New Grandbaby!

I got to go up to Matt's and April to meet Bobby! I took lots of pictures, although my skills are not nearly up to showing how cute he is.

Proud new Parents

Matt holding Bobby

More of Bobby

Look at the size of his feet! Those are mom and dad's wedding rings.

pursing his lips

We got some sunshine in Oregon

Happy big sister

Matt and his dogs....

The whole family

Aunt Melody came up to see us too!

Big sister

Proud new Grandma

Mormon Battalion

Saturday Rachael brought Michael and Madison, and we met Dan, Ashley, Calvin and Scarlet at Old Town, where the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center was having a celebration.

The kids got to make their own rag doll, which Madison really enjoyed.

Then she learned how to wash clothes

Madison really got into it

Then they panned for gold

Do you see the numbers on Calvin's arm? Ashley was so worried that he would slip away she wrote her phone number on his arm. I thought it was ingenious....

When she was awake, Scarlet enjoyed the day

The kids enjoyed climbing on the cannon, which made Daddy Dan somewhat nervous

New Picture

So my children have been reminding me that I need to update our picture on the wall. I've had multiple offers to take the picture, and finally I decided that since it was only Lee, I and Andrew on Christmas, it would be a good day. It's a little discouraging, the picture doesn't lie, we have new wrinkles and folds everywhere. But Andrew did a great job with what he had to work with.

Inspiration and Impulse

I was so impressed with Brit's food storage. I was inspired! She told me how easy it was to can the carrots. She and Allen got Lee and I a juicer for Christmas. So I went out and bought a 25 lb. bag of carrots to juice and to can. Today I noticed that there were some spots on the carrots, and yes, I needed to get them done. We had been enjoying the carrot juice, now it was time to can them.

I washed carrots. I cut off the ends, put them in jars with a little salt and filled them with water. Then I started the water bath and checked online to see how long they needed to be on. Wait, carrots require a pressure cooker! oh no, what do I do now?

So the carrots look great, but I have 10 jars that need to be refrigerated until they are used or pressurized.

Another false start. Anyone notice that today was Sunday? Sigh. I really should plan these things and not go crazy on Sunday.

December was a busy month, as I'm sure it was for everyone. Lee and I went to Utah for his Dad's birthday and the family Christmas party, and to see Allen, Brit, and their family. Janet and Joe were kind enough to host the party.

Verd is 92 years old! Congratulations, Verd.

Brit with the kids

Taylor with Payton.

Austin.

Allen and his family took us to Temple Square to see the lights.

Taylor made a wish as she threw a coin over her shoulder.

Austin

The temple was stunning with all the lights.

Julia and Clyde opened up the 'W' for us, and were hospitable as always.

To break up the trip on the way back, Lee and I stopped at a small ghost town near Saint George called Silver Reef. It was the only place in the world silver was located in sandstone. The Wells Fargo bank was restored and now contains a museum.

Some of the buildings were in ruins, and I thought it would be great to get the cactus in the foreground. Interesting, when I got near the cactus it was to discover it was made of metal!

instead of going back down to the freeway, we headed uphill for the view.

There was a flat boulder being used for a 'newspaper rock'.

Lee and I being funny!

It is difficult to see, but the view was incredible.

The sunset from the top of the hill.....

We had several compliments on our car. Funny, cars don't mean a lot to Lee or I, we like reliable, inexpensive, easy to maintain cars. So we keep our old Honda's and Toyota's, and started renting cars for vacations to keep the miles down on ours and for reliability. This time we got a fire engine red charger that looked pretty sporty. (we don't get to choose the color) While Lee and I were actually uncomfortable with it, thinking it was a cop magnet, others thought it looked cool.....

Afterward, we went to Saint George for pizza and the 'Painted Pony', a sculpture made of car parts.

The next day we went to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. I've never been there. The bridge was finished the month before, so now all traffic does not have to drive over the dam to get to Arizona. Lee is standing on the dam, with the new bridge behind him.

For this picture we are on the dam facing the lake.

We are standing on the dam facing the bridge

The Henry-Bettilyon Christmas party was the following Saturday. It was pretty crowded, and Madison and Calvin decided to hang out with Grandpa Lee.

We did a condensed nativity, Madison was a GREAT angel, with Dad's help.

Alex was all smiles.

Here are the wisemen presenting the Frankinscense, Myrr, and Gold. Notice Calvin, who found the armor in my dress up wardrobe, and became one of the Roman Guards, including the sword.

Michael got a helmet with a light on it.....he was very excited. Notice the difference in photography? yes, sigh, this one was taken by Andrew.

On Christmas Day, we had a very small group. Andrew indulged us and hung around till after supper, then went to barbque with his dad. Lee and I went on a short walk to a pedestrian bridge recently dedicated.

The end of a very busy season. Merry Christmas!