18 Busy Bees...and Counting

Time

2011-03-04T15:40:00.003-07:00

Just want to say that I would love to update my blog, but......
I have no time!!!!
An update will be coming soon... I hope

Christmas 2010

2011-01-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!! Yes, I know it is way past Christmas but, I am just getting around to blogging about it. A collage will have to do instead of individual pic's this year. It was a wonderful fun filled Christmas. Alan got his Christmas wish... a cabin and we got to spend Christmas there. Food, Santa, hide and seek game, puppet show, playing in the snow, swimming, sleeping with cousins, family pictures, singing, decorating a live tree and making the decorations for said tree. Ho ho ho he he to one and all until next December.

Redo

2010-12-01T17:18:00.004-07:00

We are in the middle of a redo. It was supposed to be a paint job in some rooms and update some furniture.
Alan gave me a decorator gal for Christmas last year, well just her name. Yes one year ago!! Well, now we have no fireplace anymore ( I can't find the pic of the ripping it out!)
We have been looking at a lot of this kind of stuff.
Word to the wise, walk into the store and come out with your fixtures and rugs. Don't shop around, waist of time. We should know, we have waisted sooooo much time!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-02T13:56:00.006-06:00

It was pretty scary at our house this year. If the grand kids were older we could have had a very good haunted house in our house. We are under construction and held the party in the basement where there is carpet and a toilet! Notice my little kitchen with Microwave and toaster, that's all I've got.
We had some monkeying going on and a very cute little giraffe waiting for cousins to show

Of course it is a costume party and we were a little short of some of the family

We are Wheatie people and I added the mickey accents because I want to go see him and they were orange!!
Fish pond! Thanks Popeye for helping out
Halloween Bingo is always a hit with prizes worth up to $$'s.
It was rainy, windy and cold, but cute trick or treaters!! The wind was blowing so hard that it blew Josh's umbrella inside out!
Help, I'm wet and cold and was scared by a dog and cat!!!!!! No candy in that little pumpkin. Happy Halloween 2010!

Help Grandpa Day

2010-10-30T07:20:00.005-06:00

October 23rd was spent helping at Grandpa Lester's, "Help Grandpa Day". I had these lists facing the correct way in Picasa and then when I up loaded them to blog they turned side ways (any helpful hints would be appreciated from those who know how to correct this on a Mac).
He had some pretty full lists of things to keep us busy

Of course Grandpa cooked his famous hamburgers and hot dogs
Grandpa go an early Christmas present, a new large print keyboard and large monitor
We visited the neighbors haunted yard and the great grand kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes
Grandpa Lester bought a Turtle pinata to make the party complete. Thanks for the wonderful day Grandpa, we love you!

Snow

2010-10-28T15:22:00.006-06:00

It was not fluffy, puffy or marshmallowy and it broke many branches
9 inches of heavy wet white stuff
All I have to say is, NOT YET!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Katherine

2010-09-26T16:26:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Katherine, our little Bright Sunshine! Flat Stanley, I'm sure, would wish you a very happy day too, if he could talk (oh, the memories)!
(yes, my computer is up and running for a day or two more!!)

Under Construction

2010-09-25T17:34:00.003-06:00

Yes, we are under construction and my computer is being unplugged and moved. So, "I'll see you when I see you" (what movie is that quote from?) or when my computer gets hooked back up to the net!! Enjoy!

Snow White

2010-09-18T22:10:00.009-06:00

I think I am the luckiest person around because I have been to two, yes two, Tea Parties where *Snow White* has appeared! My niece threw together a last minute affair and invited me and Brooke who I was tending while her mom, dad and brother Jack were in Disneyland seeing Mickey! As you can see she was a bit nervous around the other party goers. (Oh, I need to thank Aunt Liz for lending us Brooke's Snow White dress and head band).
And then we found the "magic" of an apple in getting a little someone to stand in a group picture!
And then "She" Snow White appeared and she had an apple to entice Brooke to come sit by her but.... it took a pair of shoes...
Brooke's shoes, that is, to see if they would fit the beautiful Snow White.
In case your wondering, the shoes didn't fit... you know this is Snow White, not Cinderella!
Let the Punch Tea Party begin! Brooke couldn't believe that she was being aloud to drink from a regular cup and not one that had a lid attached! Best Tea Party ever!!!
Soooooooo good!!!!!

Snow White had a beautiful wood book and pictures.
Look........ Look, Snow White left red lip stick on her cup and she was a good girl and ate all her cake.
And so did this little princess too.
Once upon a time has turned into twice upon a time for me and yes it was stillllll magical!! Thank you Snow White, thank you Marcie and thank you Aunt Karen for letting Brooke and I have a wonderful, magical, fun "happily ever after" time!
PS. Snow White said she was going to hurry back to Disneyland to see Brooke's brother Jack with her friend Mickey Mouse!

Savannah

2010-09-17T20:32:00.004-06:00

Okay, I haven't blogged for 17 days.... I'm tired..... Just looking at all the energy the kids have
helps a little. Below little 1 yr. old Lilly loves to climb in - and - out (gotta love that little face)!!
We have had some interesting events happen, Savannah (5yrs.) had Kidney surgery on the 9th and hopefully everything will be working AOK!
This was her 1st trip down stairs from mommy's bedroom to eat at the table (instead of eating in bed) with Josh and cousin Brooke and we celebrated with some healthy food!!!
Savannah's 1st car ride and outing after her operation for Sunday dinner at Grandma's.
We made a lovely bed, as you can see, for Savannah to rest on while at Grandma's and the rest of the kids found the carpet wasn't too bad to stretch out on.
Savannah is back in Kindergarten and as a reward got her ears pierced! If I was on top of things I would have had a picture of the new ear rings but as I stated earlier.... I'm tired.

Pine Wood Derby

2010-08-31T09:16:00.003-06:00

Look at that happy face and fabulous hot rod car!! Joshua's 1st pine wood derby car. We still have all of Tom's cars. Josh's car was very patriotic with the red, white and blue and very personal with his initials JB carved into the center and putting the weights stacked on top of the car was brilliant to look like hot rod pipes!! Cool Kid - Cool Car!! Look forward to next years car design!!

Deer Valley Week

2010-08-30T09:38:00.007-06:00

We traveled up to The Deer Valley Club Condo after church on the 15th. Ski runs were right outside our deck. Beautiful, beautiful mountain views.
We celebrated Lilly's 1st Birthday and Tom and Angie's 8th Anniversary on the 16th. We went back to school shopping for the kids, swimming, hiking, eating, playing all day at the alpine slide area, made paper puppets with the kids and watched puppet shows, drove around looking at big beautiful cabin homes and alot of dreaming..
Lot's of pool fun...
Getting to bed late led to napping were ever you could...
Fun day pass at the Alpine slide area...

Family fun at the rock climbing wall (Josh, Savannah, John). Savannah could not get enough of this wall! Question is, is she my grand daughter???
Josh and Savannah jumping high and Autumn and Megan loved this jumping high too. John, Al, Angie and Tom riding up to the top of the mountain and then they came down the coaster, Alpine slide and zip line. It was a very, very hot day.
Just because you are in the mountains does not make it nice and cool when the valleys are close to the 100 degree mark!! Hiking on the road to beautiful trails..
Zipping on the zip line...
We came home on Wednesday real quick to check on the house and bring Josh home and encountered a horrible rain storm that sent water over flowing into a water fall of a gal in our wards back yard. It was raining so hard that the streets turned into deep water filled rivers and I had water coming in on my feet in our Sequoia, it was crazy driving. And yes I was a nervous wreck!!
Our house was fine but they said it was the most rain in a short period of time in our area.

Happy 2nd Anniversary

2010-08-27T23:20:00.004-06:00

I'm late on wishing Katherine and Taurean Happy Anniversary on the 23rd (I'm always late getting things posted)!! We miss you and wish we could party all over again on your wedding day, it was so fun! Come play with us soon!

Happy Anniversary

2010-08-27T21:41:00.004-06:00

I'm a little late but, Happy 8th Anniversary Thomas and Angela!! Thanks for spending it with us at Deer Valley and sharing Lilly's Birthday too.

