It makes me smile....

I love to watch Jenny interacting with Jade. You can tell she loves being a mom. He is such a cute little guy you can't help being happy when he is around. I'm afraid that he might not be getting enough to eat, though. :)

A Huge Blessing in my Life

I am old enough now that I have had many callings in the church. I've been blessed to serve in many presidencies. Probably the biggest blessing that has come from each of those presidencies is the wonderful friendships I have made while working together with some incredible women.

Right now I am serving with three ladies in a Relief Society presidency that I dearly love. I have had some wonderful interactions with each of them this week. I spent quite a bit of time talking to my friend, Karla, on the phone. She was babysitting her grandkids and we just talked about our lives, not necessarily Relief Society. Karla has so much experience and wisdom. What a fabulous friend....!!

Then, I got a phone call from the husband of my friend, Jenny, at 3:40 a.m. asking me if I could come and tend her kids as the time to deliver her baby had come. What an honor to be able to do that. Little Anna asked me, "Are you one of my grandmas?" I wish I was. I never would have known the Harris family so well if I hadn't had this opportunity to serve with Jenny. She's the same age as Amber and I just adore her.

Finally, I had the chance to take some family photos of my friend, Jessica. What a beautiful family she has. She's always so willing to help me and is so dedicated to being a good example. If I ever ask her to do something she is always so willing.

These ladies are so easy to work with and love. I would have never aspired to be a Relief Society President, and some days it is a bit overwhelming, but with ladies like Jenny, Jessica, and Karla to work with and love it is a joyous experience. Isn't it interesting that four ladies, all at different stages of life and with different interests, can have so much in common when serving together in the church.

The Prestwich Family (I need to get a photo of our presidency)

Counting my blessings

Yesterday my little sweetheart, Jaden, had his tonsils out. I hated to see him go through it, but I know how much it helped Melissa when she was little so I was happy he was having it done. I had the privilege of tending the twins. I must say, I did sleep well last night!! They are so adorable, loving, and VERY busy!! Finally I resorted to the tent trick. We just built a big tent with blankets in the family room and rested in there. They had fun and I got a breather.... It's no wonder that Amber is so skinny. She must get exercise every waking minute keeping up with 2 toddlers.







Sometimes being a Relief Society president is rough. We had a boy in our ward commit suicide on Monday night. I don't even know the family. They don't come to church. But, we are helping with the funeral luncheon. My heart just ached as I tried to imagine what the family must be going through. I'm so grateful for the church and I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to help out. I talked to the boy's grandma for a while yesterday and she told me that they have no clue why he did it. Wouldn't that be so hard..... I know that the ladies in my ward will come through and we will have a nice luncheon for the family. They are expecting 200 people for the luncheon. I'm glad that the ward of the grandparents is helping us put it on.

Who Knew????

Today when I was driving home from work I noticed all the frost on the trees from the fog that we had this morning. I grabbed my camera and my macro lens and went out to take a few photos.

I had no idea that the frost grew in spikes. I wonder why??.......

I've been kind of sad this week because things aren't going well at work. Seems no one needs commercial appraisals right now.....

I feel so bad for Brent and Mel.....for me too, since I've loved my job. But seeing this beauty of nature really cheered me up today.

Then I got to take some photos of Lola and Jade.....Josh and Lindsay, too!! That really cheered me up, but I'll let them share the photos with all of you. I must say that there are some beautiful babies (and people) in this family!!

Snowcoach Ride

The kids gave us a snowcoach ride in Yellowstone Park for Christmas. It's something we've always wanted to do since we have never seen the park in the winter. We got there bright and early and got a seat on this nice snowcoach. The guy below was our tour guide. He was exceptional. His knowledge of the park and his presentation made the day such a treat.

We saw some wildlife along the Madison River. It's so amazing to me how they can thrive under such harsh conditions.






Then we saw the beautiful Mount Haynes.




We drove on to Gibbon Falls. As we were viewing the falls our guide was checking out the snowcoach. He noticed that there was a problem with one of the bearings. So, we had to wait for a relief coach to pick us up. It was disappointing because it wasn't nearly as nice as the first coach. Greg and I were in the back seat and the windows were small, as you can see in the photo. Also, the heat didn't work very well back there and we were cold. Oh well, things never go perfectly, to they!!





We headed on to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone where we had lunch and then saw the falls.

After that we went back to Norris Geyer Basin and hiked around for a while. It was beautiful there.

All in all, it was a day to remember!!

My 100 things

Debbie had this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun.

If you want to do it, copy and paste into your blog and bold the ones you have done. There are a lot I haven't done..... Guess I better get busy.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars Loved it as a kid....
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower We even got up in the middle of the night and drove the kids into the hills to see the Hale/Bop comet.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity(I really can't afford to not give)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (I climbed Tablerock 5 times as a teen)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo I had to do it in an Elementary Ed music class. It was very tramatic for me.
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm When you are married to Greg, you watch EVERY lightening storm.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (My favorite thing to do....the latest is Photography)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning... (It's the worst)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (We used to have a huge garden. We even grew more than our yard would hold at Greg's parent's house. Greg's dad would get so frustrated because we didn't keep it weeded as good as he did his garden.)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill...
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset One of our favorite activities. Great for photography, too!!
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke Only on a video game.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (Every year at Redfish)
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater We did it every summer with the kids and sat in the back our the pickup. It was great!!
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies With my kids.
62. Gone whale watching Boy did I get seasick. But Melissa got even more sick than I did
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (a doll Grandma Dorothy gave me)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt I should be finishing Heather's baby quilt instead of doing this.
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (Only my big toe)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (Any time I'm on a motorcycle it feels like it is speeding)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (I won a state poster contest and got my photo in the paper in High School)
85. Read the entire Bible (I'm embarrased to say I haven't)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
(Well Greg had to testify in one once!!)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own!

Slow down.....

Jenny and Melissa went to the movie yesterday and I had the privilege of watching Jade. When Jenny brought him my first reaction was one of surprise. He looked so much bigger than he did just a few days ago. I sure wish he would slow down......

But, he gets cuter and cuter every day. He's into putting his hands in his mouth now. He is also interested in toys and will grab them. It's fun to watch all the little stages that they got through. He's starting to make sounds. He has a deep little voice!!

What a sweetie pie he is!! We sure love him.

The Sleep Over

We decided that Jaden is old enough to have a sleep over at our house. What better time than New Year's Eve!!






First we went out to dinner at Wingers. On the way home Jaden saw a "Pumpkin Man" and a "Pumpkin Lady" being chased by a monster. Whew!! I'm glad we were able to make it home safely with beings like that out on the street.....


Once home we played Candyland. When you play with Jaden you know that he will always win....

After that we watched the movie WallE. I have to admit that it was cute, but it had a pretty strong environmentalist message.

Jaden was excited to sleep in his sleeping bag in the spare bedroom. Melissa read him some stories. He had some trouble falling asleep. He kept hearing noises....maybe it was those pumpkin people!! I finally rocked him to sleep.






This morning we've had fun playing computer games. Jaden has learned how to use the mouse all by himself.

What a fun time we had.