Momma Hawks Hangout

2010-03-18T19:07:00.001-07:00

I don't take many pictures and I haven't blogged for a long time. We went to Hawaii in March 2010 for Spring Break and took a few pictures so here are a few.

Spring Break in Hawaii

We were able to go to Honolulu, Hawaii over spring break with Monica and her family.

Here are some airplane pictures.

Maycie

Marlee, Dylan, & Grandpa

Demmy & Derrik

Danny & Daniel

Monica & Maycie

We attended church in Waikiki

DIAMOND HEAD

Dylan & Monty on our balcony with Diamond Head Volcano in the background.

We hiked up to Diamond Head, an extinct volcano. It is a long steep hike with a winding trail, tunnels, and steep steps to get up to the top. It is a beautiful view from up there.

Daniel, Maycie, Demmy & Grandpa starting on our hike to Diamond Head

Derrik getting ready to put Dylan on his back to carry.

Marlee found a lady bug on our hike and wanted to keep it

Polad Family at one of the lookouts on the hike to Diamond Head

Grandpa & Grandma at the lookout

Some of the stairs on the hike to Diamond Head
Danny & Dylan

Zoomed in our hotel from the top of Diamond Head

Monty with lighthouse in background on hike

Rest stop on the trail to Diamond Head

Danny carrying Dylan on the trail

Monica and Maycie walking down the trail

Stopping for a picture on the trail

Along with swimming at the beach the kids wanted to take a dip in the swimming pool.
They said it was cold and that the ocean was warmer. It was a little rainy at the time.

Some of the Polads by the Banyan Tree by our hotel

Daniel climbing in the Banyan Tree

Derrik swinging from the Banyan Tree

Demmy making the old tree look great!

The Beach

At first Dylan wasn't sure about the beach after getting knocked down in the water, but after he and the sand got acquainted he loved to throw the sand and play in the sand.

Maycie sitting in the stroller wrapped in a towel after getting wet in the ocean

Polad Family at Sunset on Waikiki Beach

Beautiful Sunset on Waikiki

April & Monty
Sunset on Waikiki

Is this some of the sea life?
Derrik & Daniel loved playing and swimming in the ocean.

Demmy playing on the boogie board on the beach

Marlee liked her long sleeved shirt and long pants even though we were in Hawaii.

Hanauma Bay

We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

Demmy walking down to Hanauma Bay

Walking down to Hanauma Bay
It was a long walk down, but it seemed even longer coming back up with
6 kids, stroller, mats, towels, snorkel equipment, and snacks!!

Playing and snorkeling at Hanauma

Dylan did a face plant in the sand, but didn't seem to mind

We carried the kids back up the hill to the cars and used the stroller to pack all our mats and stuff for the beach which Danny pushed up the hill.

Pearl Harbor

Polad Family at Pearl Harbor
Arizona Memorial in the background
It was a 2 1/2 hour wait to take the boat out there so we didn't wait with 6 kids.

They are remodeling Pearl Harbor. The museum was closed because of the remodeling.
This was the front where you walk in. We then went to the Dole Pineapple Factory and had pineapple ice cream. We drove on up around the north shore and stopped at Shark's Cove where we usually snorkel, but no snorkeling there at this time of the year because of the currents.

We then went to the Temple in Laia. It was windy.
It has been closed for remodeling since 2008.

We went to eat at McDonald's before going to the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Marlee with Ronald

POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER

Danny & Monty at the village of Aoetera (New Zealand) participating.

We went on a boat ride down the water at the PCC and visited some of the villages. We love to watch the guy from Samoa make fire and husk coconuts, and watch the kid climb a coconut tree.
We also went to the village of Tonga and watched them play drums. We played a game tossing bean seeds and learned to make fish out of banana leaves. We ate at the buffet and then went to the night show there. It was great fun.

Our last day in Hawaii we went to the Aloha stadium and went shopping. They have a huge flea market there that goes all around the stadium where you can buy stuff for a lot less, so if you need souvenirs check it out when you go to Hawaii.

