I LOVE THIS Cowboy

I love this man--cow poop and all!Yes, I'm talking about Terry and not my horse! Although I love Cowboy the horse too--just not as much as I do Terry!  Terry is such a hard worker, he can do ANYTHING, is considerate of others--especially me, loves his family--especially all 6 of those grandkids, is good with animals, makes a mean omelete, shows respect for the elderly, loves a good joke, finds the humor in most situations, and is an all around good guy. Even makes a great part time cowboy when needed! (Part time cowboys are needed in Peance Creek, Colorado EVERY year the last week of October to gather all those cows off the range and bring them back home to Utah!) Thanks hon for still making my heart flutter each and every day for the past 32 years. Cow poop looks good on you!

Quite an Accomplishment!

So one of the things on Dad's "to do" list before he dies or gets too old to do is to learn to make a saddle. A good friend, Tom Brough, owns a boot and shoe repair shop and decided that he wanted to make Jared a saddle to show their family appreciation for Jared's service in the Marine Corp. Dad decided that he would like to make one also so him and Tom set out on this great big huge task of making saddles. I  always wondered why places charged so dang much for a saddle. We're talking several thousand dollars per saddle, people! I now understand that big price tag! TONS of work go into those babies! Anyway, Terry and Tom started back in March working 4 or 5 evenings each week. Some nights, an hour or two; some nights only 20 to 30 minutes depending on the task. Most Saturdays involved 2 to 4 hours working at the store or here at home. Tom has built numerous saddles in the past and finished his for Jared back in July sometime but Terry lagged behind due to work travel and responsibilities at home or date nights or church things, etc. BUT today was the day! He finished! It is such a great accomplishment to finish a project this big. There were times when he wanted to quit but he didn't! There were times when he forced himself to go and was glad in the end that he went each time. It is a beautiful saddle and he learned many skills while building it. Terry and Tom grew closer while they worked along side each other and swapped stories of growing up and experiences that each had in their lives. Terry also learned patience as he had to break this huge job down into small sizeable tasks. We learned better time management  as a family as we supported him being gone each night and still trying to feed and work the horses, mow the lawn, fix and eat dinner, home teach, do home repairs and maintenance, etc. The smile on Terry's face today when he FINALLY finished his saddle was worth EVERY and I mean E-V-E-R-Y minute and hour that he was gone working on it. As we left the store today, I felt a little sad that the saddle is done and we won't be spending as much time visiting with Tom. He is a great guy and we can never repay him for all his time and effort and encouragement on this project. I'm soooooo proud of you, Terry! It's BEAUTIFUL! Job well done! Thanks for sticking to it and finishing this project--you are ALWAYS such a good example in life to me. Check out his gorgeous saddle and talents. We're both proud as peacocks!!! And you can officially check saddle making off your "to do" list, hon!

A Ride of a Lifetime!

For Terry's Birthday Celebration this year, we went for a hot air balloon ride in Eden, Utah. It was soooo much work to get the balloon off the ground but once we were up in the air.........WOW! The scenery was breathtaking and the quiet--UNBELIEVEABLE! There were a total of 12 balloons that day. Each balloon was colorful and  were different sizes.  We were lucky enough to fly in a basket with only the two of us and our pilot, Mac. Other balloons held as many as 8 people. The ride lasted for a little over an hour and we were definetely not ready for it to end. We landed in a field and had to lift the basket over a farmer's gate and then fold the balloon back up and put it and the basket into the trailer that carried it on Mac's truck. We learned alot that day about hot air balloons and flying. We know that we would like to do it again someday. After the balloon gear was packed away in the trailer, we all headed back to the launch site for a brunch and an initiation. There were 4 of us first time flyers to be initiated that day. When you fly, you become a member of the "aeronaut" family of flyers. The initiation is fun, lengthy, and private--uh, secret to the point that they ban you from ever flying again if you reveal the details to a non-flying areonaut!!  Afterwards, we enjoyed a beautiful and relaxing brunch. These aeronauts really know how to put out a food spread! There was BBQ pork loin, hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, brats, spicy mexican fajitas, chips galore, fresh fruit, cake, salads of every kind imagineable, and on and on and on.......it was good stuff. These people really enjoy spending the mornings together and enjoy whooping it up when they are done with their ballooning activities! They are like a ward family. We had to be to the launch site (a field owned by Wolf Creek Resort) at 6:30 AM and we didn't leave the brunch area until 11:30!  And we were some of the first to go......but I had to pee and there were no facilities so we went on.  They were a great bunch of people that were excited to have a few newbies join them.  It definetely was an experience of a lifetime. And we are already talking about doing it again in the wintertime when the scenery would be different and the balloon could stay in the air longer. All in all, a GREAT way to celebrate a birthday. It comes highly recommended -- by us -- 2 of the newest aeronauts around!

