Kay up to the stage and sang "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission". The girls (Savannah, Emily, Kristina, Anna, Hannah and/or Elise, Caroline, Julia, Sophie) sang "I Like To Look For Rainbows" and later sang it at Emily's baptism. And Anna sang a song from "Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat" with the other girls as backup. It was so cute. That Anna. I just love her.

Well, I guess that's it. We left the reunion at this point. We heard we really missed out on the rest. Especially hearing Richard and Dad speak. Sorry to have missed it.

I am very blessed to be part of a great family.