As they say in Hawaii

ALOHA!!

We Love Hawaii

SUMMER FUN in OREGON

2009-08-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

Heston and Brandi had their new baby girl Adilyn right before we went to Oregon.
So unfortunately they weren't able to go with us to Oregon. She is a tiny one, but so cute.
We're glad she made it here okay.

Autumn and Family weren't able to go with us to Oregon either with losing their baby Kade,
Autumn's eye problem after losing the baby, Kiersten's accident, and Ben's work.
We'll miss you Kade and look forward to being with you in Heaven.
We are glad Kiersten lived through her 4 wheeling accident and having to be life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital with 2 broken arms, a bruised lung, and stitches in her face.

We had a hard time getting to Oregon. We spent a lot of time at airports trying to get out. The first day we made it to Salt Lake, but we couldn't get to Oregon so we spent the night in Liberty after swimming at Darlene's house for the annual 24th of July party.

Daniel stayed home in St. George to go to a Leadership Training. We missed you Daniel.

Some of Monica's Kids waiting at the airport

Marlee

Demmy

Dylan

Derrik & Maycie in background

The next day we flew to San Francisco to try to get to Oregon since we couldn't get there from Salt Lake. We had a 9 hour lay over so we went and toured around San Francisco.
It was fun riding the Cable Cars and going to Fisherman's Wharf.

We finally made it to Oregon and got to the condo at about 3:30 or 4:oo in the morning missing our first night's stay and most of the 2nd night.
What a long day, but we were glad to be there.

My good friend Karen, me, and her mom.
Karen booked the condos for us through her timeshare.

Karen's youngest daughters, Kaitlyn, Annie, and Kirstie

Our condos in the background

Kallee & Chad
This was also the day of their wedding anniversary!!

It was also Karen's Mom's Birthday so we had
cake & ice cream

Monty & I at the Oregon Coast

Kallee & Chad got a new little foster girl named Hannah right before they left for Oregon
What a cutie!! They need a little girl in their family.

We went to a glass blowing factory.

Monica's family by the ocean

Kallee's Family by the ocean

Siblings on the beach
Kallee, Josh, Monica

Josh on the beach.
Traci was at the condo with Ian who was alseep.

Cousins playing in the sand

Relaxing on the beach

Beautiful Oregon Coast

Sunset in Oregon by the ocean

Cool Misty weather some days

Beach with huge rock where we went to see the tide pools

Sand Dunes

Monica's family by a lighthouse

An Octopus Tree

Some Cute Tree Huggers

Jay, Moises, and Hannah

Traci, Ian, and the crew on a hike to an overlook

A little shopping center by the ocean.
Great props for pictures with cannons and pirates
Hope you can't shoot that Derrik

Don't look now but there is a Walrus behind you.

I think the pirate got the girls
or maybe it was the other way around

We went crabbing. This is the first crab we caught.
He was too tiny we had to throw him back.
We did get some to take back to the condo and eat.
They were delicious!!

This is the dock we stood on to go crabbing.
It was really fun and exciting to see what you would get when you pull up the crab net.
Sometimes you got crab and starfish.

We went to a museum where you could touch the starfish and sea creatures.
Great Fun for Everyone!!

THANKS OREGON WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!!

Maycie's 3rd Birthday Celebration
She loves Dora

This is the Cake I made for her.

Look at that cute face

Maycie smiling while we sang Happy Birthday

Blowing out her 3 candles

HOW CAN SHE BE "3" ALREADY?

FUN FOR COUSINS
Just a few pictures of Dylan & Ian

We have had a busy, but fun Summer. Monty is back at work teaching 4th grade this year.
I went to BYU Education Week this past week. It was awesome!!
Rick did a great job teaching classes there. Also my friend Karen taught gardening classes which were great!
I guess it is back to work for me tomorrow.

Where are we going next year?????

!!! EASTER FUN !!!

