Rebecca, John, Gabe

Kitten and Car Show

2012-01-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Meet the newest member of this family: Ninja! I thought that, since so many of you already met Ninja in Castle Dale, I would give you a bit of an update. Ninja has proven to be a mischievous little tyke. He loves to hide under the bed, behind walls and other corners and then jump out and attack toes, ankles and any other parts of you he can reach! He is getting better at doing this closed-paw, but we've all got several new scratch marks. We have all fallen in love with him. He usually sleeps with Arden, but last night he even spent the night on our bed. He woke me up by dancing on my leg and then biting my ankle.

Arden did some research and determined that he is a Himalayan breed: a combination of Persian and Siamese. Whatever he is, he is beautiful! Especially after a bath, blow dryer and brush. He is sooooo soft!

We bought a scratching post, but he doesn't use it too much. However, when he did find it, he attacked it with a vengeance.

Yesterday we went to the Car Show -- Again. John and I have not missed that since we were married. And Gabe has gone with us several times, too. This first picture was taken with the yellow "Bumblebee" car in 2010. The second one was taken yesterday - same car, same kid 2 years difference. Is there much difference in Gabe? Height, but, otherwise, he hasn't changed much.

Gabe got to get into a HUMMVEE (Whatever), and sit in the sling and turn the turret. He loves that stuff.

Arden and her friend Miranda also went with us. They disappeared as soon as we got in, and then met up with us towards the end, 2 1/2 hours later. Here are the 3 of them sitting in a Dodge Challenger. There were some really great cars there!

Ok, so Blogger always puts the videos in at the end. The first one is of Gabriel and his new Hot Wheels track he got from Santa. The second one is of Ninja and Lalo. Ninja loves Lalo's tail, and he will chase Lalo around the house just to attack it.

A Little of This, A Little of That

2011-09-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's a little update of the last of our summer vacation and some miscellaneous things. First of all, here is are the pinwheels for the quilt. There are 72 of them. Not all perfect, but they are done. Now, the next time I sit down, I will begin assembling them with the other pieces. I'll keep you posted (no pun intended)!

About a week before I went back to work, John, Arden, Gabe and I went on a day trip to Bear Lake, stopping in Brigham City, Tony Grove and coming home through Huntsville (whatever that canyon is -- I don't remember).

In Brigham City, we stopped at the Tabernacle, which has always been one of my favorite buildings. The Brigham City Temple is being built right across the street from the Tabernacle, so we got some great pictures of both buildings.

The blue sky really outlined Moroni on the top of the temple just beautifully!

At Tony Grove, we had a picnic and then wandered the hill down to the small lake. If you've never been to Tony Grove, it is a pretty, quiet little lake. No motor vehicles are allowed on it. Only rowboats, rafts, etc. The hillside was covered with wildflowers that the camera just couldn't pick up all the colors!

When we got to Garden City, we stopped at LaBeau's for their famous raspberry shakes. We also bought 2 flats of raspberries in Laketown (they were cheaper there) and spent the following Saturday making freezer jam. We''ve really enjoyed that!

It was great to see Bear Lake full! I haven't seen it that full since before I left school at USU! We went to the State Park and let Gabe wade in the water.

Random picture of a full moon.

Finally, we have harvested our beets -- huge beets! John and Gabe spent a good hour digging and pulling off tops.

Beet greens, anyone?

Here is what John and I did yesterday: from 9:00 a.m. to about 11:30 last night -- 57 pints of beets!!!! We're taken care of for the next year!

There is something very satisfying seeing the fruits of your labors set out in such pretty rows.

My New Project

2011-07-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

So here is my quilting project for the next several years. Gabriel's quilt will probably be done somewhere around the time he goes on his mission. Anyway, this is a pattern from one of my grandmother's old quilting books. I thought it looked doable for a beginner. The most daunting task was just beginning to cut out the pieces!

Gabe's favorite colors: yellow and green. John said this looks like someone's school colors, and now all I can see is Notre Dame. Oh, well.

Here's what the pieces look like. The yellow and green stacked ones are for the triangles. Thanks to Jennifer's blog, I learned how to put the squares together for the pinwheel pieces. My, what a time-saver!

Here's what the basic layout will look like. So far, all I've sewn together are the squares for the pinwheels. I'm almost done there, so then I can start putting those together. I'll continue to show my progress as time goes on. Wish me luck!

p.s. If you haven't read the blog about Gabe and Arden's piano recital, keep going. It isn't long, and worth the look.

Recital and Little Cottonwood Canyon

2011-07-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

(Sorry this first picture is out of focus) Gabriel and Arden had another piano recital on the 16th of June. (Yep--Arden's birthday). They both did a great job! Gabriel really showed he could perform with a few distractions: there was a little boy (about 3) that kept running around, and even up on the stage while Gabe was playing! At one point, the big sister, about 8 or 9, chased him onto the stage. Gabe was in the middle of one of his songs, and she realized that her brother had just run back off the stage. She stopped in her tracks, right behind the piano. All you could see was her legs below the grand piano, and Gabriel, continuing to play, glaring at her! The children were obnoxious, but Gabe was so funny to watch!

(I have a video of Gabe and Arden doing their duet, but I had problems with the download. It is actually at the end of this post).

Arden's high heel shoes were so high, she couldn't get her knees under the keyboard! So, she took them off! It didn't affect her playing at all. Her performance of Fur Elise was so beautiful! It was breath-taking. I've heard that piece played inexpertly so many times by students of varying degrees of proficiency over the years, but Arden just had the right touch for it. She was the culminating student at this recital. Perfection!!!!

During the week that Arden was at camp, we decided to take a ride up Little Cottonwood Canyon to see the waterfalls. Whitney and Leslie came with us to enjoy the short outing. It was raining, again, and the waterfalls did not disappoint! They were huge! As were the snowfields at Alta and Snowbird. As far as I know, both resorts were still open for skiing right up until the 4th of July.

That's it for this time. Now let's see if this system will actually let me post this! I've been having problems for some time. Nope, problems again! I have to use the other computer! Frustrations!!!!!!!

This was my attempt at the video, but it doesn't work. Never mind! It does work! Once I posted it, it worked just fine! Enjoy. . .

Arden's Graduation

2011-06-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of one of our 3 graduates this year. Arden Elizabeth Jorgensen graduated from Olympus High School on the 2nd of June 2011.

There were close to 400 students down on that floor!

Can you see Arden? I wish I had one of those arrows to point her out. I was quite upset at the camera when it came to her getting her diploma. Just as she got to the point where they were taking pictures, I snapped the perfect shot -- the the camera shut off! So, these are the best I got, AFTER she came down from the stand.

About 2 weeks before school graduation was Seminary Graduation. Here's Arden with President Young, Bishop Colby and her dad.

Arden was utilized quite well that evening. She played the piano for the hymns and prelude/postlude music, and she sang alto in a quartet that Sis. Blunt only had a week to put together for this. Arden did a grrrrrreat job!

Here is just a bit of randomness. These flowers are in our wild-flower space in the back. They were really pretty this year.

This is Shelley's strawberry cake recipe. I tried it one weekend, and Grandma liked it so much she requested it for her birthday. So, here it is. Beautiful -- and delicious!

The Family's Newest Cub Scout

2011-04-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to introduce to you the newest Cub Scout in the family. He is soooooo excited! and has already earned 2 belt loops. Mom is learning how to sew on patches.

Gabriel's Birthday and Baptism Weekend

2011-03-06T18:34:00.001-08:00

Gabriel is 8! And what a weekend it has been! He got several big presents, the first being this new bike! He also got his first set of scriptures with his name embossed on them.

We couldn't believe the crowd on Saturday at the baptism! I knew there would be quite a few people, but I didn't really expect as many as were there. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! And, THANKS to all who helped out in the kitchen afterwards. Even though it wasn't in the building I had planned, I think it worked out better this way, anyway. (In spite of the burnt meatballs!)

Here are just a few pictures of friends and lots of family that made it to the baptism on Saturday.

Bishop Orrin T. Colby is one of the best bishops!

Now come the silly pictures --

The best of the family group pictures:

This is the Spigarelli group: Aunt Patty and Craig, Steven and Tressa, and Adam and Becca(sp?) and all their kids. Thank you so much for being there!

And now the Jorgensens: Shelley, Lizzy, Jenny, Sara, Josh and Stacy, Morgan, and the myriad of cousins all in one place! Wow!

And the Pieps: Brent and Julie, Michael, Kristina, Teresa, Stacy and their crews. Thank you for being there.

More silliness -- For more pictures here, look at Madison's Facebook page. There are more funny ones to be seen there, too.

We tried to take a few pictures of the decadent sweet rolls as we made them. However, when it was all done, I was too tired to remember to take pictures of the finished product! They weren't perfect, but they did taste good! Anyway, the bottom was covered with the caramel sauce and then covered with pecans. (I didn't picture the pecans).

I used my pulla recipe for the dough, but any sweet roll dough would work. The filling was brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and a bit of ginger.

