Our best Christmas Present

Five Decembers over the years, and two years in a row, Grandpa and I have receieved the best Christmas present we could ever ask for.......a new grandchild!! This year beautiful little Madilyn Svea was born on December 4th to Kari and Joel. Her birth was smooth and she is healthy and perfect. What more could we ask for!

Worn out from a hard day!

Here is little Madilyn with Mom and her big brother Carson.

Tyson's Arrow of Light

Tyson recently earned his Arrow of Light, and we were able to attend the ceremony. We are very proud of Tyson. Way to go!!

Here are Tyson, his parents and Scout leader as they watch the ceremony. I couldn't capture it on the camera from the crowd over people's heads, but it was cool with a lighted arrow up on the screen and the story of the Arrow of Light.

Tyson is taking his very first scout oath from the Cub Master after he received his award.

Being a Grandma

I often have emails forwarded to me with cute, humorous or inspirational quotes or stories. The one I received this morning from another grandma who is a colleague at work is my favorite for a long time. Being a Grandma is truly my sweetest role in life. I love it when I go to see my boys (Tyson, Kaleb and Tyler) play ball of all sorts, and when Korbin sits on my lap during the games, chattering so much that I have a hard time watching. It is very special to me that Tyson is not embarrassed to give his grandma a hug in front of his teamates, and that Kaleb smiles win or lose. I cried as I watched Tyler in Special Olympics this year. I love it when Carson calls me and sometimes talks a lot, and sometimes just breathes into the phone. Both are precious to me beyond words. I love it when Kaitlyn and Brayden give me special smiles when I come to see them in programs, and when they tell me all about their lives when they visit. I love how Colin races to give me a hug when he sees me. I love it that our grownup Kyle still wants to go to the movie with me, or when Courtney calls me to tell me something. Having teenage grandchildren is fun! I love it when Ryan crawls to my lap and gives me his sweet smile. I love to see Cameron's creations and look forward to when he is a famous inventor or engineer. I waited for our sweet red-haired Kailey, who is as pretty as I knew a red-haired grandchild would be. I now anxiously await our newest grandaughter who will soon make her arrival and take her place in my heart. I find that as more and more grandchildren arrive, my capacity to love them increases and increases.

I have been priveleged to have grandchildren share some secrets with me as the below poem describes, and since these kids are truly my greatest joy in life, I had to share this with you. You parents, I will never tell the precious secrets that have been shared! :) And you grandchildren, every word of this is true. I love you and am proud of you always!

What Is a Grandma?
A grandma is warm hugs and sweet memories. She remembers all of your accomplishments and forgets all of your mistakes. She is someone you can tell your secrets and worries to, and she hopes and prays that all your dreams come true. She always loves you, no matter what. She can see past temper tantrums and bad moods, and makes it clear that they don't affect how precious you are to her. She is an encouraging word and a tender touch. She is full of proud smiles. She is the one person in the world who loves you with all her heart, who remembers the child you were and cherishes the person you've become. ~Barbara Cage~

Fall is Upon Us

As I was walking across BYU campus yesterday, I noticed that the leaves are starting to turn. You can see that the mountains are turning red and brown, and some of the trees on campus are turning too. This all happened this week! I think I missed most of August after my surgery, and it snuck up on me this year. I love fall and the change of seasons. The weather is perfect right now, 70s and 80s. Fall brings back to school, which is always SO BUSY for me, football (go BYU), soccer and softball games and nice evenings. We have birthdays for Ron, Colin and Tyson, and this year we were late taking Brayden out, so got to enjoy him too. Then the holidays are never far behind. I need to remember to take more time to look and enjoy the beauty before us. I do find that as I get older, I appreciate all of these pleasures more than I used to. I guess getting old does bring some wisdom!

Darling little Carson

We had a baby shower for Kari and our newest grandaughter while Kari was home this last week. We forgot to take pictures at the shower, but had to get the camera out for Carson's entertainment. Everyone was just visiting and winding down the shower, and Carson was in the kitchen with some of his cousins. Or so we thought! Little did we know that he had gotten in Grandma's drawers and had a whole roll of plastic garbage bags, the kind that are all attached to each other. He had run through the house, down the stairs and back up a couple of times, and then in to the living room where everyone was, dragging the roll and unwinding everywhere he went. We also didn't know until afterward that three of his cousins had been laughing and encouraging all the way. Courtney and I tried to roll it back up the best we could after we got it away from him. He had a wonderful time and entertained everyone. He found the roll again the next day and was ready to go again, but Grandma caught him just in time. Here are a few pictures we snapped as he ran.