2009-04-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Each year they ask me to come to the Community Easter Party in my Easter Bunny Costume. It is great fun for me. I love to dress up in costumes as most of you know, so this is right up my alley. I look for a reason to dress up and make people laugh.

Easter Bunny with Kallee's Boys

Easter Bunny with Monica's Kids

Grandkids with the Easter Bunny

Maycie had a hard time and was afraid of the Bunny.

I kept telling her it was just Grandma dressed up.
I would lift up my costume head so she could see it was really me inside.

She eventually tolerated me but was still leary.

Jay loves to pull my tail.

We also went to the Arts Festival over the weekend. The grandkids decorated paper hats there.

By the time we got there most of the things to decorate the hats were gone, but the grandkids still had fun making them and wearing them.

Getting ready to dye Easter Eggs

Easter Morning with the Grandkids

Jay and Moises loved the red rocks of St. George by Dixie Rock.

WE HAD A GREAT EASTER WEEKEND!!

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART WAS REMEMBERING THAT OUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST LIVES!!!

Hope all of you had a great Easter too.

!!Paris!!

2009-03-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

There is a song that says "I Love Paris in the Springtime." I am not ready to say I love Paris, but it was fun. Well we found out that Paris can be great at this time of year.

I have a husband who is a travel bug. I like to travel, but not as often as he does. Whenever he is going to be off school and not teaching over a holiday he is looking for a place to go. With our daughter working for the airlines we are able to fly free which facilitates our traveling.

We just had Spring Break so you guessed it, he decided we were going to fly to Paris, France, since we couldn't get flights to places like Hawaii, with it being spring break and most people go to warm places on their break. We left on a Sunday night and got back on Wednesday night. We spent just a couple days there. For me it was too long of a flight for being there for such a short time, 9 1/2 hours there and 10 1/2 back, but we did get 1st class coming home so it wasn't quite so bad.

Here are a few pictures from our getaway there.

Monty on balcony of our hotel

Our hotel was a block from the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is huge. We walked up the stairs of it.

Some romance in Paris

Great views from up there on the tower!

Pretty flowers planted and growing in Paris

This is the boat that we rode down the Seine River.

One of the bridges you go under while riding down the Seine River on the boat.

You can get on and off the boat at the different sights for the whole day with the pass you buy.

This is the Notre-Dame Cathedral

This is Jesus and the 12 Apostles on the outside of Notre Dame.

Stained glass windows inside.

This is the Louvre.

It was closed on the day we were there so we just walked around outside. Luckily we had been inside before, but it would have been great to go in again and see all the art. We at least got to see the pyramid outside that wasn't there the last time we came.

This is the Champs Elysees, a long street that runs into the L'Arc de Triomphe.

This is the famous shopping street with major stores. We didn't do any shopping though. We did walk down this long street and ate lunch at McDonalds there. I was tired from all the walking.

This is looking from the L'Arc de Triomphe back down the street to show you how long it is.

There were stores like Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss. I took this for Traci. She would love to shop on this street.

Guess who at the L'Arc de Triomphe

Monty loved all the tiny cars that people drove over there.

Maybe we should get one for St. George.

And to finish off with the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.

Thanks Paris, it was fun!!

Grandkids

2009-03-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Josh, Traci, & Ian came down Sunday night to visit for the week. I can't believe that Ian is already 4 months old. He is so cute. I don't get to see him often and it took about a day before he really warmed up to me and now he smiles all the time at me.

Josh & Ian

Traci hiding & Ian

I flew up north last Thursday to tend the grandkids, and to help Heston and Brandi pack up and get ready to move back to North Ogden.