My New Hideout

Check out my new covered patio that Dad made for me! Isn't it fabulous?  He is such a handy guy to have around.  It is a cool place to sit in the early mornings and in the evening.  I have wanted to cover the patio for several years now but we finally got around to it this summer. It seriously is 20 + degrees cooler under that thing!  I came up with the plan and Dad executed it!  Way to go, hon! You da man!!

My Man is Handy!

Dad made me this cute shelf for my living room. I hung it above the old antique sewing machine. This guy is sooooooooooo handy. I saw a picture in a catalog and the sell price was $140.00. Dad made mine for under $20 and I had another $12.00 in knobs that I bought at Hobby Lobby while they were on sale. I LOVE this cabinet and definetely the man who made it!

Out With the Old & In With Some New.....

We have been busy replacing things the last few months. Some of our stuff is wearing out and others we just felt the need to go on to newer things. One of the biggest changes has been to take John out of bunkbeds and put him in an "official big boy bed"! It's a full size. He got so stinkin tall that he couldn't stretch out in the bunkbeds anymore. Dad made the headboard and side rails. We want to build drawers to go under it so John can hide his stuff better but that is a project for another time. He is loving the extra room. I still have some things to do in his room like paint his nightstand and do a little rearranging and rehang some things on his wall but for now he's pretty content with his big boy bed!

Santa Needed a Helper

Shortly (like several hours!) after arriving in Georgia, Amber told Dad that Santa needed some help delivering some Christmas gifts to a multi-generational family in their area. She asked if he was up to the task and he said he was. She took us to a friends house that had all the gifts wrapped and ready to go in cute large bags that had been decorated. This friend, Valerie, also had a spare Santa suit that Dad proceeded to put on. He had lots of help! There were no Santa black boots so Terry improvised with what he had--brown cowboy boots! We then drove over to where these people lived and waited in cars while Terry went with the bags (yes, there were several very large bags) and proceeded to knock and do his "HoHoHo"s. He was admitted in by a man that answered the door and I have to tell ya that I panicked just a little! This was not a family or an area known to us! Try that on and see if your reaction is just a little like mine. Anyway, I was in the car with Easton and Paisley and they had lots of questions about the events of the evening. It was fun teaching them about loving others and giving to those that aren't as fortunate as we are. I love the holidays for this reason. Mankind is always at its finest during this time of year. We put our needs and wants away and think of others and find ways to serve more humbly and lots more diligently. I'm grateful that Amber and her friends were inspired to serve this family and also grateful that we got to participate in the joy of the season in a small but satisfying way. After Christmas, we actually got to see the family and see them wearing and enjoying some of the gifts that had been given to them. It didn't take the man who had answered the door very long to fill in the blanks on who had played Santa that night but he had to ask LOTS of people and shake TONS of hands until he introduced himself to Terry....the rest just fell into place in this mans mind and he just kept shaking Terry's hand and thanking him for the gifts of Christmas for his family. True humility at it's best!