Birthday Monkey on the Table

2010-08-27T10:32:00.006-06:00

Lilly turned One years old on the 16th and we celebrated at the Deer Valley Club with the cousins!
Now you can see why I titled this "Monkey on the Table"! The table was the only place to contain the cake mess!

Notice how mother Liz made the cute dress and then matched the party decor to match!!

Happy Birthday Lilly, we love you!

Work/Play Day

2010-08-15T03:43:00.007-06:00

My grandchildren love to work...

They also love to play and take a break... (Brooke's swimsuit is borrowed from a cousin Megan because she forgot to bring one)
Gotta have some play time (yes, Jack's swim suit is rolled up so it will stay up! He also borrowed a swimsuit from his 8 yr. old cousin, Joshua because he forgot to bring one)
Gotta have some art time...
Gotta eat some chalk...
Gotta put chalk on your body...
Gotta entertain the adults... (Wheatley's are easily entertained).
The End...

Las Vegas

2010-07-28T22:13:00.008-06:00

Don't ask me why, but we traveled down to Vegas. Just look at it.....yup, this picture says it all!! There is a cloud of yuck hanging over this town.
One bright star was we went to Trader Joe's, a first for me and yes I will return to a Trader Joe's in California to try some more new treats.
We stayed off the strip this time and it was delightful! We were out by the airport at a Homewood Suites. Two bedrooms, two baths, 3 TV's, breakfast, pool, easy on and off the freeway, no smoke and the room was clean! We didn't have a view of the strip, but this would have been it if our room would have been on the other side of the hotel. Kinda looks like the strip is surrounded by a prison fence (might not be a bad idea).
Activities included: A fashion show with rising walk way and everything
Lunch at Maggiano's (Abby's favorite place) and shopping
The Beatles Love show, great music!

Serendipity's, twice!
and now you can see why we went twice... frozen hot chocolate!
A little decor lighting
Bellagio water show from the car while waiting to turn into the Bellagio. We saw the whole water show from the car!! A very long wait.
And gardens at the Bellagio and BEE decor!
We made a quick trip to Paris by moon light! Well, it looks like the real thing! Did I mention that the temperature that night was 122 in the parking garage!! What were we thinking of going to Vegas in July!! 112 in the day time!!!!!!!!!!
Pet Rose signing
And The Lion King show!!

We left on Thursday, July 22nd, Alan's B-day and came back on Sunday. I do believe this will be my last trip to "Sin City" (my new name for Vegas) to see show's or for shopping or eating. We ventured into Mandalay Bay to see the Lion King show and they have dancers up on the tables dancing and the guys are cheering, cat calling etc.. Have not seen that before and don't want to see it again!
Good bye Vegas... no longer will my money go toward hotels, food, shopping and shows in Vegas, my money will go to another town and state. Over and out.

Wheatley Reunion

2010-07-22T09:03:00.010-06:00

Grandpa Lester planned a family reunion at his house on Saturday, July 17th. We went up Friday afternoon to help out and have a sleep over party. John and Liz and kids came up too and had a sleep over in the back yard. Saturday morning the guys and a few gals went golfing and the kids played with bubbles and went to the playground across the streets from Great Grandpa's.
Lot's of fun new experiences!!
Then it was onto some water fun!! It was a very hot day.

Poor Uncle David got to grill the food on a very hotttttttt day! Thanks for the good food!

Cousin fun and trying to find every bit of shade possible

John brought up a new soft serve ice cream machine that he will be renting out!! It was soooo good and so cool on a hot day.

Balloon animals were a big hit!!
I love everyone huddled in the shade
Some strange shapes were created on the animal balloons!

Party games...
and a very tired Great Grandpa at the end of the day. Thank you Grandpa for planning such a fun party and for all your hard work!! We love you. Next year's I hear will be at Bear Lake!

July 13th, 2010

2010-07-19T11:10:00.004-06:00

July 13th, 2010 the day Paul McCartney came to Sandy, Utah!! Back in 1964 when the Beatles came to the USA I never dreamed I would see a Beatle. Now I can say I have seen Paul twice! Once in Vegas (thanks to Uncle David) and now in Sandy Utah of all places.
It was hot, very hot.
We went with Aunt Karen and Uncle Kevin. Thanks for putting up with us!!

I think it was after the 2nd song Paul's jacket came off. He said that was the only thing coming off because he was in Utah!
It was as they say Fabulous. I only wish it could have been the Fab Four!! Oh well if I want to see the Fab Four, I need to go to a "1964 The Tribute" band concert. Best Beatle imitation group around. First time I saw them was in 1986 (maybe early 1987) at the Marriot Center in Provo.

Independance Day 2010

2010-07-19T09:39:00.009-06:00

Starting July 2nd and ending on the 5th was one BIG party! Started with Lagoon, Baptism, sleep overs, hikes etc.

Bike decorating and bike parade (pretty darn impossible to keep kids in a straight line). Notice Brookes bracelet, a roll of tape.

Chalk drawing masterpieces (Brooke stole Grandpa's chalk). Savannah's was the largest drawing.

Rockets everywhere, in the trees and on the roof! (one of our favorite activities)

Scooter rides with Grandpa

Tank battles on the Flag, we are not sure who's tank won. Flag drawing by Joshua.

Airplane flight school..

Parachute's and prize winners.

Sleep over at Grandma's with breakfast made by Aunt Abby in her Canada wear.

Delicious!!

A hike and a little rock band to end the day. Happy Birthday USA!!!!!!

It's Official

2010-07-19T09:25:00.003-06:00

Newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joshua was baptized on July 3rd and yes I am very late in posting this. Josh follows a long line of wonderful people being baptized in July... namely me, July 1st and Aunt Abby, July 4th! Congratulations Josh for making the choice to be baptized, we love you!!
And then let the party begin!! Liz set out quite the spread. Red, White and Blue was all around.

It was a perfect day!

Katherine

2010-07-12T08:25:00.002-06:00

"Katherine's coming, Katherine's coming"! This line is right out of one of our favorite Christmas movies, The night they saved Christmas. Well okay, in the movie they say "Santa's coming, Santa's coming" (I can hear the little elves saying it right now!), but the saying keeps running through my mind today with Katherine's name instead of Santa. We are all excited at the Wheatley homestead. It feels like Christmas excitement but with 94 degree's temperature. Last time she was home was Christmas (sorry Katherine that the pic is not so good).

Taurean we will miss you, but study hard!! In a couple of weeks we will return your wife happy! Remember, if mama ain't happy, nobody's happy.

Lagoon

2010-07-11T13:58:00.007-06:00

Lagoon: "It's what fun is", at least that's what the commercial says and the kids thought the commercial was right on!!

Look how well behaved they are listening to the instructions from the ride operator above! It was really fun because the kids would ride a ride and then want to ride the same one about 5 times in a row and we would find a nice bench in the shade!

Fun, fun, fun even for the parents and aunties!

We basically stayed in the kid area all day. We would watch them come... and... go on the rides.

The picture below is a keeper, I wonder if Alan even looked at what he was riding!!

We went to Lagoon on Friday, July 2 to celebrate Joshua, our oldest grand child turning 8. Ang and Vince came down from Idaho and if we all look a little tired its because it was 94 that day.

This picture is a little scary. What's up with the green water?

Did you know that they have Zoo animals at Lagoon? Well, they do and we saw one animal that wasn't even listed on the tour! A big fat rat!!

We've got the family all lined up one after another on the sky ride below...

Getting wet is all part of the show and that is why I am on dry ground taking pictures! Thanks everyone for being good sports with the rides and the heat of the day!

BEEDAY Delight

2010-06-28T15:02:00.014-06:00

Best Birthday ever!!! Some how this post got posted after Joshua's Birthday post, so we are out of order. Oh well, the day started out with a very cute Bee greeting poster using my favorite colors and then onto my breakfast of choice on the special red plate! I found a floral arrangement from the yard on the bar (I would say garden but that's a stretch) and 2 cute boxes with 200 year old Roman glass bling from Israel inside (nice). Alan took the day off work to spend it with me, a first (miracles happen)!! Then it was onto shopping downtown, taking grandson Josh shopping to get his Cub Scout uniform for his B-day, dinner at Cheese Cake Factory and then head home to a movie or go to a movie.