Deklan

Dallin

Kate

Smiles for grandma

I spent Friday night at Kallee's House. Kallee and Chad went to a wedding reception. Moises and Jay built a hut out of blankets. The three of us went inside the hut. I got my flashlight I brought up and I turned off the lights. We were getting ready to play the game "CLUE" while in the hut with just the flashlight on. It was a spooky atmosphere. Chad and Kallee came home from a wedding reception right then. We were hiding in the hut and had the lights off. We were going to scare them, but they figured out where we were before we had the chance. The boys wanted to watch a video after that, so we didn't end up playing Clue, but it was fun. Thanks Moises and Jay for the fun time. Kallee and I made bread while Moises and Jay watched the movie. Chad went out and worked on a car. I flew home the next morning to sunny St. George.

When I got home and saw Demmy, she was so excited to show me that she was able to take out her first earrings and put in other earrings now, so I snapped a quick picture on my cell phone of her with her new dangly earring. You are so cute Demmy.

Demmy, Grandpa & Dylan in the background

Grandkids Are Great!!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T15:07:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's I purchased tickets for a concert for Monty and I to go to one of my favorite pianists. His name is Marvin Goldstein. I first went to one of his classes years ago at BYU Education week and now I go to him every year at Ed Week. He is a Jewish convert to the church. When I saw that he was going to be here on Valentine's Day I just had to get tickets. We got seats on row 3. They were awesome. Of course in his concert he couldn't bear his testimony like at BYU, but he has a wonderful sense of humor and had us all laughing. He did tell jokes about Jews, Mormons, Catholics, etc.

He is such an amazing and talented man. He doesn't know what songs he is going to play when he does a concert. He just starts playing and plays whatever songs come in his mind without any music in front of him to read. He also takes requests out of the audience and then does a medley of those songs requested. Monty raised his hand and requested a song. He requested "Anything you can do, I can do better", a song from Annie Get Your Gun. I didn't think that was a very romantic song for Valentine's Day, but he said he couldn't think of another song to request. Monty was in that play when he was is high school and knew that song. Marvin just played it in a medley along with the other songs the other people requested.

I have about 12 of Marvin's Cd's that I have purchased over the years. He has truly magnified the talents that God has blessed him with. Before the show we saw him out in the Lobby walking with a cane. He has had a bad back for years and that night they told us that he was in a car accident a few weeks ago and that when he went home after the concert, he was going to have 2 back surgeries. He lives in Florida. You could see he was in pain, but he told us when he starts playing at concerts the pain seems to leave temporarily. He played for a little over 2 hours. If you think about it, keep him in your prayers that his surgeries will go well. I love to listen to good music. Monty gave me roses and balloons. It was a great Valentine's for me. I hope all of you had a great one too.

Family Activities

2009-02-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot going on these past couple months and I haven't posted for a long time. Monty's Birthday was on February 11th. He turned 59 years young. He hates big celebrations for his birthday so we kept it small, but who knows what will happen next year when he turns 60. I told him to plan for a big celebration, but he has threatened me not to have one. Got any ideas??

I just thought I would post a few of the pictures from the many family parties & celebrations we have had including Demmy's baptism, tending Autumn's kids in January, and playing at the park with the cousins. We love having the family together and wish we could all get together more often. We love all of you. I have pictures of moms and dads too, but I am just posting a few pictures of the grandkids. It takes too much time to upload lots of pictures.

Ian at the park

Daniel, Jay, Moises, & Derrik
at the park

Deklan, Marlee, Maycie, Demmy, Dallin, & Kate

playing on the slides at the park

Demmy & Grandma after her baptism

in her beautiful dress

Four generation picture from Demmy's Baptism

Monica, Demmy, Great Grandma Hawks, Grandpa Hawks

Demmy in her beautiful white baptism day dress.
She was the first one to ever be baptized in our new Stake Center in Diamond Valley

Grandpa had the magic touch and got Ian to sleep

Marlee, Kiersten, Demmy, Mandi, & Bowdy

By the hut that Kiersten and Demmy mostly made in our back yard

Dylan at Grandma's and Grandpa in a play seat

Demmy's 8th Birthday

on January 10th

Some of the grandkids at Daniel or Derrik's Basketball Game

Don't know what happened to Maycie's face

Marlee's Birthday on December 4th

with some of her cousins and sisters

Cousin Picture when we were tending Autumn's kids

We Love You Family!!