Dad's Christmas Present

For Christmas this year I decided to honor Dad's 20 years in the Air Force with a shadow box of the medals that he earned while serving on active duty. My motives were twofold: one, to honor his accomplishments and two, to get the large (but VERY nice) shadowbox that was given to him at his retirement ceremony OUT of the bedroom and above his desk. In the process I learned how very little I knew about military medals and how wonderfully impressive his accomplishments truly are. I spent many hours fussing over how to place things in the shadowbox and made numerous trips to the military clothing sales store (where you go to purchase medals and devices and all things foreign to retired military spouses!) to glean some new info or have old info repeated back to me so I could run home and once again get the medals in their correct order of importance and get the medal devices correct with the right colors. I also went into this thinking that it would take a small amount of time to put it all together and not a significant amount of money to finish it. Neither proved to be true but I REALLY enjoyed this project as it helped me to recall many opportunities, experiences, places, and people that were apart of our military lives. It was a difficult 20 years of sacrifice but it was well worth the rewards and blessings that were piled upon us. I loved learning more about the medals and awards that were presented to him along his military path. I always knew he was an outstanding guy and above average in the things that he did and does today but....Wow! this man ROCKS!! Give him an "atta boy" for all that he accomplished in his 20 years--he certainly deserves at least a billion. Can I hear a "Whoop! Whoop!" Way to go, hon.

Happy Anniversary, Babe!

I know, I know this is late. The story of my life the past 7 months or so. Seems like I can barely get the daily things done let alone important things like this! Sorry hon, that this is late by a day but hopefully you know that I love you with every breath that I breathe, every blink of my eye, every minute of every day, every second of every minute, every day of every year that we have spent together, and I love you enough to want to spend ALL of eternity with you. You are the BEST thing that ever happened to me (next to our kids and grandkids!) and I have loved our life together. There have been some tough times during this 31 years of life but I wouldn't change them because they have made us who and what we are. We are being and have been refined by the fires of life!! I love how you bring me flowers unexpectedly, always open my car door, help me take my coat off, give me the first piece of cheesecake, allow me to be served first at dinner, call me during your busy and crazy work day to say hello, take care of me when I don't feel well--that's been A LOT this past 6 months--it doesn't go unnoticed, hon. I love how you listen to me when I'm excited about something with one of the kids or grandkids or some dumb thing with Relief Society--you even pretend that you are interested!! I love how you love our kids even when we would like to strangle them! I love how crazy you are about our grandkids--they are the truly sweet rewards of parenthood! I love how you run errands with me--even when I know you have TONS of other things that you want to get done. I love how picky you are about our home and property (or should I say PROPERTIES)and always want them to reflect good care and near perfection. I love how patriotic you are--you have a definete love for our country and those that sacrifice so much to defend her. I love how you fly an American flag in our yard 365days a year--no matter what! I love how you love the Lord and are always willing to serve and NEVER complain about it or what time a meeting forces you out of a warm bed. I love how diligent you are in doing your Home Teaching--you have never been given EASY families-but I'm sure there's a reason and know that it's because you truly care about others. I love how you go to "chick flicks" with me and never complain about them. I love how tender you are with Bailey even when you think I'm not looking. I love how you love your parents--they're great people and did a great job raising their son. I love how you tinker--most of the time! ;) I love how you never complain about my cooking--especially the last few months when I haven't done much of it! I love going on date night with you each week--it is the highlight of my week! I absolutely adore you, Terry! I don't know what I did in my life that made me lucky enough to have you in it but I am soooooooooo very grateful that you are my partner in life and for eternity. I love you for all these reasons and MANY MANY more, hon! Here's to 31 more wonderful years with you......

Bailey Loves Grandpa, Red Stuff, and Her Clubhouse

Bailey LOVES Grandpa A LOT lately. He has been giving her some sweet treats to eat. She takes the treat from Grandpa and hurries and gets into her clubhouse to eat it before anyone can get it from her. What is that sweet treat that Grandpa gives her? You guessed it! It's LICORICE. Notice that Grandpa gives her the RED licorice--it's cuz BLACK is HIS favorite.