But.... my children planned a surprise "BEEDAY" party in the back yard!!

Alan knew all about it and so did little Joshua and no one "spilled the beans" to me about the party.

It was a beautiful garden party filled with BEES!

I love Bees, fake ones that is.

They went crazy-over-the top decorating! Abby made a marvelous-wonderful Beehive cake delight.

Cutest little Bee cookies by Liz and Beehive cake...

And don't get me started on the Beehive Pinata filled with delights for the kiddies.

I have no idea how they kept the kids away from the goodies while they waited for me to show up! I decided that we needed to stop at Costco on the way home and so the kids waited and waited. One cannot be rushed in Costco!

Oh the Bees, the Bee glow sticks, the Bee horn blowers, the Bee chocolate bars, the Bee cups, the Bee water bottles, the Bee cake, the Bee cookies, the Beehive, the flowers, the black and white (my favorite colors) mixed with yellow, the little homemade bees, the festive Mickey birthday hat (out of place with the Bee theme but, we work Mickey into just about everything we do!)

The word that comes to mind is "Fairy like" but I guess I would need to say "Bee like", but it did feel fairy like!!

The wind blowing the balloons and ribbons, the kids blowing their horns... magic.

Party games and everything!! Snicker bars in the pinata that got wet because I knocked it into the stream and got everything wet so we couldn't eat the bars. Throwing away snicker bars is just wrong!!
It was a wonderful shock-surprise of which I had no clue. I must be losing my edge as Gladice Gravits, the snoop . It was a very hot day to be hauling tables and setting up the Magical Beeville out side! It was a wonderful way to end a great day and with a party like this, who cares if I'm a year older! Best Birthday Ever - thank you, thank you for the great party!!

8 Years Old

2010-06-28T14:23:00.007-06:00

Our oldest grandchild turned 8 on Sunday. Saturday Liz threw a very cool party for him!

I certainly enjoyed the decor!

A pirate named John took the group on a treasure hunt and everyone knows that pirates love water!

Sunday we had a little celebration dinner for Joshua. We could not find a candle in the house so we used a match. We had wonderful cupcakes from the Sweet Tooth Fairy, but Josh wanted a little white donut.

Getting all decked out for Cubs!

A little pocket knife training with his new Y hat and marshmallow fun.

Happy Birthday Josh we love you!!

Abby is Twenty

2010-06-28T13:58:00.009-06:00

No longer in her teens, she started the day with the "Red Plate" for breakfast.

Then onto the presents! She got jamies, a ring (which was returned because it was breaking), Sam's club membership etc. We went shopping downtown, Toy Story 3 movie, dinner and watched the movie "Miracle" which she also got.

I didn't wrap it up, but she is also going to see the Lion King in Vegas, we just need to figure out a date. Happy Birthday Abby, the twenties will be better than the teens!! Love ya Birthday Girl!

Savannah's Dance

2010-06-28T13:46:00.004-06:00

Savannah had a dance recital at Kingsbury Hall. They did the play or ballet version of "Beauty and the Beast". It was very professional with huge back drops and sound track from the play. We couldn't take pictures so Liz took these during the dress rehearsal.

Her lip stick was great and she loved her flowers. Well done Savannah!!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-21T13:24:00.005-06:00

What would Father's Day be without a new tie!! Josh and Savannah created this tie for Alan. They painted it red (it was a blue tie) and glued on wonderful decor to it. One word... beautiful.

After church Ang and Vince left to go back to Idaho and I am sad, Play days are now over... We then packed up and traveled to Brigham and Tremonton to visit our dad's.

Lester insisted on making us his famous stir fry. Yes I know it's Father's Day but this is what he wanted to do! It was very good!!!

John and Liz dropped by to visit Grandpa too. I love his red flowers and his yard was perfect! Happy Father's Day!!

Saturday Fun

2010-06-21T13:12:00.006-06:00

After visiting Abby at work it was Pizza Factory Fun!!! We love these bread sticks. FYI the Pizza Factory in St. George has better bread sticks. We did order pizza but next time I'll just eat bread sticks.

Jack got this huge sucker and enjoyed it all the way back to Grandma's house, then it was time to roast some giant marshmallows!

Jack would put the whole thing in his mouth...

No choking occurred and next time maybe choc. and graham crackers will be introduced!

Sweet Tooth Fairy

2010-06-21T12:55:00.008-06:00

"Play week": Saturday we drove to Provo and visited Abby at the Sweet Tooth Fairy!

They were giving all the Father's a free cup cake and of course we needed to buy some to take home with us!

Abby won't be working here much longer because she has a another job offer.

Fun in the Sun

2010-06-21T12:36:00.007-06:00

"Play week": Thursday was filled with crazy shopping (swim suit shopping, Father's Day shopping etc.) and Friday was water fun! We got out this little pool for the babies and everyone wanted in, the water was warm in the baby pool!! We put down mats so the lawn wouldn't turn into a river of mud.

Everyone had fun, fun, fun. Alan had to come home from work because Liz and I were not ready to handle such a heavy new play toy. We hooked up the hose to the hot water tap and that ran out real fast so the water was cold!

Savannah and Joshua got some air (I thought a couple of times they were going to fly right off!) Jack was a little, okay a lot nervous of the water dripping down on the slide, so we turned off the water and he had fun too. We played on this Friday and Saturday! I hope the lawn will recover or Alan will be finding a new home for the water slide (he was not happy that Josh and I bought this).

Wedding

2010-06-21T11:40:00.005-06:00

Play week: Wednesday's Adventure was a family wedding! Alan's niece Jennifer got married (David's daughter). This was Wednesday, June 16th, the day trees were blowing over, crazy winds downtown SLC. This blog is for Katherine who couldn't go to the wedding since she is out of state and the pictures I stole off of face book! I can't believe I didn't snap any pictures! Her sign in book was vintage post cards that you wrote on the back and put in a big old mail box sitting on a table. Cake top was designed with Jennifer's dress. Wedding SLC Temple, lucheon Lion House and reception Lion House, wedding dress from NY, pearls given to her by Grandpa Wheatley and they were Grandma Wheatley's and the netting in her hair was from Grandma Wheatley's veil. The rain and wind brought the reception inside the Lion House instead of a garden reception. It was lovely, congratulations Jen and Sam.

Zoo

2010-06-17T14:07:00.010-06:00

"Play week": Tuesday's Adventure was the Zoo!! Loved the train ride, didn't like the bug.

Getting an education on elephants (baby sleeping) and BIG bugs!

A little monkey!

Baby elephant is awake and on the move. We missed Autumn and Megan who were traveling to St. George to see Grandma Jan and Grandpa Ron.
Dinner at Red Robin and we left a mess on the floor. I wonder if anything ever makes it to the mouth?

Build-A-Buddy

2010-06-17T13:37:00.008-06:00

"Play week": On Monday I'm not sure you can call it "Build a Bear" store anymore because they have more than just bears! Ang, Jack and Brooke came back with Abby and I from Idaho on Sunday and we are having a fun filled week! Monday was Build A Bear day...

It was a wonderful adventure!! Maybe some day we will be able to get all the kids grouped the way we want them and all looking in the same direction for a picture!!

Happy Birthday Jack

2010-06-14T13:53:00.005-06:00

Start of "Play week": Where has the time gone, Jack is four years old! Abby, Joshua and I traveled to Idaho to celebrate. The kids got to make their very own pizza Friday night and then breakfast was cinnamon rolls. Don't let the Santa Jamie's confuse you, it was June 12th, the big Birthday Day for Jack. It was fun to have his cousin Joshua up from Sandy, UT to celebrate the fun.
Jack got a bright red bike from Grandma and Grandpa Wheatley and
a swing set from mom and dad. Too bad it was raining, blowing and very cold in Idaho on Saturday but, Jack has a very big garage so party on!
The sun came out for a sec!
Bowling was next! Angie got a strike..
Josh got a strike, Vince I'm sure he got a strike (by the way, he is gooooood!!). Abby and I, well let's just say that the gutter got a lot of action from us.
Jack got his very own bowling pin with his name on it and everyone sang to him over the PA system.
Then it was off to Applebee's for a cheese burger.
Present time..
More present time...
Jack got to decorate his very own cake all by himself!! Happy Birthday Jack, we love you!!