Just a bit of Randomness

2011-02-13T13:41:00.001-08:00

It's always so far between blogs that I usually give a little bit of everything, and this time is no exception. So, from the State Fair to Christmas, here is a group of pictures of this Jorgensen's doings for the last few months (not always in order of the events). Just a note here: the blog is driving me crazy! I can't get my text to match up with the pictures! So, sorry about that.

Christmas was quiet here. But we all got some pretty cool gifts! Arden and John both got a set of Bose headphones, I got a pearl necklace and bracelet, Madi got an e-reader and Gabe got a Bakugan Colossus.

Now this is a group of trouble-makers if ever I saw one!

This was at the State Fair. I couldn't get a very good picture, but this was the only ride Gabe got to go on that night.

As always, I have to include silly pictures of Lalo.

And then there are silly pictures of Gabe.

The only picture from the hospital from the day of John's surgery. But we had to get a picture of the bp cuff.

Our friends set up their trains again, as usual. This is the 20th year they've done this. It is an incredible set-up!

This was Gabe's other big present for Christmas! He has loved this race car set! He and Jonas played with it all afternoon at Sara's on Christmas day.

I don't know what they are looking at, but these were a couple of great group shots!

This year, Arden went with us to the car show. She loved getting in those sporty cars.

Gabe in the Army vehicle.

About a month ago, Arden's Young Women's group did their New Beginnings. It was a celebration of the decades. Can you guess what decade Arden was supposed to represent? Check out those boots!

This is basically what the rest of our lives consist of -- total exhaustion! Even Gabe is out on this picture.

Well, this is all for this time. The next time will probably include stuff from Gabe's baptism. He had his interview with the Bishop today, and we have set the time for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 4th. He will be the only child from the stake being baptized that day, so he gets the day all to himself! We are all really excited!

See you all soon!

COME ONE -- COME ALL!

2011-01-09T15:36:00.001-08:00

We are trying to get a little bit organized for Gabriel's 8th birthday! Can you believe it? Are you kidding me?! 8?!!!!!! Oh, my, I feel old.

Anyway, Gabe's birthday is on Friday, March 4th, which means that he will be baptized on Saturday, March 5th. We are planning on reserving the chapel for that afternoon for all the family from both sides. We're just trying to get the word out to everyone. Please let us know if you are planning on coming so we can make our plans accordingly. We look forward to seeing all of you at this special time of Gabe's life.

Talk to you all soon!

Please Read!!! Pictures of Everyone Included!

2010-12-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

This blog goes all the way back to last summer. Yes, it's been that long! So, this will included the picnic up Big Cottonwood Canyon and the pictures Morgan took that night on the playground, it includes Halloween and one of Gabe's trips to the zoo. So, this actually goes backwards.

Gabe lost his knit cap (found) and his army scarf (not found), so we bought him new winter stuff. Check out the hat he chose this time! Our weather here has been so unpredictable, but at least he's warm.

Here's the Halloween pictures. These are the apple pie things we made for the party at Stacy and Josh's. They turned out really good!

Here's part of the crew on the rainy/snowy Halloween night. It was beautiful weather -- AFTER the party, but for trick-or-treating, it got a bit cold!

So, I've never really been into costumes or things, but I decided to come as something really ghastly. Well, ghastly it was!
John looked better in his Quazi Moto outfit!

I don't remember exactly what Arden had on the night of Halloween, but this is what she looked like on the night of our Ward Trunk-or-Treat party. She looked great!

Here's Gabe's costume up close (also on the Trunk-or-Treat night).

Watch our for wily cats! Lalo thought the blanket
in the back of my car looked like a great place to relax!

He's up behind the stereo.

Ok, here's the picnic last summer when we all met up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Morgan forgot her camera, or something like that, and they borrowed ours. I'm sorry I'm just now getting these posted! That was a great night, in spite of having to be careful of rattlers!

A few days before school started, Gabe and went to the zoo with the DeGraws: part of the Piep family. The kids had a great time seeing the wildlife: even the bits outside of the cages -- case in point!

Alex, the cousin that is Gabe's age.

The whole crew!

They found the waterball fascinating!

This plant is a new tall flower that John got to put in the place of the euonomus (sp?) shrubs he had taken out. They went all the way to the roof line! At least, until the wind knocked them over. The flowers were beautiful!

And, for the final picture: I've got a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, and this was my first batch of noodles. It was fun -- and they were delicious!

What We Did Today. . .

2010-08-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

Before I get to today's activities, we wanted to show off our garden. This is the big planter box of wild flowers. The colors have been really pretty. The space between the two houses is our potato patch. Last year we had over 100 pounds of red potatoes -- we're hoping for the same this year.

This is the main garden: Tomatoes, swiss chard, beets, and beans.

Tomatoes and beans, . . . .

Tomatoes and squash. Of course, all these tomatoes will start ripening when I've gone back to school. It happens that way every year. We do love using our bottled tomatoes!

This is an attempt to get the entire garden in one picture. It is a little wide.

Ok. So. . . Today was John's day off, and there are only 2 more of those days before I go back to work, and only 3 more before everyone else is back in school. So, Madi and Arden had their own plans, so we decided to take Gabriel up to the Hill Air Force Base Airplane Museum. It was awesome! Those planes were huge!!!!

This is a replica of the original Wright Brothers plane. It is amazing to me that the first plane was in 1911, and then by 1917 they were advanced enough to be used as combat planes.

It was impossible to get everything in these pictures, but the inside of the museum was packed with all the old WWII planes and displays.

This was one of the bomber and gunner planes. You can see the picture of how the man on the guns had to sit in that round globe at the bottom of the plane. Not my idea of comfortable!

Outside were the absolutely huge planes, from a C-124 transport, a B-52 bomber, and various other massive machines that couldn't possibly get off the ground, let alone stay in the air!

These planes were so big I couldn't get the whole thing into one picture!

After lunch, we went further into Ogden and went to the Train Museum. Another set of massively big machines!

I didn't know there was a Torch Relay car. Well, it's here at the Train museum.

Gabe was able to climb up on the trains and explore a bit. Most of the doors were locked, but just being up on the train was quite an experience. I climbed on one, and all I could think of was how the people would walk along those narrow walkways when the train was moving!

As we were there, 2 Front Runners went by right on the other side of the fence. Those would be fun to ride!Gabe got hold of the camera -- silly pictures of John!

All in all, it was a great way to spend the day. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Summer So Far. . . .

2010-07-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the summer so far. We haven't done much out of the ordinary, but here are a few things we have done. The roses have been gorgeous this season -- again. John just has the right touch! The trellis is covered as well as all the other individual bushes. It's very colorful!
This is the climatis.
Gabe had his first piano recital in June. (June 12th). He did a great job! At the end of the blog is a video of one of his duets with his teacher. I couldn't get it to be where I wanted it, so it's at the end.

One day, John and Gabe went shoe shopping and came home with a t-ball set with practice balls, a new mitt and two real baseballs. Gabe has had a lot of fun practicing with them. We even took the set to the park one day and found someone there who wanted to play with him. His form isn't too bad. He just needs to practice more!

We tried to go up to Moss Ledge on July 5th, but everyone else was there, too. So, last Saturday, we packed up our hamburger "stuff" and headed up. Even then, we were lucky to get one of the sites: and that one was the one with the spring running right through it. Anyway, we took a hike up the mountain, and even I went with them! It was fun! I'm really slow, because I'm so unsure of my steps, but I made it. The scary part was when we were coming down and someone up above us must have dislodged some rocks. They came crashing down, and I really thought we were going to be hit! They were the size of bowling balls! And as they hit the sides of the canyon, they sounded like bowling balls, too! Gabe was already down, but John and I just had to plaster ourselves against the walls and hope they wouldn't hit us. They didn't! Whew!!!!!

Gabe found a large flat rock and wanted to break it up. So, he pounded it against another rock. Fun -- I guess.

This past Saturday Gabe was in the Days of '47 Youth Parade. Our Stake had a float in it with all the primary kids following behind. They walked from Trolley Square down to the City/County building.

This is only part of the group behind the float, mostly our ward. There were over 200 kids and adults in the group.

At the carnival at the parade's end, I ran into a friend of mine from the choir John and I used to sing in. This little girl is only 1 month older than Gabe. Look how tall she is!!!

Gabe went down a couple of the big blow-up slides. It was too hot to stay any longer than that!

Hope everyone has a great summer! See everyone this weekend for the 24th!!

A Trip to the Aviary with the Pieps

2010-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day weekend, one of Brent and Julie's sons-in-law had free tickets into the Tracy Aviary. So they invited us to go along. John had to work, as usual, but Gabe and I went and had a great time.
Anyway . . . here are a few pictures of what we did and saw that day.

Pelicans --
Andean Condor -- it always turned its back right when I wanted to get the picture!

That is one - big - bird!
Injured golden eagles -- there are no fences around their enclosures.
I think this is a kind of cuckoo.
There was this traveling exhibit -- supposedly the world's largest ball of string. It really looked impressive. All the tags hanging around were ideas of what people would do if they had that much string. However, on closer inspection, you could see the styrofoam form it was wrapped around. Still lots of string, just not as impressive.

These other kids are Gabe's cousins from the Piep side.

