Corinne & Clara come to town

Corinne and Clara came to visit.

They got to fly to see us all by themselves.

I think this is the 2nd time that Corinne has been able to come by herself for a visit.

The other time was when I had my foot surgery and she came to help take care of me for a few days.

They arrived on Friday afternoon. Somehow we found ourselves at Freddy's for a burger.

 Clara is quite the chubs. She is so soft and cuddly. I'm so glad that at this age babies don't really care who holds them. Isn't she just a doll!

 Look at her thighs. Squishy Squish.

Corinne is really having fun dressing Clara. 

We are so thrilled that she now has a daughter in her life.

 We made a visit to the Visitors Center.

 Here we are after church on Sunday. 

Four generations here.

 Fred didn't wear this T Shirt to church. We just didn't warn him before he got out of his church clothes that we were taking pictures.

 I love her expressions in these three pictures.

Maybe indifferent?

"If I have to".

 "Really Mom?"

 Clara has so many cute little outfits.

 On Sunday we went to visit the Daly's.

I got to have grandma duty keeping her occupied so Corinne was able to visit.

 

 Clara really talked up a storm while talking to her great grandma.
It was really sweet.

It was so wonderful to have Corinne and Clara all to ourselves for a few days.

She doesn't really look like any of her brothers. 

She definitely has her own look. I'm excited to watch Clara's changes as she grows. 

Clouds & Rain in Phoenix

Fred and I found really cheap flights to Phoenix before Graham was born.

We guesstimated which month the baby blessing would take place and choose February. 

Unfortunately, Graham was hospitalized in January and so the blessing was rescheduled for March.

So we are getting two visits out of one event.

The afternoon we arrived it was pretty nice and sunny so we were able to spend a little time outside.

 Just like all little boys - Evan loves being outside.

 Scott is such a wonderful Dad and husband. I love watching him with his family.

 Fred slept quite a bit of the afternoon the first day. 

I guess Scott does a lot of catnapping too.

 This little man is so soft and cuddly. 

I don't think he looks much like Evan. 

Graham definitely has the McGuire genes.

I think he looks so much like Jess's brothers.

I started calling him Mr. McGuire.

 Overall I think Evan does pretty good with Graham.

Like all toddlers, you need to keep an eye on them.

Evan really loves sitting in this baby seat when Graham is not in it.

 Jess is so very good with the boys. She is creative and patient and doesn't get riled up.

She is definitely in her element.

 Jess and Scott are so good with their babies and each other. 

 Grandpa got his turns holding Graham. 

Graham didn't care who was holding him.  

He is a very relaxed little boy.

This is the one time that Fred sat in the middle and I was in the back.

Gravity makes it hard to lift myself up into the back. Honestly it's gravity.

 This was me in the back.

I love just having Graham lay next to me so I can watch him wiggle and stretch.

Babies are a wonder.

 In general his expression is kind of serious, but this baby has a great smile.

I love this picture of Scott with his boys.

Here is a comparison photo of the boys. 

 Evan was 4 months old and Graham is 2 months old in this picture.

Evan was premature so he started off pretty small, but he is at the top of the growth charts now.

Graham started out basically at 10 lbs. So we have two really BIG grandsons here and I'm excited to watch them grow.

Our visit was just right. 

Fred and I are very content to hang out at home. If you include some good food, it's a done deal. 

We went to the park for a short time, Fred and I went out to lunch while Scott and Jess got the boys ready for naps. When we got back, it was their turn. 

We're headed back next month. Yippee!!!

Meeting Graham

So Friday morning we received a call from Scott asking if they could stop by for the night on their way to Riverton. YES YES and YES.

Graham is soft, cuddly and so sweet.

I really enjoyed holding him. That is after Fred was done. 

He seems to be quite a content little boy.

Evan had some fun on the Daly Family Train.

He also really enjoys playing the piano.

Whenever Scott and Fred are together, they talk about home electronics.

Compare notes on what each of them have. Scott usually has very good products to share with Fred.

Scott is a great Dad. We are so proud of Scott & Jess. They are loving parents and such a strong team together. I love to watch how they support each other.

They left in the morning so the following pictures are from their visit up north.

Cuddly Bear!!

This must be after time outside in the snow with a knit hat on. 

Pretty cute I say.

Evan really enjoyed playing in the snow. 

 Playing in the snow and with cousins really wore him out.

 This is a picture from their return trip. We had them for one more night.

That's my wild hair.

I'm so glad they came. The babies traveled really well for them. That's a huge blessing.

We will see them in another month for Graham's blessing.

I can't wait!!!