Where's my Mommy!

2010-06-10T16:05:00.003-06:00

I'm Hungry!!

Graduation's

2010-06-09T16:42:00.007-06:00

Autumn and Savannah graduated from their pre-school today. Autumn's was at 10am and Savannah's was at 12pm and was held at the same place. Look, Autumn and Savannah got the same hat for their silly song! Above, Autumn is on the back row wearing green & brown. Savannah (below) is on the front row in a yellow dress.

Autumn got to wear a cooking hat for "On Top of Spaghetti" song and Savannah got to hold the camels hump card for "Sally the Camel had 5 Humps" song.

Autumn was a sheep in the song "Silly Sally" and Savannah was a puppy dog (below picture & 5 from the left)!

And after all the songs it was graduation time from pre-school!
Megan was very concerned that "bunny" was not able to see Autumn. It was a very cute program and Autumn, Megan and Angie stayed to watch Savannah's program and then we all went to lunch! Congratulations Autumn and Savannah, we love you!!

Something New

2010-06-08T10:38:00.003-06:00

Well, these are not something new but, they did get new packaging as Abby and I found out. We cleaned out the freezer and found many strange and scary things from a couple of years ago in the bottom of our chest freezer (which is not staying). Such as Maddox Steaks changed their wrappings! And no, the something new is not the mower man on the golf course...
It's hidden in our trees!
Mommy and baby birds (at least 2). Sorry that we can only see the mommy, that is if you enlarge this picture. Stay tuned for more adventures with our new friends.

Memorial Day 2010

2010-06-03T17:07:00.001-06:00

I had to start this Memorial Day post with my favorite headstone which can be found in the Tremonton Cemetery. I think that is what I want on my headstone "I told you I was sick"! It is a classic!
We started off the day with "This is the PLACE Heritage Park". Yes, that is a snake the kids are touching. Notice Angie is the only adult willing to touch a snake.

Josh is $5.00 richer for kissing a pig, thanks to Grandpa. Notice the care takers face, he wouldn't do it. They were dirty!! Way to go Josh!!!
The kids got to make arrow head necklaces at the Indian village (Grandpa had to make one too).
Grandpa took the kids to the bank to get some real "money of the day" and
then they went and spent their dollar at the candy store.

After the park, we went to John and Josh's favorite buffet, Chuck-A-Rama. As you can see by the drinking glasses on the table we did some pretty hefty tasting of the soda section and made a couple of trip's to the bathroom!
Then we needed to walk off the buffet so we walked around the block to Gilgal Park.
It is a very different kind of park by Thomas Child. It is located at 749 East 500 South, SLC.
Yes, Joseph Smith is a Sphinx.
Everything has a scriptural reference
Below is a self-portrait of Child and conveys his great love for the masonry trade and for his religion. He is holding a Bible and the building behind him is the LDS Tenth Ward where he was the Bishop for 19 years.

The Arch is a monument to the Priesthood.
Everything is related to certain scriptures. The above picture is the last Chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes. The picture below is Daniel II: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream.
The picture below is about the Biblical story of the captain who appeared to Joshua and gave him a plan to assure the Israelite's victory over Jericho. They have a brochure that helps you piece it together.
I want to go back and read all the scriptures that are there and soak it in.
We ended the day with an exciting game of what else? Ping Pong.

Idaho or Bust

2010-06-03T15:52:00.004-06:00

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we traveled up to Idaho to deliver some mattress's to Angela. We rented a trailer because it was to rain and did rain all the way up and back.
We got to play with Jack and Brooke and it was so fun! I was taking pictures so Jack needed to capture some moments on his camera too.

It was sad to leave...
Oh, on our way up to Idaho we picked up Grandpa Wheatley in Tremonton and stopped in Pocatello do decorate graves. It was cold, windy and raining a little.
News flash: in Idaho they don't dig around the head stones, so if you don't dig them out once a year the grass grows over them!

Now the Tremonton Cemetery is a different story. They take very good care of it.

Happy 30th Birthday Liz

2010-06-03T15:30:00.006-06:00

Happy Birthday to my oldest daughter Elizabeth, we love you so much! And look at the cute grandchildren that she has given me and wonderful son-in-law, too!
Happy Birthday Liz started out with Joshua having his 1st Grade program and he is the handsome one on the back row in the white shirt! Of course I have video but I have not learned the fine art of putting them onto the blog (the video will just not work, help!).

His class did a group reading and then a story of the Three Little Pigs with props. It was so cute.

Josh has a poster of his "loves" (above) and his Spring ideas (below)

After his wonderful program we went to Birthday lunch at Texas Roadhouse and of course the picture is not so good of the Birthday girl, we love you Liz!
.

Dollar "$" Sign

2010-06-01T13:10:00.001-06:00

Brigham City has a dollar $ sign on it's mountain. It's not as perfect of a $ dollar sign as it used to be when I was growing up. In the above picture look at the little green tree top and look straight up from there on a little sandy piece of the mountain with no trees around it and there it is $.
I would sit and look out my front window and stare at the mountain. It more or less looks like an "S" now, but it's still there! Next time your in Brigham City, stop and look at the mountain!

Autumn's Dance Recital

2010-05-27T19:10:00.000-06:00

Autumn had her Spring Dance Recital on Wednesday at Cottonwood High School and she was a little Chinese Doll. She is the first little girl on the left sitting on the bench.
Now she is the second girl from the left.
I could not get the video of her dance to post so, I guess pictures will have to do.

Megan could not stop dancing! She loved watching her big sister dance. Thanks Autumn for inviting us, you were wonderful and very talented!

Airplanes

2010-05-26T16:29:00.001-06:00

Airplane 101:
1. Eat before you get on a long flight because all you get on the plane for free is peanuts, pretzels or a cookie and drink. Unless it is an international flight which includes food about 2 hours or so after you take off. But beware, if you don't eat before you leave you take the chance of flight delays and if your flight leaves at say 10:30 pm and then keeps being delayed and then the food places in the airport closes well, you see what I mean. We ate at T.G.I Fridays in the Atlanta airport and it was very good and we only had a 20 minute wait to get in with a group of 11. We thought it would take about an hour to get us all sitting together! This was before our flight was delayed and what a blessing because we would have been starving all night with no food vendors open at the airport.
2. Make sure an airplane is at your gate (sunrise in the Atlanta airport). Although, this was not our plane but what a beautiful sunrise and skyline after a very long night trying to catch some shut eye.
3. If you are going on a long, long flight, pack a blanket, pillow, cell phone & charger, movies to watch, snacks, make-up (for da women), toothbrush, eye coverings and ear plugs or just bring everything from home like I do. If your flight is delayed, quickly stake out your own little home away from home area! We basically took over one corner section of the gate! The girls pulled the seats out away from the walls thinking that the carpet would be cleaner behind the benches.
4. Wear long pants (no matter what season it is), long sleeve shirt and warm socks! Even with a jacket we were freezing, in the airport and on the plane. Even me with all my hot flashes, so you know it was cold! We made 2 friends that hung out with us in the Wheatley corner at the airport, the business man (I can't remember his name) in the black t-shirt by Angie and the preacher man. They were just like one of the family.