The kids had a great time just running up and down the ramp. The artwork on the side apparently gets changed every time the ball of string gets moved.
Back to the birds--

I didn't realize swans had such big feet! That part doesn't show when they are swimming!
Clarke Planetarium had a little site there, too. This is Gabe and Alex trying to pull off a piece of an electromagnet. It took both of them to do it.
This bird was part of the bird show. We were early enough in the season that they were still training their birds. This was an emu --
Here's where we got to feed the birds. On the computer on the other side, I have a picture of Gabe with 3 of them on his arms! I'll try to get that on tomorrow. It may show up as a new post altogether. It was fun having them sit on my hand to eat the apple!
This silly video is a bird that makes the strangest sound. As we approached its cage, I thought someone had touched one of those sound buttons, but no, it was real! So, I had to see if the camera would capture it. It did --

With summer just getting started, we'll have much more to blog about soon. In the meantime, we'll see everyone else in their blogs, too. Have a happy summer!!!!!

2010-05-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Jenny wins. All of her answers were correct. There were three of the extra credit that she didn't answer. So here they are.
Pardon in Brittany by Gaston La Touche
Etretat: Beach and Falaise at d'Amond by Monet
and Chrysanthemums by Renoir

2010-05-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

Finally some new furniture!! We have had the room painted and the floors finished forever it seems, but only now got around to the furniture part.

You will have to forgive my picture taking abilities, I was not allowed to use a flash and there were alot of people milling and jostling about, so I did my best. Anyway this is a little quiz for all the old Masterpiece players out there. Can you name the Title and Painter of the following?

These last five are extra credit.

Here is the Sears Tower a little closer. I always thought it was right on Michigan Ave. But it is actually a couple of blocks to the west. I took this picture standing on Michigan Ave, right in front of the Art Institute looking down this street to the west. Here is a huge bronze statue in front of the Art Institute.

This is the Facade of the Art Institute, I am standing right on Michigan Ave facing east, right behind the building is Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.

The following are some pictures that I was able to take on our drive into Chicago, they are taken through the windshield of the car so the quality is lacking somewhat, but I think you can still enjoy This is the roof line of the Chicago Public Library. It was very impressive.

And of course the Sears Tower and Chicago skyline.

Here are a couple of pictures from AA and Maury's yard. You can tell they pit alot of work into it. This is a ornamental grass called Karl Foerster.

Here is a long view of the back yard with the fire pit at the very back, and behind the corner of the garage you can start to see the area where Maury has all his raised bed gardens. I can only wish I had something like this. I am sure Madison and Gabe are very grateful that I don't.

And here we have a nice view across the front yard out to Douglas Road. While I was there the Crabapple tree was getting ready to bloom and you can see all the daffodils around it are blooming nicely.

Gabe is 7! ! !

2010-03-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Well, Gabe was definitely feeling better after starting the week with strep! We had a great time for his birthday celebrations. The day of his birthday was kind of quiet, but we did have the missionaries for dinner, so they got to share his first birthday cake. But Gabe was ok with that. He knew the big celebration would be on Saturday.

The toy that he got for his birthday was called a balloon rocket. It is simply a bunch of long balloons with a pump. You blow them up and let them go. On Friday, we gave a set to Gabe's friend, Mattias (whose birthday was 3/5) and then went over to the parking lot at the park to set them off. They really had fun with them.
The girl in the middle is Mattias' sister: Mattea.

Here' how it works.

On Saturday before we left for the party, Gabe created this special look: it is his Halloween cowboy hat along with the birthday crown he got from school topped off with his sunglasses. What a picture!

What a goofball!

Ok, so these didn't go quite in the order I had intended, but you get the idea. We really had a lot of fun at Sara's -- Thank you so much!

As usual, when family gets together, there is always food! Gabe got to choose what we had for dinner that night: hot dogs, hamburgers, celery with cheese, carrots, and 3 kinds of chips. He even at a little potato salad! I was shocked!

When we went to the store to look at cakes, Gabe was set on having a Star Wars or other kind of fancy cake. I just wasn't too excited about all that. I finally asked, "Gabe, isn't there a cake Mom can make for you?" He said, "Ok. I want a banana cake." And that was that. No fuss, no complaints, just "ok." So. . . . Here is the banana cake. I actually made 2 cakes, thinking there wouldn't be enough, but we ended up taking one whole cake home. Which was ok, because that way we had left-over cake for a few days. And that cake does really well in the refrigerator!

I thought this was a cute picture of Whitnew and Hannah.

The cake with all 7 candles. . .

Legos!!!!

On Sunday, he sat at the kitchen table and put together the Lego helicopter. It took him almost an hour, but just look at what he did!

Gabe had a program the other night. The 1st Graders put on skits and songs and had a great time. It was the first time I've had to stay in Tooele for something other than my choir programs! Gabe and I made very good use of our time, though. Gabe had a simple cavity filled at the dentist, and we spent an hour at McDonald's letting him play on the playground and playing basketball. There were a few other children there, so he wasn't playing alone. He enjoyed his time.

This was Gabe's costume for his part of the program. He was a sheep. Look for him in the group pictures.

If I've got these videos right, this one should be part of the National Anthem. If I didn't, there's 3 songs: National Anthem, Song in My Heart, and I Love You.

This is the "famous" Alorah. Isn't she cute? There's quite a triangle going on here: Gabe likes Alorah, Alorah likes Thomas and Abby likes Gabe. We don't know who Thomas likes yet, but it would complete the circle if he liked Abby. Ah, first grade romances. . . Gabe has loved Alorah for 2 years now.

Can you see Gabe?

And with that, we'll sign off for this time. Skitterink a dink a dink, skitterink a do... We love you!

From Christmas to Now------

2010-03-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

I know -- I know -- It takes me a long time to get around to writing! We love reading everyone else's blogs, and I really need to keep a little more on top of things. However, the theme of our blog "Just tryin' to keep up with the times" is soooo applicable to me! I'm taking the time today because I'm home with a sick little boy who came down with strep over the weekend. We spent Relief Society and Sunday School time at the InstaCare yesterday. Last night, his temp. was 101 degrees -- after ibuprofen and tylenol!

So, there's lots of pictures here, and a lot of time to cover, so be patient and go with us. Also, Morgan, I am including the recipe for that Mexican Salad we had at the Olympic Party towards the end, so keep reading. . . .

Gabe and I spent an evening making our own ornaments for the Christmas tree. They didn't turn out too bad. I still have some of the salt dough, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it.

This is one of Gabe's friends from the ward. We were at the Ward Christmas Party with lots of good food and fun times. The only problem for Gabe was that Santa Claus did not make an appearance.

But, you know how Mom and Dads are -- they sometimes have the right connections, and a few days later, we had a special visitor at our house!!! Gabe was downstairs when our he arrived. When Gabe heard the sleighbells and the laugh, he practically flew up those stairs! It was so fun to watch. . .

Even Madi got to sit on Santa's lap. . .

That same evening we made our yearly trip to the Moffat's house to see their trains. This is truly quite the experience!

This is Gabe's friend Henri. His family also went to enjoy the trains.

This is the Christmas tree before we opened everything.

Before Gabe even went to look at the tree, he looked out the window in the bedroom. Out in the back yard were these trails in the snow. Gabe came running out, "Mom! Dad! Santa's been here! You can see the reindeer and sleigh tracks in the backyard!" I had to take a picture of that, for sure!

It was a quiet Christmas for us. Everyone else was in Castle Dale and the Lodge. But, we had a great time. Christmas Eve was spent at my brother's house, and all their family was there. Family get-togethers in the Piep house are just as big and riotous as the Jorgensens!

This whiteboard/chalkboard easel was given to Gabe by my nephew Michael. Gabe has really enjoyed that. It is one of those gifts that Gabe still uses.

Here's some of the great gifts we received: We can't wait to try out the sno-cone machine! And we have already used the pottery pitcher. Thanks, Sara. The little griddles and mini cast iron "Skookies". They are quite fun to use.

Christmas dinner was wonderful. We had lettuce wedge salads, prime rib, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cauliflower. It really tasted good! I don't get a lot of chances to use my china, so it was nice to have such a pretty table-setting, too.
A few days after Christmas was Leslie's farewell. Here are some parting pictures of Les before we went home.

At the end of January, Gabe's new cousin Alex had a birthday. This is Alex's little sister, Elizabeth eating one of the very colorful birthday cupcakes! The kids all had black or red mouths.

That's Alex in the blue shirt. The party was at the Living Planet Aquarium.

Gabe got to pet a giant sting ray. He said it felt slimy.

Now on to February: This is my attempt at being creative with a Valentine's heart cake.

Back-track: This was New Year's Eve and all the streamers that came from the fireworks. Gabe wanted to take it all home and keep it! Luckily, we talked him out of that. . .

Before Sara went down to Castle Dale, she brought us this beautiful amarilys. The blooms on it were beautiful. We actually got two sets of blooms on it.

Every year, on the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the car show comes to town. Here are some of the cars Gabe really liked:

Unfortunately, the camera on my phone doesn't always focus. But, you get the idea.

This is a real Transformers car -- Bumblebee, of course. It has the name on the black part of the hood, and the logo on the side.
You can see that Gabe isn't the only little boy who likes the Bumblebee car.