Our Christmas

This year we didn't travel to see any of the kids so it was just me and Fred. My Dad was here also, but he is a Scrooge so I didn't equate him into any of our plans. 

At work, I found two of my friends who would also be without family this year so we made plans.

Christmas Eve Fred and I attended a Christmas Service at the Dixie Convention Center.

We met Becky and Angel there. This is the Worship Band (I think that is what they called it)

The flow of the evening was very much one of our Christmas Sacrament meetings.

The pastor read from their Bible the story of Christ's birth and there was music performed in between.

About half of the songs were traditional Christmas songs, but they were sung in Pop style. 

Plus they added their own verses. They projected the words of every song on the screen so we could sing along. 

The band was good, but their singers were nothing special. Kind of like me singing. I can sing, but I'm not a soloist. These people were definitely not soloists. 

After the Service was over, we found Denny's was open so we went to grab some breakfast. We didn't have to time to eat beforehand and neither did Becky & Angel.

Christmas morning I was up early. So I decided to put a little more effort into the day.

I made this breakfast casserole. I'll tweak it a bit if I make it again.

I took pictures of all my decorating. Last year I didn't decorate at all. Absolutely nothing.

I wanted to do better this year, but I did keep VERY MINIMAL.

I put our little tree up and only hung ornaments that were made by our children and grandchildren. 

A few special ones like our First Christmas and all the First Christmas ornaments that we had for our children. It was just the right amount of decorations. 

 I've had that little Christmas Caroler ornament for probably 35 years. 

My sister gave it to me. Even though we are kind of estranged, I can't part with it. 

Believe me I went through all my Christmas decorations and got rid of a whole lot more.

 These are the Christmas cards from Corinne & Scott's family.

 I set up my two little nativities. I  have a big one, but I didn't want to use it this year. 

I also put up new pictures of Corinne and Scott's children. I need to print one of Shannon's.

 Even though we have spent a lot of money during the year and recently on big items, I still wanted to give Fred a few gifts and I really like to receive gifts too. 

I got online for Black Friday and Kohls had some pretty cool electronic items I thought would be fun for Fred. He assured me that he hadn't gotten me much. I don't care much. I just want to know that he thought of me and took the time to pick out something. I think that is how I've been feeling about gifts..... I am happy to know that the person set aside time to either look for a gift or searched through cards for just the right one. 

It means a lot to me. 

 We both got 4 gifts which included one from some friends.

 When I pulled out my 9x13 pans to make breakfast, I said to myself it was about time to get a new one. They are looking kind of worn out. 

Then we opened this gift from our friends and WOW!!! 

 I have had two wall collage frames for at least a year if not longer. I finally decided to fill them up and hang them. I already have one filled with pictures of Shannon's family from two years ago that I have never hung up, so realized this would be perfect. One collage for each family. I ordered a bunch of prints from Costco.

At the last moment, I decided to use one of the frames for all three families and give it to the Daly's for Christmas so they can hang it in their new apartment.

I think it turned out just right.

I ordered another collage frame and am reordering picture so I can finish with my original plan.

I think I will hang them in our bedroom.   

 Several weeks ago I asked Fred if his parents were using the digital frame we gave them about 10 years ago. He didn't think so and I asked if I could have it then. He said he would look for it.

Well he bought me my own. 

 Kohls had a great deal on these smart watches. I wanted to get it for Fred. He wears a digital display watch because he likes numbers and not a face watch. That's all good, but I wanted to have him step out of his comfort zone. Hopefully before too long he will set it up and actually wear it.

 I looked through the wireless chargers and did my best guess as to which would work for our Samsung products. Again - great deal on this. 

 Fred did good with this gift card to Sephora.

 At noon we met our friends from work at the theater to see The Grinch.

I'm sitting by Becky (also my hairdresser) and Janie is our HR Mgr.

Fred is sitting by Becky's husband Angel and that leaves Ron with Janie.

All of us (except Fred) work together. 

The movie was good. Becky laughed A LOT!!!

I found one of the very few restaurants open. Black Bear Diner.

The food was very good and the company was the BEST.

We skyped with Corinne first to watch everyone open the gifts we gave them. I don't know why we haven't done that in years past. We usually skype after the fact. Next was Scott and Jess. I really enjoyed sharing that time even if it wasn't in person. I'm so thankful Skype exists. It helps so much since none of our children live nearby. We skyped with Shannon after we got home from dinner. The kids gave us a tour of their gifts. They had already opened ours which was just fine. 

So it was a really nice Christmas this year. But I do want to be with one of the kids next year. 

It's much more enjoyable to be with your own family.