San Antonio Thanksgiving

Fred and I invited ourselves to Scott and Jess's in San Antonio for Thanksgiving this year. It is the only holiday that I get more than one day off at work so I wanted to take advantage of it. They were so nice about letting us spend their first Thanksgiving with them. We had such a wonderful time being with them.

I wanted to include the video that Scott put together, but I have not been successful in getting it to download so I have given up and settled for pictures only.

Thanksgiving's main event is the food and it was delicious and beautiful too!

Hors d'oeuvres

Cranberry Pomegranate Bruschetta & Deviled eggs

I would have to say that this Thanksgiving meal was probably the most flavorful one I have ever eaten. I would imagine that would have a lot to do with it being prepared by a Culinary Genius. I do recall a lot of butter although that was not the only part of the deliciousness.

 

There was cream cheese in these mashed potatoes.

 

I tried to eat slowly and not take seconds because we had four pies awaiting us for later.

Fred was picking at the bones at clean up time.

 

We had pumpkin, apple, triple chocolate cream & raspberry cream cheese.

Jess went into Kneaders to make our pies personally.

On Friday we went downtown to visit the Alamo. Here we are in line.

Here we are in front of the Alamo.

Scott and Jess got us tickets for San Antonio's River Walk Holiday River Parade & Lighting which "featured illuminated floats with celebrities, bands and lavishly-costumed participants."

We had reserved seats along the River Walk downtown. We had quite an adventure first just finding the place to pick up our tickets. Then it was an adventure finding our seats, but it was really a nice evening. The weather was perfect and the time spent with Scott and Jess wandering around downtown and seeing parts of where they live was great.

We also got a tour of USAA where Scott works.

It is a beautiful facility. HUGE!

We are so happy for Scott and proud of his accomplishments in his field of computer engineering. He has found a company that not only provides him with a good environment to work in, but good pay, benefits and gives back to the people and communities that it serves. He has had the chance to play his saxophone in a band at work and has been singing in a choir that has gone out to rest homes to sing for the residents for the holidays.

We got to attend church with them on Sunday. At the end of Sunday School, the person giving the closing prayer was a guy I went to high school with. He dated one of my best friends for a couple of years. We have been facebook friends luckily so it helped me connected quickly on his name and face. Otherwise, it might not have clicked. It was fun to visit for a few minutes and meet his wife and introduce Scott and Jess. What a small world.

The four of us met up with Cheryl and Larry Johnson for dinner. They had been very kind in offering Scott a place to stay when he first arrived to San Antonio even though he ended up not needing it. Larry did take him out one day to look for a place. It was a nice evening at BJ's for a great meal and catching up. It didn't feel like we had not been together for eight years.

 

We also went to the temple and did some sealing ordinances. It is a beautiful little temple. Beautiful stained glass windows everywhere. More colorful inside than I have ever seen.

It was a Perfect Holiday and we look forward to many more trips to San Antonio!

 

Grandbaby Babysitting

Before I get started, I want to remind everyone that this blog is my journal. I'm including the details that I don't want to forget that made this weekend fun, special and unforgettable for me. 

 

Fred and I had our very first over night grandbaby babysitting assignment EVER. Our oldest grandchild Richard will be turning 11 in December and the need or circumstance has never presented itself up to this time. Fred and I felt some trepidation going into this four day weekend.

 

Buddy is extremely headstrong and stubborn. He also has a VERY restricted vocabulary. So we knew communicating with him was going to be very hard for all three of us. In addition to this for some reason he has just been plain mean to Mima. It is the kind of mean that you can't leave them alone or not be within arms reach at all times. Buddy is cute as a bug, smart as a whip and a lot of fun as you can see from just looking at him.



Then there is Mima. She loves her Mama. Well that is kind of a problem.