We're nearing the end -- are you still with me? So, here's the salad we made for the Olympic Opening Ceremony party. Morgan suggested I put the recipe on the blog, so, here it is:

Mexican Chopped Salad
Romaine or red leaf lettuce

canned corn

black beans (we used red kidney)

jicama

jalapeno peppers (seed well, or it will get HOT!)'

tomato, fresh

fresh lime juice

olive oil

garlic pepper

Combine the first 6 ingredients listed above in the quantity that you desire. Squeeze the joice from a fresh lime, the olive oil, and the pepper over the salad. Toss and serve.

To this recipe, we also add some cumin, chili powder, and salt to taste.

We're glad everyone seemed to enjoy this.

Gabe's favorite tree at the park, even in a snowless winter.

Honor Choir Weekend: 380 junior high students on stage at once!

Well, that's 3 months worth of catching up. Hopefully, it won't be that long before the next one. Especially since Gabe is having a birthday this week! We hope to see you at his party on Saturday at Sara's (around 5:30 p.m. -- eating around 6:00)

Stake Conference Surprise!

2009-12-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well, today the choir sounded superb! John did an excellent job preparing our stake choir for Stake Conference in only 4 weeks. Elder Ballard and one of the 70 were there. It was a fabulous conference. I got to lead the congregational singing, and John led the choir. We were a little surprised when the Stake President spoke about our experience in getting sealed last June in the Priesthood Leadership meeting yesterday. John came home and said -- "Pres. Young spoke about us today. Not by name, but. . . " Well, today, Pres. Young even went that far: "He said, Brother Jorgensen and his wife were sealed on June 6th in the Draper Temple."

However, that was not the only surprise. We got this surprise last Sunday when the Stake Executive Secretary called us in for an interview with the Stake President. One week before Conference? Sound suspicious? Yep! John has been called, and today was set apart, as a member of the Stake High Council! Is John nervous? Oh, yeah! And he has been so happy being the clerk for the last 6 years. I guess it's time to move on to more experiences, and see just what the Lord has in store for us now.

Well, keep us posted on everyone's Christmas fun. We'll try to keep up, too.

Just Catchin' Up!

2009-11-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

I always seem to get so far behind! I had this post all ready to go, and then realized I had posted it on the Jorgensen Biggest Loser blog! I had to delete it and start all over again!

OK, so here is a lot of randomness! This is Gabe with his friend Yosef (his dad is from Pakistan). These two would meet at the park every evening during the summer right up until school started. Yosef is a couple of years older than Gabe, but he loves it when Gabe shows up.

This was another of our trips to Moss Ledge. Madi looks great in this picture!

These are the friends from the ward that are from Taiwan. They had treated us to a true Taiwanese dinner one night, and we took them to Moss Ledge for a good old fashioned cook out. Shortly after this trip, Joy and Mac moved back to Taiwan.
Tired Gabe!

The tomatoes were quite prolific! Unfortunately, they all came on during a 3 week period of time -- AFTER school started. We spent more than one evening blanching and peeling tomatoes to put in bottles.

This is what happens when a cold bottle hits hot water -- oops! Luckily the bottom didn't come off until I got it to the sink. I was actually able to put the tomatoes into another jar and save them! Then the bottom dropped off.

This was 21 quarts in just a couple of days. We totalled 41 quarts of tomatoes. We could have had more, but at least another 10 quarts froze on the vines. We missed one night of covering them and lost everything else.

During UEA break, I took Gabe, Jonas and Gabe's friend Henri bowling. The boys had a great time. Jonas had the high score for the boys, but I beat his score -- by 1 point! How sad is that?!

And then there was Halloween. All year Gabe has wanted to be Darth Vader. But, John and I did not want to do another purchased costume. So, then Gabe wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. I think I could have pulled that one off, but time was not on my side. So, we borrowed the chaps and boots from Stacy (Jonas' costume last year) and helped Gabe become an extremely handsome cowboy! He was so excited! He spent all week between our Trunk-or-treat and Halloween wearing the boots and hat, and even the chaps when I would let him. He loved being that cowboy! And he was so cute! (But I might be a bit biased. . .)

The party food was great!

Here are the kitties. . .

the donuts. . .

and the apple-bobbing.

Success!!!

By the way -- Gabe won't be eating many apples for awhile. He got his first loose tooth today. We're all excited!

Well, how's that for random? The next big occasion is Thanksgiving. We're looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Here's to Zack and Leslie!

2009-08-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to tell Zack "Good luck" and Leslie "Congratulations." We wish we could have been in Idaho with everyone, and we missed all the fun. Ironically, we had a speaker in our ward today who has recently returned from Uruguay!

Zack -- Gabe says to tell you that he loves you and he will miss you. He hopes you do well on your mission and be careful.

Leslie -- We are all excited that you have decided to go on a mission, too. Costa Rica! Another Spanish speaker in the clan!

You will both be in our prayers as you serve your missions. Bon voyage! (Yeah, yeah. I know -- that's not Spanish, but it will have to do for the time!)

We love you both!

Dinosaurs!!! Run for your Lives!!!

2009-08-10T22:14:00.001-07:00

Or is it "GABE and JONAS -- Run for your Lives!!" ???Today I took Gabriel and Jonas up to Ogden to the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park. We had a great time! The boys were absolutely crazy, and they ran all over the place. The fossils were fascinating, and the life-sized specimens outside were awesome!
The boys enjoyed digging in the sand looking for the "fossils" hidden there. "Mom! I found something!"
Jr. Paleontologists (did I spell that right?)
This huge "tree trunk" was actually a double-sided slide. They had a lot of fun going up and sliding down over and over.

In case you can't read the sign: "World's Most Dangerous Creature." I think we can all concur. When these 2 get together, you never know what will happen!
These are the crazy boys in their photo ops:

Look out, Gabe! Behind you!
Ahh, he's just a pussy cat.

We had a great day. I've been meaning to do this all summer, and today it finally happened. This is the last week of my vacation. I have to go back to work next week. I am NOT looking forward to that!

24th of July Activities

2009-07-26T19:17:00.001-07:00

We were able to get our new spot for the parade. We didn't get there until 7:30, but we were still able to just set up without any problem. Most of the people around us were older couples, and all the families were in front of us. What was ironic was that one couple and one large family in our vacinity were all from our stake! These flags were from the pre-parade show.
Sara, Whitney and Banner got there just as the parade was about to start. We enjoyed having them with us.

This was one of our favorites -- the mule would pull back while the figure would pull forward. It was quite humorous. Gabe took these next few pictures. He didn't do too bad.
Banner was really tired. It shows.

This was a float of Utah originals. This girl is supposed to be the "Original Fry Sauce."
After the parade was over (which Gabe felt was a little too long), we made plans to go up to our favorite picnic spot. Madi got off work earlier in the afternoon, so she was able to join us. We were lucky to get a table! The place was full, and when we left, there was a very large group that wanted our spot.

John, Banner and Gabe went climbing up the mountain for a ways. This is there descent.

One of the rocks coming down is the perfect slippery slide. This is Gabe and Banner sliding on the rock.

The picnic--It was a great day. After the picnic, we went home to rest for a bit, put John to bed and then the rest of us went to the fireworks. It was a great end to a great day.

Just to end on today -- I finally got all the curtains for the house done. The blue ones are in Gabe's room, and the blue in the fabric just matches the blue on the walls. I got that fabric at Ikea.

These are the sheers for the living room. The hardest part of these was getting them evenly cut!
Well, until next time. . . .

For the 24th Parade

2009-07-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

John, Gabe and I are thinking about going to the same parade-watching spot we went to last year. It was a shady spot, cool and pleasant during the entire parade, and there weren't a lot of people there, either. There were even port-a-potties available right there. We thought we would invite anyone who may be interested to come join us. It is at the old library on the corner of 200 East and 500 South. Bring chairs (or you can sit on the cement wall) and treats or anything else you want to. We parked in the Sweet Water building about a block to the east of the library.

Let us know!

This and That

2009-07-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, we decided to go back to our picnic spot for Family Home Evening. We put together some tinfoil dinners to cook, as well as the fixin's for s'mores. We even had our lesson up there. It was a little windy down in the valley that day, but it was perfect in the canyon.
Tennyson was part of our family for the week. Madi and Arden really seemed to enjoy having her here with them this week.
Gabe blowing bubbles. He made sure we all had our own bottles to blow from.
The dinners prior to cooking--
The cooking -- they turned out perfect! We didn't even burn them! I didn't take pictures of the s'mores process, but they were good, too. However, we did have to put the chocolate in the creek to harden it up.

Here's are a few pictures from Arden's birthday--

I finally got the curtains done for the downstairs tv room and the bedroom. Now I'm working on a set for the living room. Hopefully, I'll blog them next time.

Our garden -- the corn is higher now since I took these pictures.
Corn and tomatoes --
Beans and potatoes --
First crop of beans -- DELICIOUS!

I hope all is going well with everyone else. We love reading your blogs, and we look forward to seeing everyone next week for the double celebration: Maren's #4 and, what was the other? Oh, yeah! Whitney!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!