5. Plan on delays! If a crowd appears, mosey on over and be ENTERTAINED! The ring leader for our almost riot was the bald man in the Levi jacket. Note, Taurean is in the blue hat and striped shirt and was just watching all the fun. You can almost see a red jacket Delta agent who did not know how to handle a crowd. He said things like "Hey, back up and give me some room or I'm going to cancel this flight"! Well, that really helped and he was a Spanish speaking man trying to speak in English and was VERY hard to understand. They finally got 2 other red jacket Delta agents to help settle the crowd. It was VERY entertaining.
6. If you are flying for 12 hours, you might want to take a sleeping aid on the flight and also see if you can buy a strap that holds your mouth closed when you sleep, this is a Wheatley problem (I'm counting the preacher man as a Wheatley). The above picture is of our little preacher man who befriended us and became like one of the fam (see, he brought his own blanket). Airplane food can be very tasty (I did have one chicken meal that was good!). If you are on a 5 hour flight, no free food for you but, you can buy a sandwich or salad for $8.
7. Keep a positive attitude!
8. If you sit at an emergency exit on a over seas flight, be prepared for cold. Also, you get free movies on overseas flights, $6 for a movie in the states. On an over seas flight it's nice to sit about 4 rows from the airplane bathrooms, but not right across from them. Sorry Ang and Vince and Liz and John. They had great leg room seating on an exit row but it was noisy by the bathroom all night and very cold.
9. Travel with someone you love so that on delayed flights you can have them watch your carry-on's while you go to the bathroom a number of times.
10. Ice cream is $1 at the Tel Aviv airport and John was buying for everyone!
11. If you have a delay, take notes of how the airline handles it and...

12. If at all possible, FLY WITH FAMILY - it's the ONLY WAY TO FLY!

A Place of Rest

2010-05-23T20:55:00.001-06:00

I love a good Cemetery and they have some great ones in Jerusalem. The picture above is showing the Dome of the Rock, the Mercy Gate (sealed up nice and tight until Christ comes again) in front of the Dome of the Rock and a cemetery in front of the old city wall.
This is Jack Marshall our tour/scripture guide taken from the Orson Hyde Park on the Mount of Olives with the cemetery in the back ground.

The garden tomb...

This was taken from the Mount of Olives looking down on these tombs. They still use this cemetery! Wait, they still use all of them (bones on top of bones)!!
Below is a Muslim cemetery.
Below is a little German Cemetery where two LDS missionaries are buried. These two missionaries are the reason why we have the Jerusalem center and the Orson Hyde park on the Mount of Olives. They died from a plague and their bodies were not able to be shipped home and so they were buried in Jerusalem and so the Church was able to claim a presence in Israel from 1892. And thus the Church was able to buy and lease land in Israel. This is a miracle how this all took place. Their markers are the ones with half a pillar representing that their lives were cut down in their prime. One of the missionaries was Adolf Haag who was born in Germany and immigrated to Payson, Ut and the other missionary was John Clark from Farmington, Ut. John Clark's father designed and payed for the markers for their graves. The Mount of Olives is a very small area and for the Church to have the Jerusalem Center and the Orson Hyde Park area is unbelievable! I believe in Miracles and this is one!

Guns

2010-05-22T14:00:00.000-06:00

The day we left Jerusalem there seemed to be some kind of gathering of Military men outside of our Hotel. It is mandatory for every Israeli to serve in the military.
All I know is they seem to carry their guns just like we would carry a purse!
This is outside our Hotel in Jerusalem and the guy standing in the door way next to the flag is packing a gun. Our very own hotel guard who is supposed to be standing behind the wood podium outside. I don't blame him, it was very hot!
If you look closely you can see another hotel guard packing heat!

I love this bus stop. By the way, these are only the pictures I took, the kids probably have many, many more gun totting military photo's.

Israel

2010-05-20T15:01:00.014-06:00

We started our trip off with a bang, or I should say almost a riot at the Atlanta airport. They kept delaying our departure, then boarded us then after almost 3 hours deboarded us and then we spent the night on the floor! Taurean did sleep along with Alan and John. Yes, Taurean's head is in his back pack! Oh, and did I mention that it was freezing in the airport!! It was like a 14 hour delay. We had some pretty excited people who were complaining about how Delta handled it and it was very entertaining! Finally, with no sleep we made it to our tour bus. I'm not sure it was "Fun for LESS" but, it was fun.
Below is a fig leaf. I think Adam and Eve were able to make some nice coverings for themselves with these big leaves.
Sea of Galilee and the boat that we went out on one night. Yes I said night! I was a little nervous because I could not see where we were going!! By the way, the Sea of Galilee looks like Bear Lake! In fact, Israel looks like Utah!! Coincidence? I don't think so.
One of my favorite places below is the town of Capernaum. And of course they built a chapel over Peter's (I think) home.
Well, things have changed since we were in Israel 25 years ago. Below is the wall that the Israel built around the city of Bethlehem to keep who knows what out or the Palestine people in. Guns, guards and towers made us all feel real cozy in the birth place of Jesus.
Sheperd's field where the sheperd's were watching their flocks when Jesus was born. We got to go into some caves here with flash lights.
Masada is the big mountain of dirt in the middle of this picture. If you look to the left side of the mountain you will see a zig zag trail that Alan and Katherine walked down. The city is built on top of the mountain and there is a tram that takes you up to the top. It was so hot and looks out on the Dead Sea! The dark thing on the right side of the mountain at the top is where the tram stops to let you off.
Paintings on the walls inside of Masada. King Herod made it a beautiful place to live.
Fun, fun, fun at the Dead Sea. I did not get in the water, but I must say I had great fun in watching the European swim suits. One gentleman was changing into his swim suit right there in front of me on the beach! Yes, I did take a picture of him. It was like the Mr. Bean episode where Mr. Bean was changing his swim suit on the beach. There was way too much skin showing on that beach!
Another favorite for me on the trip was going to Beit Lehi an archeological dig that is not open to the public. The owner of Fun for Less tours is friends with the land owner. It was like something out of a Star Trek movie! Everything was under ground in caves. Below is a columbarium where they raised doves to be sold at the temple in Jerusalem and to also eat them. It was huge and scary to be under ground.
Below is one of my favorite things of the trip. This is in a cave at Beit Lehi and is a two room stable for animals with three manger's for the animals food. This would be like where Jesus would have been laid in a manger. So cool.
Also, at Beit Lehi there were beautiful mosaic's covered with sand and we would sweep the sand away and...
and a beautiful picture would appear! We were walking on them!!
This is the valley where Samson from the Bible lived and is right next to Beit Lehi.
The huge old Olive Tree's on the Mount of Olives.
Outside our hotel in Jerusalem.

This is my favorite place, the Pools of Bethesda. Well, I also loved the city of Capernaum and everything else we saw!

The Old city of Jerusalem and a nice Magnum Bar! I liked the Magnum Desire bar with cherries in it. Oh, it was so hot! Alan got some very cool flip top sun glasses off a vendor and I am hiding them from him so he doesn't wear them again! Below is the Flower gate which is a smaller gate. I alone took 671 pictures, so with all of us we took around 4ooo pictures, no, probably more. It was a great trip. I am already thinking, "why didn't I put in this picture or that picture". So, I will probably put on a few more in a day or two. The kids were afraid we would get killed in Israel but, the scariest thing that happened to us was our Delta experience!! Well, maybe it was going into Hezekiah's claustrophobic, water gushing tunnel in old Jerusalem and going into the caves at Beit Lehi! BEST PART OF TRIP, BEING WITH MY CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loved the trip and our tour guide, Jack Marshall. Shalom Jerusalem.

Traveling Gnome

2010-05-07T20:45:00.001-06:00

THE GNOME IS ROAMING! Shalom...

Pug Nose Dog

2010-05-03T14:40:00.003-06:00

I have a little Pug nose dog who likes to go for rides with Mickey and our family of monkeys seems to like to snuggle with her too.
Our Muffy-wanna-be-stuffed dogs are pals with her too. She is very popular and has many friends.
She even likes to visit the dogs in our Barbie house...
Please forgive Barbie, she is not dressed properly for company.
She is a friend to one and all.
Aunt Karen rescued this little pug nosed dog from a very crowded store and knew she would have a loving home here. She spends hours with the Travelocity gnome just looking out the window on their kingdom.
One day she found Muffy's bed and play toys and felt so at home

She knows that she would have been bestest friends with Muffy.

She is hoping for a picture like this with Katherine and Abby.