Ian's Blessing

2009-01-06T11:47:00.001-08:00

Josh & Traci blessed their son, Ian Bruce Hawks on Sunday December 28, 2008 while we were all up there for the Christmas holidays. They are the cutest little family. Ian is well loved by all of us. Josh gave him a great blessing. He looked so cute in his little white outfit. We then came back to their house for dinner, with great soup, bread, veggies, desserts, etc. It was fun visiting with the many family and friends who came to support Ian on this special day. It was fun to see John Nipko and Ben Martin who were Josh's friends growing up. It was also Karla Hawk's Birthday that day so we were able to sing Happy Birthday to her.

After the blessing we took Grandma Hawks with us up to Kallee's house near Morgan to spend the night before leaving for the airport the next morning early to go back to St. George. We had blankets piled on Grandma to keep her warm. She said it was hard to get warm because she was still cold from spending a few nights at Darlene's house and the furnace wasn't working right and her teeth were chattering at Darlene's. She said she had never been so cold. We hope Darlene got her furnace fixed.

My Hangout for November & December

2009-01-06T10:42:00.001-08:00

For the past 5 years I have worked for some people in our ward during November & December selling and roasting Cinnamon Roasted Almonds and Pecans. It is great fun and I get to see lots of people since their booth is at the Mall here in St. George. Their business is called "Totally Nuts", which I feel kind of that way by the time the seasons over, but I look forward to it each year. It gives me the opportunity to earn some extra money to spend on the family and grandkids. My family loves getting them for Christmas in their stockings. They are only there for the holidays. So here is a picture of me when I was at work this year. Would you like to try a Free Sample? If so drop by the mall at that time of year and I will give you one.

Grandchild #16

2008-11-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, October 30, 2008, my 16th grandchild, Ian Bruce Hawks was born.

I am sure Josh and Traci will do a blog on their new son.

Community Halloween Carnival

2008-11-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 25th we had our annual community Halloween Carnival at the park behind our church. They have games for the kids and Chili and Pie to eat. My favorite part is that it gives me an opportunity to dress up which most of you know is one of my favorite things to do. I didn't get pictures of all of the grandkids, Monty, and kids because some of them had taken off their costumes before I got their pictures so they could run around, but here are the few I got.

My favorite part of this costume is the hat. There is a witch on the hat that laughs and kicks her legs along with her eyes lighting up when someone claps. It was great fun and I love to make people laugh. I started out putting green paint on my face but my family told me it might be scary for the kids so I took it off.

Maycie as Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

Dylan as a cute little tiger

Dallin as Winnie the Pooh (Asleep)

Deklan as Tigger and Marlee as a Cowgirl

Deklan, Bryson a penguin, and Torsten as Buzz Lightyear

Check out my kids blogs to see pictures of the others.

I Love Halloween Time!!

Do You Remember the Lettermen?

2008-10-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 14th Monty & I went to a concert at the college. It was sponsored by the Huntsman World Senior Games. The group performing was originally called The Lettermen. That group is no longer together, but 2 of the original 3 started up a new group years down the road. They are now called "Reunion". Jim and Gary Pike are the two brothers who were in the original group and they added another guy named Ric de Azevedo who use to sing with the King Family. Most of you are too young to probably remember these guys, but it was a wonderful walk down memory lane for us. Again I just had my cell phone so the pictures and the lighting aren't great, but it gives you an idea. We sat on the front row since we went early because it was open seating.

You can't see their faces very well because of the bright lights, but you can see them on the big screen a little.

I had to go home and get out my old record albums that I had of them growing up.

This is a picture of one of their CD's that I bought that night.

A few of their songs that you might recognize are "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", "Shangri-La", "Turn Around, Look At Me", and "Hurt So Bad".

I think they have gotten better with age, or maybe we have just gotten older with them and love to remember the good old days of our youth.