Family Reunion

2009-07-05T22:03:00.001-07:00

John finally had a whole weekend off! I think in the years since we got married, I've been to more of the Jorgensen Family Reunions than he has. But, because the 4th was on Saturday, he actually had 2 days off in a row! He was really excited to get out of town and do something fun!

We took the scenic route to Castle Dale. Fairview and Huntington Canyons were absolutely beautiful! They were so green and lush. At the top, right along the Skyline Drive road, we even found snow!

This is the view of the Fairview Valley (or whatever it is called) from the top of Skyline Drive.

Most of the flowers are gone by now, but there were a few of these yellow little ones.

Arden and Gabe at the Summit. This is at least 2400 feet higher than Soldier Summit. I think we read Soldier Summit as only 72?? feet.
Here is some of the crew at the Reunion. It was good to see Sara's pictures, too.
Brooks -- having the time of his life! It wasn't all bad, was it?
I've never seen a dutch oven this big! This was huge! John says it looks like something pulled off the bottom of a train and pounded into a dutch oven. The meat was sure good!
Gabe had a great time. All that running around gave him red cheeks, as usual.

Arden's "What do you want?" look.
Gabe had quite the audience with those bubbles! They were all lined up to see what he could do. This is just one of the groups he entertained. Such a little showman!

This shot is from the house just before we left. It had rained off and on all day, but in between storms, the sky was just as blue as it could be. Even the clouds were beautiful!

Well, there isn't a lot here, but I hope you enjoy our view of the family reunion.

Here's What We Did Today!

2009-07-01T19:12:00.001-07:00

We decided to go on a picnic up the canyon today. A few years ago, John and I discovered a great picnic place up one of the canyons and we wanted to find it again. So, after spending the morning getting everything ready, including putting together the new table-top bbq, we set out. As we were getting gas, John asked if we had packed the salt and pepper -- no. So, I went to the grocery store while he finished up and bought s/p. Then, we took the wrong canyon -- we wanted to go up Big Cottonwood Canyon, and we ended up in Little Cottonwood Canyon. But, here is what we saw: It was really beautiful! There were several rushing rivers coming off the mountains. We tried to get a good picture, but it was so bright that it just didn't come through as well as we had hoped. The white streak is the stream and it was just crashing down the rocks.

Here we are: in the Little Cottonwood Canyon.

So, we backtracked down the mountain, and went up Big Cottonwood Canyon! And there it was. Just as we had remembered it. It is a quiet little picnic place with a stream running right through it. The only problem here was that we discovered we had forgotten the matches! So, while I went back down the canyon to 7-11, everyone else did some exploring. It was worth the extra trip! The picnic place is called Moss Ledge.

Good picture of John's foot--

Madi took pictures of the rocks and flora, like this columbine. But the only "fauna" we saw came with us. (Well, we did see a few lizards and a squirrel. But they wouldn't sit still enough to get a picture. How rude!)

These pictures of the stream are great. The water was so clear and cold! We all ended up in it in one way or another.

Here was our picnic. The stream is running right behind us. As a matter of fact, in order to get to some of the tables, you have to cross it. Both times that John and I have been here, it has been vacant except for us. A few hikers came up, but they didn't stay to eat. We think this would be a great place for a family get-together. It takes less than 1/2 hour to get there, and there is so much to explore and do.

After-dinner exploration--

Just thought we would share our adventure with everyone. We look forward to seeing everyone this weekend! So long 'til then.

Arden's Birthday

2009-06-18T06:55:00.001-07:00

Arden is now 16 years old!!!
We are having a party for Arden at Sara's house on Saturday afternoon. Asian food is the theme: sweet and sour chicken and homemade chinese dumplings (I can't spell the Chinese name) will be on the menu. We will also bring the cake.

These are a few pictures that have been collected of Arden over the years. They aren't in any specific order. I tried, but I kept finding more pictures and I didn't want to keep switching things around. ENJOY!!!

Christmas 2006:
>2000?
Summer 2003:
Summer 2006:
Summer 2003:
1st grade:

Arden and Gabe: 2008 Arden's model shoot at Dad's work (huge fan giving the effect):

Halloween 2002 or 2003:

Las Vegas 2006:
This one's a keeper! Before 2001:
Arden and Noah. He hasn't changed much!
Arden and her cousins in 2003 --

and in 2008.My, how they grow up!

Happy 16th Birthday, Arden! We love you!

Blogging Roses

2009-06-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you all for being there for our wonderful event! The sealing was so special, and having friends and family all there was just the icing on the cake. These were the only pictures that were taken, although the pictures in our hearts and minds will always remain. (Oh, great! I'm crying again). Gabe asked me this morning why Dad and I looked like angels in the temple. He's the one that looked like the angel coming in to the Sealing Room.

Gabe is such a poser!!!!!

Lalo loves to nap on the hoods of cars. He's just waking up and showing how difficult his life is. Sleep, eat, sleep, eat . . . . He loves to get on the hoods of the nurses cars. One day I was watching from the window as one of the nurses was leaving. Lalo was stretched out on the hood of her car, and not showing any inclination to move. She was trying to shoo him off with her papers, and he just looked at her and rolled over with that "scratch me" look! I was laughing as I finally sent Gabe out to get the cat off her car. Such a silly cat!

Ok, here are the roses and other plants. This is the strip of roses on the south side of the house. John has really chosen some great colors and they are blooming out so beautifully.

These are from the rose bush (Queen Elizabeth roses) at the corner of the house. They go all the way to the eaves of the house. You can see them really well from the inside, too.

Individual roses. You'll have to ask John the names. I only know that I love them!

This one is on its way out, but Gabe really liked the effect of the dark edges on this rose.

This is a climatis.

Tiny tulips.

We have 2 crabapple trees in the back yard. They bloomed out so pretty this spring. I'm glad I got these pictures when I did. The trees don't look like this now.

These pictures are from Gabes "non-birthday" party during Spring Break. We invited 5 friends from school to go bowling, play games and eat pizza. They had a great time. The girl is Allorah -- Gabe's first girlfriend.

These are some pictures that Gabe took of his things. This is a collection of toy bugs that his new cousin Michael gave him for his birthday.

This is Gabe's pet rock. It now lives out with the roses, not in his bed.

This is Michael Piep -- he's the nephew I knew at Utah State 20 years ago. I knew of the relationship between us, but he did not. We became great friends.

This was the Easter egg hunt at my brother's house the day before Easter. You can see that Gabe is having a great time.

The kids were led out of the house to the hunting grounds. Brent was the one leading them: he is my brother.

Here is Gabe with his Grandpa Bob -- otherwise known as my father. The cheeser behind is a grandson of Brent and Julie. I was so happy that Brent, Julie and my father were able to be in the temple with us last evening. For some reason, I think it was supposed to be that way. It is going to be fun to get to know my father a little better this summer. I've got time to visit a little more often.

Ok. So, that was a blogful of pictures. I hope you all enjoyed them. Again, it was great having everyone here to have a triple celebration. Each occasion was a special event, and ones that we will always remember.

Goodbye until the next blog.

Temple Day

2009-05-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

We've set our date. We've been able to combine our day with that of Zack and Morgan and Andrew. Shelley asked us if we could do ours the same weekend they were having Zack take out his endowments, which is also the same weekend that Morgan and Andrew are blessing Lily. So. . . . While everyone was in D.C., John set up the Draper Temple for both ordinances: Zack's session for the living is at 6:00 p.m., followed by our sealing which will be at 8:00 p.m. If you are not going to attend the session, you will need to be at the Temple by 7:30 p.m.

One thing we need to let everyone know: Draper Temple does not have a laundry facility. Therefore, everyone needs to have their own temple clothes, from the dresses or shirts and slacks to the packets and shoes. I really hope this won't give anyone major stress. However, it was a great time for me to get a new temple dress. My mother bought it for me. I found it on-line, and then found it in the store, and still liked it. Here it is.

I just wish I would look as slim in it as the model does.

Anyway, we just thought everyone should be aware of the date and the times. Jenny, this will make for a loooong week for you. You will be jumping from one event to another. At least it will all be done at once, and then you can really relax.

One thing that will be really special for me is that not only will my Mother be able to be there, but so will my father. My brother, Brent, and his wife Julie will be bringing him. This will truly be a day to remember.

Birthday Present -- a Day Late!

2009-05-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, the day after John's birthday, we received a very interesting letter. It was signed by Thomas S. Monson, Henry B. Eyring and Deiter F. Uchdorf: We have received our clearance to be sealed! It has been a long wait, but it is finally here.

Now we just have to pick a date, and hope that at least some of you will be able to come join us as we go through this wonderful ceremony. We'll wait until school is out, and by then, hopefully, everyone will be back from Noah's wedding festivities. We are looking at a week day, rather than a weekend, but we will let you know. We're looking at a Tuesday evening, Wednesday during the day, or a Saturday afternoon. We'd like to avoid a Saturday in June in the Salt Lake Temple, but we are also looking at the possibility of doing this at the Draper Temple.

This will just be family and a few close friends. We're hoping to even be able to get my mother there.