Muffy is her Idol and is wondering if Katherine's good friend Amy would some day paint her portrait. Although she knows she will have to be deceased in order for this to happen, so she is willing to wait awhile. If you would like to see one of her cousins you must rent or purchase the movie "Life with Father" with William Powell and Irene Dunne (1947). It also has Elizabeth Taylor in it. It is one of our favorite movies to watch. And when we are referring to certain money woes we say, "it is the pug nose dog syndrome"! Watch the movie and you will see. And that is how we came to love a little pug nose dog, named Pug. Thank you Aunt Karen for giving Pug a nice warm home!

Finally

2010-05-02T20:45:00.000-06:00

I got this book for Christmas or I gave it to Alan for Christmas, I can't remember! Well, I finally finished it! I now need to read more about Christopher Columbus, Abraham Lincoln's life and look for miracles in the world and in my life! I also should have paid more attention when we took a tour of Gettysburg years ago, because I now want to go back.

Snow

2010-04-30T11:21:00.001-06:00

It was just beginning to look like spring and then this happened...

The poor birds are having such a hard time with this snow and cold! Look at this little guy, he needs a warm home!

I was tending Savannah yesterday and she wanted to watch a movie and I said great, let's watch a Christmas movie. She said it wasn't Christmas yet, but a blizzard was happening outside the window! We watched Mulan.

Argentine Reunion 2010

2010-04-23T21:30:00.002-06:00

Argentine Cordoba Mission picture: Alan and Karla, Steve & Stacy, Eric & Lori, Bob & Carrie, Tom & Shauna. A small but happy group!

It's was time for some missionary buddies to get together for some Spanish memories. Tom and Shauna flew down from Coeur d' Alene, Id. and Eric found us a place to eat Argentine food! Shauna had broken her knee 6 days earlier (and didn't tell any of us), had surgery on it and flew down here! She is a crazy lady and was in pain (she said she was fine, but I can't imagine flying with a broken leg!)! She never complained (she is a mystery to me, I must learn from her ways) and didn't want Tom to miss the reunion. I hope she gets something REALLY nice for Mother's Day for doing this trip!

We ate at a little bakery called "Pampas" in Sugar House. It was a bakery and not really set up for dinners, but the boys speaking their Spanish magic managed to get tables for us and the food was authentic Argentine (so the boys said). We ate Milanesa Napolitana, Empanadas Portenas, Ensalada Rusa, wonderful flautita bread with Dulce de leche (my favorite). As usual there was not enough time to chat. We decided we better do it again in two years and not wait five years again. There was too much catching up on our lives and no time to reminisce! Next reunion lets bring pictures of the boys on their mission and have some good laughs! "Viva la revolucion Argentina!"

Pat

2010-04-19T01:46:00.004-06:00

Pat was our horse when we were young, well it was Grandpa John's horse. Three things are troubling in the picture above.

1 - What's with mine and aunt Karen's pant length?

2 - Pat's not looking so good and

3 - I don't think that fence is going to keep Pat in!

In the picture below Pat's looking better and taller. I have always been afraid of horses, even Pat!

By the way, I wonder where I got the idea to dress my girls in matching clothes when they were young?

Visit with Grandparents

2010-04-13T10:56:00.004-06:00

On Sunday after church we traveled north to visit the family and Tom's family came along too. Megan played with some special friends that she found on grandma's table. There was some clanking of the brass but no harm to those cute little mice
Megan found a new best friend.

We ate a late lunch or early dinner with Grandpa.

And as you can see Grandpa has been busy in his green house!

Storms

2010-04-12T21:44:00.000-06:00

These falling type clouds remind me of the "Ten Commandments" movie. You know when the destroying angel will pass them by if they put the blood over their doors. It was pretty creepy watching the clouds blow in the valley. I should have taken video instead of pictures so you could see the full effect.

Easter 2010

2010-04-10T15:42:00.007-06:00

Started off with a April Fools joke or two and then making some dino hats and watching dinosaurs grow in water. Friday we went to the Johnson Farm to see lot's of dino tracks.

Had a picnic lunch at the red rock cliffs and I got a few new gray hairs with the running, jumping and climbing! I worry for everybody and just had to turn my back and not look at the rocks, but no band-aids were administered!

Abby had a two thumbs up day, but I'm not feeling it! We saw Fort Pearce, dug around at the Warner Valley Dinosaur tracks and played in the sand dunes along the way. At the dunes we were standing watch so the ATV's didn't run us over! I'm sad to say we won't go back to Warner Valley because it is over run with ATV's. Last time we went we had it all to ourselves but, it was a few years ago.

Oh, yes it was Conference weekend! We just loved the way they hung the TV at the house with all those wires hanging down for the kids to play in!

Autumn and Megan let the cousins play with their chalk that the Easter Bunny brought and Angie found the "Big Golden Egg" on the hunt and Thomas was very happy.
Ya know, it is almost impossible to get all the grandchildren holding still, smiling and looking in the same direction for a picture. I'm just glad that Josh had a good hold on Lilly! Liz made all the little dresses for the girls with Ang.'s material!

Sunday morning Grandpa presented an Easter lesson for the kids. Poor Lilly got sat down in the wrong direction!
Easter Sunday dinner was held outside. Angie's brother Brandon came over and John invited a guy (Pat) who lived a couple of houses away, who we had borrowed jumper cables from, to come eat. Pat brought us some bubbly to drink!

Here is a look at the salmon, chicken and all the fixings.

We tried a fun new pasta that was stripped and when you cooked it, it lost its bow tie shape!

Happy Easter coloring contest with prizes worth up to $'s. Alan had the master coloring sheet.

The Greene Manor In St. George

2010-04-08T21:51:00.008-06:00

This is where we spent our Easter Weekend. Josh said his favorite thing was running back and forth between the carriage house and the main house!
The kids loved it. It even had a little bit of "wilderness out back" (what movie is that from?)

I loved the yard. Maybe it was because there was green grass and back home there was snow! There were beautiful old trees that were just getting ready to leaf out.

This is the interior of the carriage house. The bed in the background is good for only one person to sleep in as Alan and I found out. Oh, by the way, the kids are doing the "bunny hop" dance while Grandma and Aunt Abby are hiding 150 eggs outside.
This is the kitchen and family room and we are enjoying breakfast.
We had a "Pollyanna experience" with rainbow prisms all over the living room from the lead crystal front door. It kept the kids entertained. I'm sad that the rainbow colors did not show up in this picture. I kept thinking a leprachaun was going to pop up at the end of one of the rainbows!
Yes, I took a picture of the old brick and door jam, I loved seeing the old brick.
This bedroom was perfect!

We needed more time to play.

The kids slept in a loft in the carriage house and I slept on the other side of the white stair rail. All in all it was a great old house, the yard was wonderful but the cleanliness inside the house was not great. Let's just say that we wore flip flops in the showers and lysoled the toilet's and never went bare foot. And don't even get me started on the furnace filter that was very visible in the hall way (you had to see it to believe it)! But let's end on a positive note, we never saw a mouse!

Happy Birthday Savannah

2010-04-06T15:09:00.002-06:00

Savannah turned 5 years old today! In the picture below I caught her doing a very special something in the gift that Aunt Abby got her! Maybe the Chicken Dance?

She got a beautiful nightgown and Little Mermaid costume (which hopefully will last till Halloween).

Lilly would also like to play with some Birthday items! Have a Happy Birthday Savannah! We love you! (We might have to get Aunt Katherine this Barbie Dog stuff for her birthday!)

Churchill Downs

2010-03-24T09:18:00.000-06:00

Kentucky Derbyville - horses, horses, horses

The inner track is covered to get ready for the big race and if you don't know what the big race is well, you are not from Kentucky!
The buildings are to keep the horses happy so I'm just guessing that they probably have cable TV, saunas, air conditioning etc., because the rest of this place is pretty nice!

Yes, the viewing stands have green folding chairs! In the picture below you can see the new Papa Johns University of Louisville Stadium that is right across the street from Churchill Downs!

Here is the front of it with the big bats.

Inside Churchill Downs we found some betting going down on the big screens

"Horsey, horsey on your way, we'll be together for many a day, so let your tail go swish and your wheels go round, giddyup, you're homeward bound"!

You know for me, horse racing is on the same level as dog racing or any other type of gambling, it just isn't my cup of tea(and I don't drink tea either)! But, they have a beautiful place for the horses to run and people to spend money!