 

THUS OUR REASONS FOR OUR TREPIDATION

 

I am so happy to report that our babysitting experience was really wonderful. Whoever that other little boy was is gone. Buddy was a wonderful big brother. We still would not leave him alone with Mima in a room yet, but he was giving her tender little kisses, all his touches were gentle and interactions were kind. Mima was happy with me from the first morning. I did let her have her pacifier all day. It was a crutch, but she has been sick and now the first time being left for four days without her parents. I thought it would be okay.

Fred took Buddy to the Air Show on Saturday. They were gone for almost six hours.

For our posterity, Fred James Daly is the best grandpa on the earth.

He is always prepared with toys or activities for the grandkids. He sits on the floor with them even if they are too little to actually play with. But he knows the importance of being with them. He doesn't shy away from doing something that maybe isn't going to be the most fun or enjoyable for himself when it is for them.

It definitely takes two grandparents to take care of grandbabies. I will never do grandparent duty without him. He has the secret combination with Buddy. I admit I am loving this baby girl and acknowledge that right now I love having baby grandbabies. I am looking forward to seeing Henry again too before he grows out of babyhood. No pressure Scott & Jess.

Catching Up

Shannon & Brian brought the babies up for a short weekend.

Just a mile and half down the road is

Staheli Family Farm

"It offers an autumn cornucopia of attractions,

from Spookly's Pumpkin Patch to the Field of Screams"

Mima riding the pony

Buddy playing in the big Sandbox with the "Bobs"

(Bobs = construction machines toys of any kind)

 Buddy wanting to play with ALL the Bobs

 Family Hayride to see the Moos (Cows)

 Fast forward to this weekend. Gravel was delivered.

Fred didn't call for help. Help came when the pile appeared.

That is just how it works in our neighborhood.

We have Fred's Dad, Randy our brother in law

and our home teacher who really

is the best person.

 This is Denny our neighbor who just shows up

every time a pile is delivered.

 Fred supervising.

Our backyard looks like a football field. It is really LONG. 

 The gravel actually has a lot of color to it. A lot of pink.

It really looked colorful after the rain that day.

 This is the future site of our two garden beds and where

we will plant fruit trees.

Henry is One Year Old!

Here is Henry looking quite solemn in many of these photos. 

Henry is actually a very happy baby. 

Very quick to smile.   

Finger first.

Now the hand.

All clean now.

Time for presents. Richard is probably a big help. He is a really good big brother.

Teaching him organizational skills.

We bought him this V Tech toy that he can walk behind. It has a bunch of noise making things and learn type stuff on it, but I understand he pretty much just likes to walk behind it. That's okay with us. That is what we had in mind.

Henry is into eating toast.

There you can see his grin.

He likes to point.

I guess there was Pirate day recently and you could go to Krispy Kreme Donut and get a free dozen.

A pretty good sport I would say.

When we went to visit for Garrett's baptism, it was so nice when Henry had no problems coming right to me. He just smiled and laughed the whole time. He is a really beautiful little boy. Corinne has beautiful babies. They have each been soft and cuddly. 

Happy First Birthday Henry Ensign! 

Happy Birthday Mima

Here is the birthday Girl shopping for her own presents!

Sweet deal.

Doesn't she have the best smile!

 Mima with her daddy at the Mall opening.

This Mall is the big project that Brian has been working on in Las Vegas.

These are some of the photos from the last family shoot taken in Las Vegas.

Their next family shoot will be in their new home in Parker, CO.

 Capturing Mima's cute expressions.

 Her cute little dimple.

 

 Happiest Face on Earth with her Mama!

 Happy First Birthday Mima!

Skydiving

My Dad turned 90 in May. When our family gathered for the Memorial Day weekend here in St. George weekend to celebrate, part of the conversation was about his desire to go skydiving. I did a little research and sent him home with a doctor's release form which he was pretty prompt to approach his doctor with. The response was a negative because of the doctor's concern about his osteoporosis. Dad was very disappointed. Enters good friend Dr. Brad Frandsen who said he had just gone sky diving and he didn't think it would be a problem at all and he would even go with him. 

So here is the rest of the story in pictures.

October 1, 2014

Does it get any better with this man?