Anyway, we wanted to let everyone know as soon as we could. This is easier than oodles of phone-calls. Please let us know what days may be easier for you so we can plan. We don't want to wait beyond the middle of June, but we do want as many of you to be there that can be.

Time to Post

2009-03-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, here we go again. First of all, thanks to everyone for coming to Gabe's b-day party. Unfortunately, I, being the airhead that I am, forgot the camera! Stacy took some pictures of the party, though, so we will still have a record of Gabe turning 6.

When we were in Castle Dale, we were going out to the car and on Grandpa's driveway, the ice had formed these beautiful rosettes. I just had to take pictures of it. I had never seen ice form like this before.

Gabe got to have some fun while we were in C.D., too. Dennis offered to take him ice-fishing! Of course, we hadn't gone prepared with snow suit or anything, so Jennifer supplied Gabe with snow suit, gloves and boots that were a few sizes too big. Dennis and one of his friends loaded up their supplies and took Gabe to Joe's Valley. It was cold, but he had a great time! And, wouldn't you know it, he was the only one to catch a fish!Lizzy cooked that fish, and Gabe shared it with everyone. It was really good! I haven't had fresh trout for a long time.
And, now, Gabe is 6 years old!!!! He really had it made. On his birthday, John and I simply took him to eat at a place of his choosing -- Arctic Circle. Then we had cake and ice cream at home with Grandma. Then, again, on Saturday, he got to have the big party with the Jorgensen family. One of Gabe's favorite books at the moment is Green Eggs and Ham. He now reads it to me! I am so excited to have him reading, and loving it! He also enjoys his new bubble gun. You can't see the bubbles, but he is shooting them all over outside.

John had a surprise this morning. The Stake President told him he wanted to meet with him at 7:00 a.m. this morning before a Stake Priesthood meeting. When he got there, he was taken right into the Stake President's office and told that they want to ordain him as a High Priest! So, he had to come home, find Alan's phone number (which we didn't have on hand -- we had to wake Morgan and Andrew up) and then call Idaho. Alan was still a bit groggy, too, but he said he would be willing to come to Salt Lake next weekend and ordain John. So, . . . We just wanted to let everyone know.

Now, one more surprise. Those at the party last week heard the story behind all of this, but I wanted to let the rest of you know, as well. I'll explain the story when I see you. It gets a bit involved for the blog. Ok, here goes. In this last month, I have met my father for the first time. I have also been in contact with one of my brothers. He and his family want to include me as a part of them. Last weekend John, Gabe and I went to dinner at Chuck-a-Rama with this brother and his entire family. My father even sent Gabe a birthday card from "Grandpa Bob" and when we were with my brother, all the kids gathered around and gave Gabe a sack full of presents! They were so excited to have us be there! I am still a bit overwhelmed, but excited at the same time to finally know the family I've always known was there.

Hopefully I'll have the pictures from Stacy for the next blog (whenever that may be). It may be Easter before I have time to blog again. But, until next time, keep smiling!

Birthday Party for Gabriel!

2009-03-03T20:35:00.002-08:00

Hey, Everyone!

March 4th is Gabe's birthday! I cannot believe he is 6 years old! I keep telling him he's still supposed to fit in my arms, not hang out all over the place.

Anyway, we're going to have a birthday party for him at Stacy and Josh's this Saturday around 5:30 or so. John and I haven't totally decided what we're going to do, yet, but just come and we'll have everything all taken care of. We really appreciate Stacy and Josh letting us use their house. We look forward to a day when we might have a house that could fit everyone eventually. Anyway, we hope everyone can come. We always look forward to celebrating with family!

Catching Up -- Again! (Or is it "still"?)

2009-01-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

John has had a week of vacation, most of it without me. So, on Friday, I took a day off school and he, Gabe and I came to Castle Dale to see everyone here. It has been 2 years since John has been home. It's been a really nice trip.

One of the things John did for his vacation was take Gabe skiing on Wednesday afternoon. He picked up Gabe from school in Tooele, and then they went to Alta Ski Resort. (Alta has a time between 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. when they have one lift open for free). He said it was quite the adventure. Gabe couldn't (or wouldn't) put the skis in the right position, and he couldn't get his feet to go in the right directions. John said it was like trying to ski with a dead body! But, Gabe had fun. John said the next time they go, Gabe is going to be put in ski school! No pictures, but a memorable day for both of them.

I have several pictures I've taken on my cell phone, but they only download on pc computers, and all my Christmas pictures are on the Mac. So, I have to do some separate blogging in order to get all the pictures. I hope to be all caught up by this weekend.

These are some pictures taken during the fall, before the snow hit the playground. Gabe just loves to climb all over this thing. He can even climb up the pole, chin himself on the top bar, and then slide down again. He still gets lots of practice chinning himself on Grandma's Hoyer lift. I'm quite impressed. But, then again, I am his mother. I might have some bias going on.

These pictures were taken awhile back, again on my cell. I don't exactly remember what the occasion was, but it looks like everyone was there. Maybe it was a shopping weekend for Miranda or something. Tenny and Banner were there, and so was Dennis and Liz (at least Dennis is in the picture). Stacy and Morgan are all dressed up to go somewhere nice, but I really don't remember what or where. Anyway, it's still nice to see family pictures.

These are some pictures that I took of our friends' model train exhibit. Gabe had a blast! It was just us with Doug and Diane Moffat. Gabe got to stand right in the very middle of the display and watch the trains go around. The Moffats build this shed attached to their house. There are 4 main tracks and one of them actually comes in and out of 2 windows into the room itself. Doug had a great time having Gabe follow him around saying "Let's put this car here, Gabe." Or "Let's put this in this car." They do this every year (we took Jonas to it last year). Gabe is actually looking at us (Diane and me) through a picture window in all these pictures.

So, that is my catch-up blog for the day. I'll try to get the Christmas pictures on later (I have my school computer, but not the Mac with me on this trip).

John's View of the Wedding

2008-12-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures John took at the wedding. He was at a different angle that some of the other pictures I've seen on the blogs. And he has a few that I didn't see.

The famous Arden Cat Snarl!
I thought St. George was supposed to be warm!!! What's with the coats!?

The beautiful bride and her beautiful mother. You look great, Jenny!

And then there's Zack. . . .

I know these pictures were a bit backwards, but I think this one was the perfect one to end this blog on. I hope you all enjoy John's view. I wish I could have been there.

Gabe's Thanksgiving Program

2008-12-25T21:07:00.000-08:00

Gabe made such a cute little Indian. They sang several songs, one of which is presented to you here. You know I think Gabe is quite tall, and you know we can't keep Gabe in pants long. But, he is positively short compared to most of the other students in these pictures!

Listen close. You can really hear Gabe.

Halloween -- a few months late!

2008-12-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

This is a random assortment of pictures for Halloween, from our Trunk-or-treat, John and Gabe's pumpkin carving and the actual night of Halloween. Enjoy!

Gabe with attitude!

John tried for the Edward Munch "The Scream" look. I think he did a good job on them!

Zack was here in Salt Lake for the weekend of our trunk-or-treat. He helped Madi pass out our candy at the church. They always enjoy each others' company, no matter where they are!

UEA!!! YIPPEE!!!

2008-10-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's another random entry. It is UEA break, and I have really enjoyed the day off. Gabe is at a sleep-over at Jonas', so he's enjoying the vacation, too.
Here is a picture of Gabe at his Pre-School Graduation! I look at this and see that he has really changed just in the last 6 months.

These pictures are from my cell phone. The temple shot is from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building when we all went to The Roof for a fancy dinner before Arden flew back to WV.

Isn't this a great pictureo f the 3 of them?

This is a picture of Gabe at the Gateway on the day we went shopping for Arden's Birthday. It was so hot that day, we simply took off Gabe's shirt and let him run through the water in his shorts. Of course, he then complained about having wet pants all the way back to the car.

Remember the pumpkin vines that took over the south side of this house? Here is the result of those vines: Gabe wants to make "angry" jack-o-lanterns.

Here's another picture of everyones' favorite cat. One of us lets him in, someone puts him out, and then someone else lets him in again! He knows how to slip in before you even know he's there. Between us and the nurses that come for Mom, Lalo's got us all figured out.

Here's Gabe playing on the new equipment at the park. Along with all the different looks of Gabe.

Ok, so we finally got the countertops installed yesterday!!!! Here's a few pictures of the new kitchen and bathroom: The countertop looks like cake frosting with sprinkles on it! It is beautiful. Just a few miner details, like plumbing, and we are back in business!!!!

Gabe's a Funny Boy

2008-10-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

Gabe has said a couple of really funny things in the last couple of weeks. We all thought we should share.
Gabe's Primary teacher is one of a set of twins in our ward, both of which teach a primary class. A couple of weeks ago, the Primary President was trying to get the children to guess who's birthday it was. No one was getting it, until Gabe raised his hand and asked "Is it one of the twins?" Not both of them, just one of them.

The other one happened just tonight. Kelsie was coming to our house tonight to have a sleep-over with Madison. Gabe asked her is she had a costume for Halloween. She said, yes, she had her costume planned. Gabe then said, "I think you should be Bat Girl." We all chuckled, until Gabe then added: "Do you have a boyfriend, Kelsie?" "No. Unfortunately, not." "Oh. Because if you did, I would want him to be Robin." Bat Girl and Robin. Gabe could make a business of Costume Planning!