University of Louisville

2010-03-23T09:18:00.000-06:00

We toured the University campus where Katherine is going to school on Thursday and found that they put the University Logo everywhere!

Below is the parking garage where she parks everyday and is usually on the top level.
This is the bridge she uses (I am very detailed) to get from the garage to campus!
Campus clock tower fun...

The building in the background in the center of the picture is the building where Katherine has her classes

And of course I am very glad that the University is prepared!

Lots and lots of horses in Louisville, I wonder why?

Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, KY

2010-03-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

On Friday of our Louisville trip we ate breakfast here. It is located in downtown Louisville and was very fun! Lynn is an artist, cook, decorator and business woman and was on some food network that Katherine and Taurean had seen.
We ate inside but there was a place (above) for outdoor eating. This tea pot was so fun to watch all the bubbles creating new shapes.

Inside the restaurant the tie lamp was my favorite and yes, those are legs coming out of the wall.

This is what my breakfast looked like. I must be part Japanese for taking pictures of my food!

Notice the tree in the background with lamps hanging upside down! These pictures do not do this place justice.

And of course a horse toaster with bread and all! The tables were all old 50's type tables with all different type chairs. The food was expensive for breakfast but I would go again to see what she adds to the decor!

Louisville March 2010

2010-03-22T13:16:00.004-06:00

Alan and I flew out to visit Katherine and Taurean on Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day)
I don't know why my brain was not hooked up, but I forgot to take pictures of their apt! I got a few shots but, not of all their cute rooms, swimming pool, tennis courts, walking path, work out room etc.
This is the hall way that leads to their apt. and some wonderful "Superman" poses.
Their apartment was so clean and then we moved in our suitcases and stuff and messed it all up! Taurean is the painter of the art work on the wall!
Louisville Temple is right next to a church building and we were supposed to go Thursday night but, I forgot to pack our Temple clothes.

Katherine and Taurean's church building is below and is very close to their apartment. They had Stake Conference on Sunday and split their stake. They held the meeting in two buildings and this Stake Center was packed!

If you send Katherine a letter, just picture this smile on her face!

This is their club house and where her mail box is located. This picture was taken from their hall way. We had a great trip and I will be posting other pictures of our trip soon. Thanks Katherine and Taurean for the wonderful bed, food and tours! We love you.

St. Patrick's Day Party 2010

2010-03-16T01:25:00.010-06:00

We held our annual St. Patrick's Day Party on Sunday and were missing a few quests this year but, we tried to be as festive as possible. Our King of the "Lucky Leprechaun's" was front and center on our feasting table.
There was a lot of the green and gold to dazzle the eye
The tiny little Leprechaun's had spread out a lot of their gold for us to admire.

A fun and exciting time was enjoyed by all...
Art design was a popular attraction
Leprechaun hunting was a great sport
And finding a "Pot of Gold" was a highlight for sure!
A little Irish Spring for all was enjoyed
Games with an Irish flair did delight

Some searching for a "Gold Coin" (coin, coin, whose got the gold coin) was divine.

May your blessings out number the Shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go!

A Royal Visit

2010-03-08T11:55:00.012-07:00

Dreams came true at the Wheatley house on Saturday when the real Snow White came for a Tea Party.
Savannah, Autumn and Megan were so surprised! They couldn't believe their eyes and neither could grandma! I almost started crying... Snow White was sooo beautiful, her hair, her dress... well, let's just say - She is the real Snow White! Savannah was also checking her out, she kept looking at her own dress and then Snow White's dress. The girls had put a beautiful crown on their heads and when Snow White came they decided they wanted their red bows back in their hair because Snow White had a red bow.

We were putting a puzzle together when Snow White surprised us and so she came and helped put the puzzle together with the girls.
Snow White brought her beautiful story book and showed it to the girls.

Savannah is very into fashion and and was wondering if Snow White's shoes were black like hers and so for about 3 minutes Savannah was inch by inch slowly pulling up Snow Whites dress to take a peek! And sure enough, they were black!

Then it was off to the Tea Party.
Joshua has never been to one of our Tea Parties and so we set him up with a man size tea cup and treats at the bar.
Only the best manners were used at the party. I think the girls were on their best behavior for their special quest.

Snow White left the girls with an autographed picture of herself, hugged the girls and was off to another adventure with her Prince (who she said was off riding horses in the woods)! It was truly one of my all time favorite days! Only one word can describe it...Magical!

It would have been a perfect day if only Ang, Jack, Brooke, Katherine and Abby could have been here with us! We missed you guys soooo much!
Our adventures did not stop after Snow White left, the girls kept playing Snow White all afternoon! Look at cute little Lilly who was trying to get in the picture!
The girls would take a bite of a "magical" apple and then fall down dead and needed a Prince to come wake them up! Josh was not about to kiss the girls, so he would pinch them, luckily Uncle Tom was around to wake the beautiful Snow Whites!
I had sooo much fun setting up little scenes for the Tea Party. These Seven Dwarfs are from Aunt Karen's Snow White collection (thank you!)

These little figures are Aunt Karen's and are old McDonald's happy meal toys.
Ya gotta love the BIG red juicy apples!

Sorry, i just noticed this one is a repeat! But, I love little Snow White having a little Tea Party with her seven friends!

And of course the witch is my favorite of the McDonald toys! If you take the black skirt off you can flip her and she turns into the queen.

We took over 200 pictures and I cut it down to 183 pictures. It's a wonder how Snow White could even see what she was doing with all the photo flashes going off around her! It was so hard to limit this blog posting to only 27 pictures (sorry for the over kill of pictures but, not really).

I'm not sure if this Tea Party was for the little girls or for me (and maybe Aunt Karen, too, she stopped by). I had so much fun! Thank you Snow White for taking time away from the Seven Dwarfs, your Prince and all your Royal Duties to come and play with us! We love you, THANKS!

Spring?

2010-03-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

I woke up to this today, yesterday the sun was up, we had no snow and I was wearing a sweater!

The deer are back too and it is still snowing.

Jack in the Bouncer

2010-02-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

Instead of "Jack in the Box" it is "Jack in the Bouncer" house. He no more gets in it and he comes back out! It's all part of the fun.

Half the fun of the bouncer house is watching it go up with air and go down. By the way, Ang made Jack and Brooke's little shirts. I caught them standing on the bouncer when it was deflating (which is a no no) so I took a picture. Jack was smiling because he didn't get into trouble, but Brookes little face is showing she knows it was a no no and was waiting for me to say it!

Mario

2010-02-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

All the cousins like to play Super Mario Brothers WII game. By their faces it looks a little painful.

I really don't think they know what they are doing, I know I don't. Don't ya love all the mic's and stuff for Rock Band (it takes up alot of room). Brooke thinks she was playing too.

This is what the other "kids" were playing with. I love this picture of Lilly and John.

Daredevil Girl

2010-02-22T16:05:00.002-07:00

We have a little climber! We were changing a light bulb and Brooke decided she had to climb the ladder and did a little trick for us! Don't worry Ang I am standing right next to her and dad took the picture. While Jack and Brooke were staying with us I should have lost 50 pounds chasing her up and down the stairs! She is very fast and we spent alot of time on these stairs. I just thought I should have brought out the vac and cleaned the stairs (they would have been very clean).

I found out she likes to put things on her head.

This is another danger stunt Brooke does. She loves to get on this little hand chair and look out the window in the study. She forgets she is on a chair, turns and falls off. I am happy to report that I returned her to her parents all in one piece and without any marks!

Choo Choo the Big Train

2010-02-22T15:13:00.008-07:00

While waiting for the train, we took a picture of the Grandchildren. It is hard to get all the kids looking, smiling, holding still and keeping babies from falling off the bench (yes, we did have one fall off the bench, but I can't talk about it)! And then I push the "take the red eye out" button and get white eye marks on some of the kids! Well at least all the kids are in the picture! Smile...
Pure joy... Choo choo the big train is coming down the track, Stop-Look-and-Listen, Stop-Look-and-Listen. Choo choo the big train is coming down the track (we sing this in Nursery class).