Here is is just after he was "caught". Notice that there isn't much on the roll at this point.

And the roll goes around the corner of the kitchen with him leading the way.

Here he is just trying to pull it all up the stairs after him.

4th of July Fun

4th of July

We were so happy to have Kari, Joel and Carson home for the 4th. We had a picnic with most of the family. It was a lot of fun. We barbequed, the cousins all played on the playground, did fireworks, and the dads and some of the boys had a rousing game of wiffle ball. The highlight was watching Carson play first base. I don't know if he knew he was playing it, but he stood right there on the base, and his cousins thought that is what he was doing. We also got together on Sunday night with Kari and Carson and Justin, Jennifer, Kaitlyn and Ryan for some pop its and sparklers. Neither Carson or Ryan were the least bit afraid.

Baseball Boys

Ron and Ruth's four boys are all big baseball fans and players. We have had a good time going to their various games this summer. Here are a few pictures of the action.


Tyler played on a special needs T-ball team. He is such a good hitter, that the coach pitched to him instead. He is always the biggest cheer leader for his team.

Tyson's baseball team took second place in his division in the city. He had some pretty smooth plays at second base.

Here is Kaleb. He hit a homerun, last batter style at this at bat.

Korbin always sits with me at his brother's games. He says he is a baseball boy too, and often brings his glove and bat. Notice the "batting" gloves.

Southern Utah Getaway

We just got back from a relaxing little trip down to southern Utah. We go there often, but this time went into Bryce Canyon for a few days. It had been many years since we had been there. It was beautiful and we enjoyed it very much. We also went to St. George to see a couple of Tuachan plays in the outdoor theatre. It was very hot, but we saw Sound of Music and Les Miserables, which were both wonderful and well worth the heat. We also went to the St. George Temple for an endowment session. It is a favorite of ours.

I thought you would get a kick out of this picture of the cougar who looks like he is going to jump right on Grandpa while he checks out. This is the lobby of the Ruby's Inn Lodge where we stayed in Bryce. It has been there since 1923. The lobby looks very much like that era, and has these animals and animal heads all over the place. It is cool. The room was very modern and nice, though.

Here are some pictures of us at Bryce Canyon. Sorry about the sun glasses. We forgot we had them on, and the sun was so bright!

We didn't take our camera when we went to the temple, but here is a summer picture of it. We love it because it is always quiet, and the sessions are small. It is very old and beautiful inside.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Tuachan outdoor theatre. You can't take pictures during the plays, but I snapped these with my phone before it started. I probably wasn't supposed to, but everyone was. The sides of the red cliffs are really high. You can't really tell here, as I couldn't fit it all in. But it is really beautiful.

Special Olympics Update

We just wanted to give an update on the Utah State Special Olympics in which Tyler participated. He took three more medals in that meet as well. Gold in the softball throw, silver in the 50 meter dash, and bronze in the 25 meter dash. Way to go Tyler!! You are our star! He also was able to help carry the sign for his team in the procession at the opening ceremonies. It was a fun couple of days for Tyler, and for us.

Special Events

We had two very special events to attend yesterday. One of those wonderful days for proud grandparents!

Our very own Tyler Agla participated in the Special Olympics yesterday. He ran in three events and took first place in two of the three. Notice the gold medals around his neck in the picture. No one could have been more excited than Tyler was to be a first place winner. Now he will be participating in the state event next week. Way to go Tyler! We are very proud of you.

Kaitlyn Agla graduated from kindergarten last evening. It was a very nice program where Kaitlyn was one of the very best (and cutest) singers. She had a big smile on almost through the whole program. Where did our shy Kaitlyn go? Here she is with her diploma. Congratulations Katilyn! We are also very proud of you!

Bridal Shower

My niece Jill is getting married on June 14th. So on Saturday we gathered the girls in the family for a bridal shower. It was lots of fun for all.