Someday when you get older maybe you will remember a group that you went to see or liked and it will remind you of your good old younger days too!

Traci's Baby Shower

2008-10-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

I flew up early in the morning with Monica's family to be up in Ogden for the baby shower. Because of our early morning getting up to go to the airport, Demmy and Marlee fell asleep in my rental car that they rode with me in on our way up to Ogden.

On Friday, October 10th

We had a baby shower

for Traci Hawks

Here are those who attended!!

Ann Whitehead & Traci

Monica & Dylan

Autumn & Kallee

Brandi
Shaylee
Anjie
Julianne & Maddie
Brittany, T'Kiya, & Janice

Traci's Friend

Traci's Friends from work

A bunch of my other grandkids were there also, but were busy playing with their cousins so I didn't get their picture since I only had my cell phone. Monica's kids, Autumn's kids, & Brandi's Kids were there. Kallee's Kids were at home and were busy with their dad.

I can't believe it, but little Ian Bruce Hawks will be here before we know it.

We are excited for you Traci & Josh!!

Marathon in St. George

2008-10-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

This past week was a busy week with helping tend the grand kids with Maycie in the hospital, but you can read about that in Monica's blog when she gets it done, ushering, the marathon, general conference, and Derrik's football game.

We ushered at Tuacahn on Friday night for the play "Big River" (it's about Huck Finn) with Terry & Diana, Brice & Aleena, & Joquetta (Monty's cousin) who was down here with her sister, Gail Baggs who was going to run the marathon the next day. Gail needed to go to bed early for the race. When you usher you get to watch the play for free. The play doesn't get out until about 10:30 p.m.

On Saturday morning, October 4th there was the yearly running of the St. George Marathon. The race starts up in Central and goes 26.2 miles down to St. George. The race is down the main road in front of our housing area so they close the road to cars. We go out and cheer them on each year. This year it was different because it was rainy all day which made it hard for the runners and for us sitting out there in the rain and cold. The race starts at about 6:45 a.m. The first people to pass us were a few wheel chair racers. The first runner was shortly after that at about 8:10 a.m. when he made it to where we were sitting which is about 17 miles into the race. At the first, the runners are few and far between, but it gets more crowded as the day goes on, then it gets fewer toward the end.

Some people run in groups and even carry balloons or flags.

We make signs and hold them up for people we know who are running in the race.

This runner is the husband of Candy Facer, a teacher Monty use to teach with up in Huntsville. Many runners wore garbage bags over their clothes to help keep them dry, but their shoes were just wet and miserable, with no way to keep them dry. His wife Candy also ran the race, but my cell phone had too many pictures on it so I couldn't take one of her when she got to where we were. Her husband was about 45 minutes ahead of her.

This is Monty's cousin Gail Baggs, daughter of Joe and Edesa Anderson. I ended up using Monty's cell phone to take her picture when she got to us since mine was full. She finished the race in 4 hours 58 minutes and 2 seconds. I think that is amazing. She is a trooper. She had also ran another marathon a week or two before up in Logan. I don't know how she does it.

The last person to finish the race took 8 hours 14 minutes and 1 second. That is a long time to run or even to walk for that long.

Each year after the race I think about running the marathon the next year after seeing some of the people who run the race. I tell myself that I could do it if they can. It just takes a mind set and a willingness to train. I don't know if I am ready to take that on.
Anyone want to train with me???

Who knows maybe someday you will see me on a blog after I do a marathon,
but don't hold your breath!!

My Week After Hawaii & My Birthday Party

2008-09-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

My kids talked me into staying up north for the week when we flew home from Hawaii. I didn't know why they wanted me up there, but they kept me busy the whole week. I didn't find out until Saturday why they wanted me to stay, beyond just spending time with them. If I had gone home, I might not have come back up with the flights so bad. Monty went back to St. George to go to work. He told me he was coming up on Saturday to take me to the State Fair for my birthday. I should have been suspicious since Monty doesn't care much for the Fair, but I guess I was too tired to even think about it. The flights looked terrible for Saturday and he ended up having to come Friday night, but he had to fly to Los Angeles and then to Salt Lake in order to get up there since the flights were full on Friday too. I tried to convince him not to come for one day since I had already gone to the Fair on Thursday, but he said he wanted to come. I didn't suspect a thing since he loves to travel. Here is how the kids and grandkids kept me busy during the week before their surprise.