I just want you to know that I just had a camera miracle happen! I lost these train pictures last time I up-dated my blog and have been very upset about losing them. I just plugged my camera into the computer to save some pictures to picasa and wow the file came up! I had even checked my camera to see if they were on it and it said it was empty. And... just now when I took my memory stick out of the computer the train file disappeared! Luckily I put the trains in another file! It is my February miracle and I hope I keep getting a miracle each month this year!

Brooke got to ride with Tom and Angie and loved to hang out the windows like a little puppy dog! The train makes the cutest train sounds.

This train drives all through the mall and I wonder if anyone has been run over by it!

Playtime at Grandma's

2010-02-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

Jack likes to stack things and is very good at it! He thinks the way you play checkers is by stacking them and is not interested in playing it the real way.

Brooke likes to climb, point and squeal! We are having fun times at grandma's house.

Ice Skating

2010-02-18T16:16:00.001-07:00

Joshua gave a report at school about Ice Skating and he brought his report to our house on Sunday and gave us his presentation, it was great! He didn't have one written note because he knows alot about ice skating because he is taking some skating lessons.

Notice the white ice skates by the fireplace, well they are mine and we even have a pair of black skates that where great grandpa Wheatley's. Funny how the white skates are the same as in the picture that Joshua is holding. You would think they would make some kind of up-grade to skates after 40 something years. They look brand new because I don't like to skate. We had to skate on the big lake (okay it is a pond but it felt like a lake) in Brigham City. Something about being on a frozen, deep-water pond that I didn't like since I am afraid of water!

Josh gave all the kids a pair of skates to use at their homes just like the girls are demonstrating. These skates are also good to clean your floors. Great job Joshua!

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T21:46:00.002-07:00

We had a "Super" Valentines Day party! The kids flew around with their super power capes on and gathered up all the hearts that were taped all over the house. By the way, Ang made the cute super power capes. We ate lots of red foods like baked spaghetti, red jello (of course), pomegranate lettuce salad etc. and we ate too many desserts! Sugar cookies, chocolate cake, raspberry mousse, raspberry sherbet, chocolates, black licorice etc. (about 10 lbs. worth).

We played "pin the heart on the heart" game and ...

got some fun Valentine treats. We love all our little Valentines!

Dolls

2010-02-11T21:53:00.001-07:00

I've been playing with dolls. I took a little break from cleaning out the closets. I got these 5 cuties for Christmas.

They come with their own case/play house.

I'm not sure which one is my favorite. Oh, by they way, they are perfume dolls! I can play with them and smell nice too! I now just need to get some of Ang's chinese doll material and make me some jamie pants to wear while I play with them.

Thanks Katherine and Abby for the fun!

Happy Birthday Megan

2010-02-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Megan celebrated her 3rd Birthday today. We had dinner at her house and she had a beautiful heart shaped cake.

She had her cousins over to her house, too.

Great Grandpa Wheatley happened to be down for the night and he brought her some old favorite Wheatley story time books. Now they will be read to another Wheatley family! Happy Birthday Megan, we love you!

Happy Birthday Angela

2010-02-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ang came down for the weekend and we had a Birthday Party!! Sorry Ang that the pictures aren't the best. We had the famous "Byram Burgers", pasta salad & lemon squares which are some of Ang's favorites. Alan made a birthday poster and the little kids were excited about the balloons, running and chasing one another and screaming! Our house is pretty dead today.

Happy Birthday Angela!! We love you, have a great Birthday today.

Katherine's Secret Life

2010-02-03T11:33:00.004-07:00

I found this article while cleaning out the closet and I now know where Katherine has been spending all her time!

Like she said she was going to college, Japan, Italy and Kentucky, but really has been moonlighting as some ambassador's daughter!

Or maybe Katherine and this Blythe are really twins and were separated at birth and Katherine was given to me by mistake at Alta View Hospital!

Or maybe she is spy and has been acting as this couples daughter!

Or maybe instead of being a "hand model" she is a "face model" and is just making this couple look good so we think they have a child!

Or Katherine has just found her "look-a-like twin"!

Ground Hog Day 2010

2010-02-02T09:59:00.002-07:00

Well, I don't know what Punxsutawney Phil had to say today on his forecast, but as you can see "Draper Bill" from Utah saw his shadow.

Yes, I am sorry to say, 6 more weeks of winter! Although our winter hasn't been too bad. "Draper Bill" came out of his rock and got to sit on grass! He was tuckered out from his glamor shots as you can see in the picture below.

Cleaning

2010-02-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

Oh, the treasures we find when we clean out the storage room. Alan made me this latch hook rug soon after we were married. I think for my birthday. A girl that was in a class with him at the U was making one so he got instructions and it was a lovely wall hanging in our apartment. Looks like the sixties but, was made in the seventies.

Lots of wonderful stuff that nobody wants. Hopefully someone at the DI will find a home for this and much, much more that left our home looking for a new home.

Blue Bird of Happiness

2010-01-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am high lighting one of my Christmas gifts today. Little Joshua gave me this bird figurine for christmas. Liz takes them shopping at the dollar store every year and they get to pick out presents. Josh and Savannah always pick out the perfect gifts! How did Josh know that January would be a sickly/depressing month for me? Every time I look at the Bird it makes me happy! I mean, just look at that little face! Blue Bird of Happines, thanks Josh, I love you.

Fog

2010-01-17T11:47:00.001-07:00

We have fog: "thick mist; unusually dark atmosphere" says the dictionary. Well, my camera shot right through it and made it bright! It was all halloweenish but the camera wanted bright and cheerie!

I just found this picture of Katherine from January 4th when she flew back to Louisville. Yes, she had to check luggage, christmas stuff you know. That was the last time I was in a car, sickly am I. We miss you Katherine!!

Here is a winter scene from Alan & Abby's adventures in Heber City last Saturday. I wonder if the home owners meant to do that?

Christmas still Happening

2010-01-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Family Tree: being sick has it's advantages, I can still enjoy Christmas into the New Year!

Disney Tree: makes my eyes twinkle

Santa Tree: well... it's Santa and it makes me happy.

Antique Ornament Tree: this one will be tricky to take down and hopefully by this weekend I will feel up to taking them all down. If not I think they will look lovely with Valentine Hearts!

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-02T15:26:00.002-07:00

New Year Highlights: Ang/Vince & Kids came down and surprised me on the 26th to stay, Jungle Gyms Playland adventure, Swimming, Ice Skating, Tubing in our back yard (we have a very fun hill), snow man building, more eating, putting a puzzle together, staying up till 2am on News Years Eve, Tom's family sleeping over, eating, Katherine getting the flu, everyone eating but Katherine, Tom's Ang almost breaking her nose while playing with the kids, Movies, playing Beatles Rock Band, playing with all the cousins, colds, coughing and humidifiers, more eating. A great start to the new year.

Merry Christmas 2009

2010-01-02T14:27:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas Highlights: Taurean flew in at 4pm Christmas Eve, Food/Food/Food, Santa Races, Santa Bingo, Caroling, Snowball throwing, Nativity, Movies, John/Liz and kids slept over, Grandpa Wheatley came to stay, Grandma & Reese visited and just playing together made a wonderful Christmas.

Snow

2009-12-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

The girls helping out

Welcome Home Katherine

2009-12-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

Yea! Katherine came home from Kentucky on the 20th and so we celebrated!

The kids put together a talent show and everyone had a turn.

Lots of excitement.

Party at Grandpa's

2009-12-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

The Wheatley Christmas Party was on the 19th. Lots of singing. Grandpa has the great grandchildren decorate his tree which they love doing.

Party time Wheatley style, Ho Ho Ho

Happy Birthday Aunt Karen

2009-12-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Aunt Karens Birthday is on Dec. 23rd so we celebrate early! Yes, it was even hosted by Aunt Karen! It was a small Christmas gathering and Karen wanted it at her house. I don't think it was a Birthday party but I gave her her Birthday presents so it turned into a Birthday party. Next year the Christmas event will be at my house!

And of course we had crafts and didn't get to all of them! Happy Birthday Sis