The Chicago Trip

Below are lots of pictures of our trip to Chicago. It was one of the best trips we have ever been on. The weather was terrible, which limited us somewhat, but we still braved the weather and went out and did some things. We were staying at the Palmer House Hotel, which is downtown. It is very old and historical, and made it fairly easy to walk around places. We walked down the famous Michigan Ave. and over to a really cool park. We also walked up to a very old Macy's Dept. Store. It is the coolest store I have ever seen! It also is very old and has 10 floors. There is a big open area inside where you can see the gold ornate labels of each floor. It is very old fashioned and beautiful. On the children's floor there are stuffed animals that are huge, and for sale! We would have bought one, but they were priced at $5,500. The last day we went out to the lake to an aquarium, planetarium and a big museum. The lake is so big that is looks like the ocean. It was raining hard, so we got soaked, and the pictures aren't the best. I have broken down some of our special things we did, but the rest of the pictures are in the slideshow. The wind was always blowing in our faces, but they aren't too bad. Enjoy!

Palmer House Hotel

Here is the lobby of the Palmer House. The lighting isn't the best, but it is really beautiful.
Here we are standing on the stairs going up from the lobby to the famous Crystal Room. It is where many famous people were entertained, and Liberace got his start. I had lunch here each day of the conference.

I am near the check-in counter. Very ornate chandeliers and fancy furniture everywhere.

Here is grandpa by the stairs next to a very old, huge pot. Everything is so old and beautiful, you hate to touch anything!

Chicago pictures

Holy Cow!

We splurged and went to Harry Carey's restaurant downtown. We were wishing Justin was with us! It is a world famous restaurant, famous for it's clientele, food and atmosphere. It wasn't as fancy as I would have guessed it would be, but very pricey, and VERY busy. There are wonderful pictures all over the walls, but we couldn't get close enough to most of them. Here are a few pictures of us there. Justin, notice whose jersey I am next to. There is a signature, but you can't really see it.
Here we are! We had a very friendly waiter who took the picture and told us lots of information.

You can't see this too well. Ryne Sandberg was Justin's hero growing up. This is hanging in a case right outside the section we ate in.

Here is Grandpa and Harry. This is right as you come in the door. He had a hard time getting close enough for a picture with all the people.

Wicked pictures

Wicked

My most favorite thing we did while in Chicago was to go to the historic Oriental Theatre to see "Wicked". It was so good! I didn't know what it was even about, but had so many people tell me about it, that we decided to try it. It is really the story leading up to the Wizard of Oz story, and tells how the witch became wicked and the good witch became good. It was humorous, touching, the actors and singers were wonderful, and just overall entertaining! The theatre itself was worth seeing. It is over 100 years old, and very ornate and beautiful. A night to remember!

The conference

This is the real reason we went to Chicago. I attended an HR Generalist Conference held at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. That is why we were able to stay there. BYU is asking me become HR Certified, so this is the beginning of lots of knowledge and studying. I enjoyed the people I met and the information very much.

Family Easter Fun

Happy Easter

We always have a good time at our family Easter gathering. There is lots of egg hunting. Grandma and Grandpa spend lots of time filling plastic eggs with candy, writing grandchildren's names on them and hiding eggs. We are tired when we are done! This year Kyle and Courtney helped us to hide the eggs for the little ones. We were grateful! There is also lots of eating and playing with cousins. We were sad to not have Carson as a little egg hunter this year, so sent his eggs to Pensacola so he could enjoy them there. We also missed our Korbin, who was sick on Easter. No fun! So he and his Mom, Ruth had to miss the festivities as well. Maybe next year we can wish for everyone!

Coloring Eggs

Grandpa and I were so happy to have Kaitlyn and Ryan come over to color eggs with us. It is much more fun with children you love!

Getting ready to start.

This is what Ryan thought of coloring eggs! Maybe next year.

Kaitlyn creates a masterpiece.


Grandpa loves coloring eggs.

Travel

Now that our kids are all married and out of the house, we love to travel! In the last few years we have been to Disneyland (by ourselves!), Disneyworld (with Kari and Joel), Las Vegas, Zion's National Park and Southern Utah, Grand Canyon, Nashville, Tennessee and Pensacola, Florida. Here are a few pictures of our journeys.

Never too old to walk on the beach!

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At Pensacola Beach with Carson

Kari, Joel and Carson at Disneyworld

Zion's National Park

Grand Canyon