I took Heston and Brandi to Josh's house after we got in at the airport from Hawaii so they could get their vehicles to go get their boys and so Heston could go home and get ready for work. I slept for about 2 hours at Josh's house. They were gone to work. I went to Kallee's School when school was over for the day. I went to Sam's Club and went shopping with Kallee. I stayed at Kallee and Chad's house that night.

I slept in and then got up and did my laundry from being gone to Hawaii. Kallee had asked me to go to Jay's school that day after his lunch time. He was going to be the V.I.P. for the day in his school class.

Kallee had made a poster with pictures of him to share with his class and filled out a paper all about him that I needed to read to tell them all about Jay and the things he likes. Jay then read a book to the class. He brought a treat of popcorn, which he would share with the class later in the day. Kallee couldn't go because she was teaching school. Usually the teacher just does it if the mom can't be there, but Kallee had told the teacher that I would be coming to do it. Kallee told me that Moises wanted me to come and see him at lunch time which was right after my being with Jay and his class. Moises was with his friends eating lunch. He just said "hello grandma" and went back to talking with his friends, so I didn't stay. I went shopping at Savers for a while and then went to Kallee's school again after school. Kallee helped me start my first Blog. I hope I can do it.

Then I went to our house in Liberty to play with Deklan and Dallin and spend the night there since Heston and Brandi are living there now for a while. The kids love taking baths. After the kids went to bed, Brandi helped me add more things to the blog and do all the special stuff. She is great at doing all that!

Kallee and Josh convinced me that I should take Jay, Moises, Brandi, Deklan, Dallin, and Josh to the fair the next day, which was my birthday. They said I could go to the fair again on Saturday with Monty if I wanted.

Monty, Monica & Family, and Autumn & Family called and wished me Happy Birthday.

We then went to the fair

It was great. It is about the same each year with a few different things, but I love going to the fair. I guess it brings back memories of my growing up and going to the fair each year with my mom, dad, and brother. I love the smells, sights, and sounds.
There was a magic show which Josh got called up to help with one trick. There was also a tiger show which was neat. We saw the cows, pigs, goats, 2 pigeons, chickens, and all the booths selling things. They didn't have fish anymore in the fishing building. What a disappointment. Everyone use to love to see the fish.

Jay, Moises, Deklan, Dallin, Josh, and Brandi liked the rides. I just watched them.

It was a great day at the Fair!

Continuation Of My Birthday Week

2008-09-19T14:44:00.001-07:00

We then headed back to Ogden and went to Artic Circle for an ice cream cone. I think we tired Deklan out. Dallin loved to wear grandma's sunglasses upside down.

We went to Josh's house to wait until it was time to go to the Olive Garden. The kids were taking me there for my birthday dinner. It was fun and the food was great as usual. The waiters sang to me for my birthday. It just hit me that they didn't give me a free dessert. Maybe they don't do that anymore.

When we went out from the restaurant, Heston had a dead battery on his motorcycle. They had to go buy a tool to get into the battery so they could jump start it.

It was a Great Birthday!!

I have a great family. When Autumn called that morning she also said that they might come out on Saturday and maybe we could get together for lunch. I spent the night at Josh and Traci's house.

It felt good to sleep in. I am exhausted from all the traveling I have done this summer and being gone so much. That day Traci didn't have to work and she took me to her work place at Master Cuts in the Layton Hills Mall and put highlights in my hair and gave me a haircut. I love it and it looks great. I should have been suspicious why they wanted me all done up, but I was too tired to even think about it or suspect anything. We did lunch at Chick-fil-A. I hung out at Josh & Traci's house until I had to go to the airport to pick up Monty. We stayed at Kallee's house that night and didn't get there until about 11 p.m.