Everyone take care!

Some Pictures from the Past

2008-09-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Gabe got sick this morning, so we are home from school today. I decided to use some of my extra free time to send out another blog.

These pictures were taken the summer that John and I got engaged. While spending a few days down in Castle Dale, we went to the Wedge and then Joe's Valley. I found these pictures recently, and, although we have them on disc somewhere, I couldn't find it. Sara and Morgan were able scan them and e-mail them to me. I hope everyone enjoys these. It's great to be able to share long-distance! If anyone wants copies, I don't know how these will work. If they don't, let me know and I will e-mail them to anyone who wants them.

Arden
Madi I know you can't see this one well, but it is Les down in the rock crevice.
On the day we had gone to Joe's Valley, the shoreline was that icky, sticky, gooey mud. Madi, Arden, and Leslie had a ball getting as dirty as they possibly could! We called them the "Mud Monsters!" This was the before. . .

during. . .

And after!

Here are a couple of pictures of our garden, again. The first one was Gabe's watermelon -- the small variety. They were really good, and just right for a couple of servings. The pumpkins have taken over our side walkway. The plants are going through the roses, and one of the pumpkins even grew up and behind the trellis (which has had its own problems).The sunflowers got completely out of hand! They flopped over, and we couldn't get them to stand back up. They were just too heavy. Gabe and Jonas tried to hold them up, but they coudn't get them any higher than this. You can get the idea of how big they were, though. We have since cut off the heads and are drying them for future roasting and salting.

The pumpkins have gone out of control! They have taken over the entire walkway between the house and the park fence! We can't even walk through. The vines have even gone through the roses as well as up the trellis. (The trellis has had problems staying up with the strong winds we've had this summer). There was even a pumpkin that started growing half way up that trellis!

Here are the tomato plants. They have been a little slow ripening -- until now, that is. We've got tomatoes coming out of our ears! And we only have 2 plants! The only problem is that there is a hornets nest in the railroad ties right next to the plants. That means we have to wait until the sun goes down so we don't have to fight with the hornets. John has already been stung, and Gabe got stung by a bee on Sunday.

It's Been Awhile. . . So Here Goes!

2008-09-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

I finally have some extra time so I can blog once again. This entry goes way back. These first pictures are of Gabe the morning of July 24th. John had the day off, but he didn't get to see the fireworks. So, we decided to go find a spot to watch the parade. We found a great spot! The wall of the old down-town library was shady the entire time, and we were able to park just a couple of blocks away. We took a cooler of treats and jug of water, and thoroughly enjoyed our morning. It wasn't crowded there, either. It would be a great spot if we wanted to get everyone together next year.

Gabe got bored waiting for the parade to start. He found some snails, put them all together and said, "Look, Mom! They're racing!" I was vaguely disgusted, but he was having fun.
On August 8th, Madison and Morgaine gave a piano recital that they had worked hard on for quite awhile. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and support them. It was a great way for Madi to end her summer and get ready for school. Now she is a working girl and full-time student. She is really busy these days.

Robyn Korones is Madi's piano teacher. Both girls did a great job. They even got to play on a full concert Steinway Grand piano!

Ok, Now on to the ever-present construction project. I'm sure Jenny and Jim can relate here. Here is a picture reminding you what the demolition looked like. We finally got the handy-man to finish his part of the job. The tile in the shower looks great. Last week John was able to get the painting done, too. These 2 pictures are pre-paint.

Here are the pictures with the color on the walls. Now we just have to get the counter-top, sink and medicine cabinet put in.

And here's another picture of the kitchen, still without countertops. It is really a good thing my Mom lives on the other side. I still miss having a kitchen on our side, but at least it's a workable thing to have Mom's kitchen.

School has now started. Gabe was so excited to go to school! He's in KINDERGARTEN, and he tells everyone he meets. He struggled a bit with the new day care, but I think he is adjusting there, too. We're keeping a close eye on his behavior and listening to what he tells us about what happens. The feather is one we found at the park last night.

One of the first days at day care they did face painting. Dad wasn't home, so we took this picture and then he wanted it off his face!

Ok, so my life has taken on a whole new dimension as Gabe has homework every evening. It's not so bad on normal days. John, Mom, and even Madi can help with his letters and reading. The tough part comes when I don't have normal weeks: 2 Back to School Nights in one week make it a bit tough to get all his work done. If we have anything going in the afternoon and evenings, there just isn't enough time. Stacy, how do you do this with 3 students and everything else?! My plan is to double up on assignments on nights we are home so we can take care of other matters on occasion.

I've given Sara some old pictures of Madi, Arden and Leslie. She is scanning them for me, and then I will be able to put them on the blog, too. Thanks!

Well, that is about it for now. My life is a basic routine. Not much happening. Everyone take care and know we think of you.

More Pictures from vacation

2008-08-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the last of the pictures from our vacation. These first ones are from the tea party, the next ones are from the 4th of July at the ranch, and the last ones are from the family reunion.

The afternoon of the tea party was a great time to just sit outside and relax. The food was great! And so was the company!
Gabe and Jonas really enjoyed playing together that week. Especially with the water guns.
It was great having Madi and Arden together for a few weeks.

Isn't Maren a cutie?

Gabe and Hannah were trying to play pool. Kind of hard with Maren sitting on the table! And then there's Gabe doing his impression of a thoughtful boy. Yeah.....right.

The family reunion was great, too. I think Miranda was a little out-numbered in this game, though.

As far as the kitchen and bathroom goes -- it goes. And goes. And goes. The man we hired to do the tough stuff only shows up once a week! Well, at least until this week. Finally he showed up for a few hours each day! The bathroom is now tiled in, and the moldings are on the cabinets. I will take more pictures soon and post them. Sara -- I found some old pictures (well, only 7 years ago). But, in order to post them, I need to scan them. When you have some time, will you let me come and scan them in? They are some great pictures of Madi, Arden and Les.

One more question. John is thinking of getting me a serger. We found some at Direct Buy, but we want your opinion of Singer and Brother machines. Also, what do sergers usually sell for?

It has been crazy around here. Madi has moved in to the "other" side with a bigger room and a little more feeling of her own space. Otherwise, we still have the refrigerator in our living room, and the stove is still in Gabe's room. But that's ok. He's still sleeping downstairs in the soon-to-be tv/computer room on the sleep sac. He's been down there since Arden got here. (Arden left us on the 18th of July -- we miss her.)

Well, I will do more catching up soon. I'll get some pictures of the garden as well as the remodeling updates. I have frozen 4 quart bags of green beans, bottles 4 pints of pickled green beans, and I still have 3 bags to go. I will be spending most of tomorrow morning blanching and freezing more beans. After last year's disappointing crop, we have really made a haul this year. There will still be more beans to pick soon. Gabe's sunflowers are well over 10 feet tall, and the potatoes are doing great. I can't wait for those! I love home grown reds.

Vacation Plus Some

2008-07-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well, things went from bad to worse on our computer. I finally took it in to fix the keyboard problem, and found out we had a virus. We are going to have to wipe the entire hard drive. However, we backed up the photos and other docs before we wiped everything. Now I can work on my school computer. Why didn't I think of this earlier? I could have done this a long time ago. Anyway, thanks for the pictures on the other blogs that I have downloaded. You had some great pictures. I hope you enjoy the ones I took.

These are a bit out of order, but we have Cedar City pictures and Arden's birthday pictures included here.

Sara, this one is for you. I hope it copies big. By the way, I found some great pictures of the girls and Leslie, but I need to scan them for use on the blog.

After the Vacation

2008-07-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

This is just a little reminder of what we found in our bathtub in St. George. We were assured that they are indigenous to the area, but that doesn't give them free reign in our room!!!!

Last week was really fun! I think everyone had a great time. I hope everyone made it home safely and found all well there. I was going to put on our pictures from last week, but we've run into a computer problem. I downloaded all the pictures onto one computer, and then deleted them from the camera. The next day the keyboard on that computer froze up. We can't access anything we have to type! So, as soon as we get that fixed, I will be up and running with the pictures again! I just wanted to let everyone know that we're still here.

Take care until next blog!

2008-07-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

This is our bean and potato patch, with some volunteer onions from last year. I decided to stick with beans and potatoes only so I didn't get overwhelmed in late August and September. We have only two tomato vines this year, along with one watermelon vine.

We should have some good beans in another couple of weeks!
Oh yes, I did let these volunteer pumpkin vines grow up right next to the porch too.

2008-07-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Ripe Tomatoes by the 4th of July!

We are making some progress in the kitchen, we just have to get the crown moulding and the baseboard in place. Countertops and plumbing would help it feel a little more homey as well!

I love growing herbs. The scent they leave on your hands is rewarding too! This is some basil and dill.

More herbs; tarragon, rosemary, thyme, chives, sage, oregano, marjoram and parsley. I will have to post pictures of my lavender. I think it is almost 3 feet tall.