Jay and Moises both had soccer games on Saturday morning that we went to. Jay's team won their game and I think Moises' team tied their game.

Kallee then convinced us that we needed to take Jay and Moises to the Dinosaur Park. She had a free pass. I had already been to the fair so we didn't need to go there again. She said everyone wanted to come up to the Liberty house for Lunch and barbeque and that Autumn had called and was coming. We could meet there after we took the boys to the Dinosaur Park and they would just meet us up there. She said I needed to spend the time with her boys.

The Dinosaur Park was great. I had never been there. We enjoyed it. Jay had been there before and he told us what we needed to see and do. The boys loved me to take their pictures. I didn't have a camera, but I took their pictures on my cell phone.

We will have to do it again when we have more time. We needed to be up to the house around 1:00. Then Kallee called Monty and said we didn't need to hurry. She said we could stay for another 15 minutes. I still didn't suspect anything.

When we got to the Liberty house there were a lot of cars at our house. I said I wondered why there were so many cars. Monty didn't say anything. I just assumed that each of the kids and their spouses drove separate cars and maybe had to leave to go to work or something. I thought maybe they invited some of their friends which they do a lot when we have barbeques. When I walked up the stairs to the backyard a bunch of my friends and family were there waiting and they yelled "Surprise, Happy Birthday!!" The gave me a pink hat, a black broom septor, and a badge.

IT WAS GREAT!! I was totally surprised.

I don't know how they pulled it all off without me knowing about it, but my kids did it. Thanks to all of them for their love and support and a special thanks to Kallee and Autumn for orchestrating all of it. I Love You All!!

If I could have a party and visit with my friends and family, it might be worth having a birthday every month. JUST KIDDING!! I don't want a birthday every month. We get older fast enough.

This Party was to make up for missing my 50th Birthday so they didn't miss my 55th Birthday. When Monty turned 50, I did a thing at his school for his birthday with the teachers and then a party with our family. He hated it and said "You just wait until you turn 50" I said I can't wait, bring it on. Then when I turned 50 he didn't do a party. I was disappointed. I guess the kids decided to remedy that fact. Thanks for thinking of me. I Loved It!

I am so blessed to have such a great family and great friends. I love to party and I loved being able to visit with friends that I haven't seen and visited with for a while. Thanks Monty for going the extra mile to get up here for the party and keeping me busy so it would be a surprise.

NOW I see why they kept me up north all week since they had this party planned and needed to have me here. I probably wouldn't have come back up with the flights so full. I was exhausted and was ready to get back home to St. George, but it was really a Great Week.

I know this was long blog, but I just wanted you all to know what a Great Week it was and how much I love all of my family and friends. Thanks for making me feel special!!

It Was My Best Birthday Week!!!!

Hawaii

2008-09-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

This has been our year for Hawaii.

I Love Hawaii!!

We have been there 15 times in our lives.

We have been to Hawaii twice since August.

We took Josh and Traci with us in August.

We took Heston and Brandi with us in September.

We went for 6 days, but Monty only joined us for the last 3 days. We had a great time. I love snorkeling and the ocean. Whenever I feel stressed I tell myself to remember the warm sand and I can almost hear the sound of the ocean. As I said in my first blog I don't take many pictures. I didn't even take a camera to Hawaii. Maybe I can get some pictures from Heston and Brandi or Josh and Traci that they took in Hawaii and then I can post them to show you. This picture I took was on my cell phone so it isn't a very good picture, but it is Waikiki Beach taken from Diamond Head crater that we walked up

This is me....

2008-09-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

My kids have finally convinced me to enter the blogging world. I am not sure about all of this, but I guess I will give it a try. Kallee is trying to get me going so here goes. Tell me what you think. We don't have kids at home and I don't take many pictures, but maybe this will help me to do more.