The Month in Pictures

2008-06-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

June has really been packed. But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, I will let the pictures do most of the talking. June 4th:

There were over 400 students in her class. Doesn't she look so happy?

Arden and Kelsey had a few short days between Arden coming and Kelsey leaving. It was also great to see all the cousins that were able to come to Madi's Graduation. Gabe was always trying to be the center of attention, as usual.

John's roses. The red ones have a cinnamon scent. The pink ones are on the huge rose bush in front of the house. The other single roses are along the south side of the house. Each one is a little different from the others.

Here is John's garden. It is small in size, but it's something we can handle. We have potatoes, beans, tomatoes (that we will actually be able to eat), onions, strawberries, and raspberries.

Gabe even has 3 sunflowers he started from seed in pre-school. They are even taller today than they were yesterday!

Tomorrow is Arden's birthday party. She turned 15 last Monday, and we took her to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called The Red Iguana. It was realllllllllly good. Leslie was able to go with us and make it a real party!

Gabe running through the fountains at the Gateway. It would be fun to bring Jonas, Hannah, etc. and just let them run and play in the water. Let's talk about a day!

Ok. We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. Bring your appetites: we're having ribs! Hopefully, by our next blog, the kitchen will be complete. We've made progress, but that will come here on another day.

Arden's Birthday

2008-06-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today Arden turns 15!!! Today we went on a shopping spree for her at the Gateway, and then went to find Leslie. Les was getting close to quitting time, so we all went to dinner at a little place called the Red Igauna. It was delicious! We'll have birthday cake here tomorrow. Anyway, we thought that the easiest thing to do for a family get-together for her is to have it next Saturday. Sara has graciously agreed for us to have this shindig at her house. We thought 5:00 p.m. would be a good time. We will have the cake, ice cream and other food items. We'll let you know what else we need when we've actually thought that far. By the way, Arden seems to wear a Large in shirts, but in pants, she is a 13 junior in pants (11 or 12 in ladies?). I hope this helps. We hope to see everyone on Saturday!

(Pictures will come later)

2008-06-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

School's out! My last day of kids was Thursday, and I had to work on Friday. Madi might as well be out -- she only went to 20 minutes of class today, and tomorrow is Senior Sluff Day. Wednesday is Graduation! We went to her Seminary Graduation last night. John is so proud of her. She went to early morning seminary this year in order to get her last year credit. Early morning was at 6:15 a.m.

Well, the month of May was quite busy. John had his tonsils out on the 20th, and would not stay down to recover. He went to Home Depot the next day! And then wondered why he wasn't feeling so well. There is so much to do, though, that he just couldn't stay down. So, last Monday (Memorial Day) we demolished the kitchen and on Tuesday, John demolished the upstairs bathroom. We've had the cabinets for the kitchen and bathroom for the last 18 months. We just needed the time and resources to get them installed. Now we have someone to do the job, and they needed everything out before this week. Here are some pictures of our projects.

(By the way, the basement is DONE!!!! The last of the carpet went down on Saturday!)

The checkered carpet goes down the stairs, the hallway to the bathroom and the computer/tv room. The green carpet is in our bedroom, and really matches our comforter.

Now the pictures of what once was, and what now is:

It's a good thing we have "the other side." Hopefully, this will all be done before summer is over. We look forward to having everyone come see the end results. At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

I'll have some more to write after Madi's graduation. Arden gets here tomorrow night. We get to have her here for 6 weeks. One of those weeks, though, she will be at camp with Madison. See everyone soon.

Mom and Stuff

2008-05-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

I am up in the middle of the night to help out my mom. She gets the lovely (NOT) experience of going to have a colonoscopy tomorrow, which means we have to clean her completely out. It is not a comfortable experience by any means. Obviously, I have taken tomorrow off work to be with her. We will all be glad when it is over. She will probably be in bed all day on Friday. I know I would be.

I have a few more pictures of our house and yard. We are really excited to see the end of this part of the project. The only problem is, that, when this is all done, we have the upstairs to do!

This is the material I am going to make the curtains of. This one goes in the bedroom. This one goes in the TV room and the back door.
Here are a few things we (John) has done in the yard. He bought several roses a couple of weeks ago, and now we have this beautiful arbor for something to climb on. I'm not sure what his plans are for the climber. I know he bought a climatis for next to the house on Mom's back door side, but. . . .

Here is one of 2 crabapple trees we had planted this weekend, too. The yard is really going to be lovely.

And, of course, every child's dream toys are the boxes! Gabe had a ball.I am really looking forward to summer vacation. This last month is really hectic, and my stress level gets to its upper limits. I have another double concert this next Wednesday, a school concert the following Monday; John is having a tonsillectamy on the 20th, there are 2 school promotion ceremonies on the 27th, not to mention all the stuff that goes on in between times. Here's to May 31st! By the time Madi's graduation comes along, my stuff will be all done and I can concentrate on her.

I have to keep reminding myself this:

Have a great Month of May!

Pictures and Catch-up

2008-04-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

OK, so this may take a day or two, but I wanted to get started. The trip to LaCaille was fun. And, because we were with a school group, we didn't have to read a menu, so we didn't have to disgrace ourselves with our non-existent french. I had the salmon, and Madi had the chicken. It was really good. I think most of the charm of the place is the atmosphere as much as the food. Here are a few pictures.

This was the bananas foster. Unfortunately, we should have asked for it to be non-flamed. The alcohol didn't all burn off, and it tasted kind of bad. The flames didn't show up in the picture.

And now, here is what everyone has been waiting for: pictures of our remodeling. John took these pictures at the beginning of the month. I will follow these up with some updated ones. Lots has been accomplished.

John has really worked hard. I did the painting in the bathroom, and I really enjoyed doing it. John has done most of the work. I have the material for the curtains in the rooms, too, I just haven't had time to sew them up. I'll get you a picture of the fabrics I've chosen soon. We are also waiting for the carpet to put down the stairs in the TV room and the bedroom. At the moment, we don't dare walk down the stairs without shoes on because we left the tack strips there after stripping the old carpet.

There are some more updated pictures to be downloaded, but I'm going to get this much posted tonight. The rest will come in a few days.

We're excited about the trip to Shakespeare! Talk to all soon!

(Although it says April 27th at the top, I didn't post this until 4/5)

"Tag" Answers

2008-04-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, I guess I've been tagged. So, here goes---

1. Who do you love?
I love John, my two lovely step-daughters, Madison and Arden, and I love our precocious Gabe. I also love my Mother. I love most of my students, but here are the end of the school year, I will also love saying goodbye to them.
2. How long have you been married? We have been married for 6 years.
3. Who said "I love you" first. I did. We were talking on the phone one afternoon, and just before hanging up, I said it. And, just as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he said "I love you, too." Talk about walking on air for the next little while.
4. How long did you date? John and I had our first date on June 26th, he proposed on July 26th, and we were married on December 21st.
5. Where did he propose? In his living room, after we had met with the girls to tell them our intentions. Talk about making me nervous! After taking the girls to their mom, he formally proposed. An hour later he took me to the airport for my visit to Reno for 5 days. And my friend spent the whole 5 days trying to talk me out of it.
6. Who is taller? John is. I can wear heels and still be shorter that he is.
7. Who is smarter? John knows so much about so many things. And he remembers so much, too! The girls have inherited that from him. I can't remember whole entire books or history events like they do.
8. Who does the laundry? I do. John does a pretty good job, but we share the chores around the house, and I take on the laundry.
9. Who pays the bills? I do. But John had to teach me how to do it on the computer.
10. Who mows the lawn? John does. He really is an expert! And the lawn looks great when he is done. I can mow, and have mown, many lawns in my life. Growing up with my Mom and Grandma, mowing the lawn was my job during the summers. We had this old electric mower that you had to make sure you didn't run over the cord. In Tooele, I had a huge yard that had to be mowed on a weekly basis. It would take me about 2 hours to get it done.
11. Who cooks dinner? We both do. On week days, I cook dinner, but John is a great help on Sunday dinners. He really is a great cook! He makes a great gravy, prime rib, ribs, and other delectible menu items. I have actually learned quite a bit about cooking from him. Living on my own for so long, I didn't really know how to cook for more people.
12. Who drives? John does most of the driving, but he does trust me to drive when he is tired. Like Shelley, that is very satisfying to know that he can relax when I am driving.
13. So now I will tag Jennifer, and Sara, my sisters-in-law. They have probably already been tagged, but I don't know anyone else to send it to. Just answer the same questions, or make up some of your own if these don't apply to those you choose.

Catching Up, Again!

2008-04-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

We're still here! John and I have been painting and working on the basement. I even painted the bathroom, both coats, myself. It is going to be great! We are finally seeing the end of this project, but the upstairs is still staring us in the face. It is going to be a busy few weeks. Summer vacation is definitely looked forward to.

It's late again tonight, and I haven't downloaded the pictures from LaCaille, but Madi and I had a great time. Of course there are always those people who say, "My so an so went to France, and they said this is nothing like it." But, since I haven't been to France, I thought it was pretty good. We even at escargot.

I'm taking the time to look at everyone else tonight, I just wanted to let you know we are still here. Take care, and I will catch up on pictures soon.