It's Snowing!

It has finally snowed. I have been looking forward to our first snow storm all season. And it finally happened. It ain't much to look at, it snowed less then 2 inches and it is mostly slush. But still it is snow. and I love Snow!
Last weekend everyone around us got the fluffy white stuff. I was jealous.
I wished that me and Lacey could make snowmen and snow angels. I wanted Alex to groan because he was the only one to shovel. Ha Ha. I remembered all the fun we use to have tubing in Provo canyon.
I wanted the excuse to be lazy and stay home all curled up with a movie and some hot chocolate.
But now my wish has come true this weekend. I think I will make a mini snow man and tiny snow angels. But instead of watching a movie I will need to get my Christmas projects done. I am sewing P J'S for my family, all 8 of us (now that Samantha has joined our family).My sewing machine will get a work out. And I am also making some Yummy candy for our Young Women's. Such an easy recipe my friend gave me I haven't tried it yet but it taste so good and it sounded so easy I just had to try it. You melt a symphony Candy bar add a tub of Whip cream make balls and roll it in vanilla wafers.
Next weekend I will head to West Valley to make Candies with my mother in law and my sister in laws. It is a wonderful tradition I hope that I can carry on with my daughter and daughter in laws.
I also would like to start some new traditions this year. Normally we exchange gifts with each other but this year we are all spread apart. I haven't asked my family yet but I would like us to go to our local store and pick out a child out on the angel tree and buy something for them. I think we will have more of the Christmas spirit this year if we give more than receive.
Christmas time is so busy but so wonderful! I hope to keep my Christmas simple but fun. Let it snow! Let it snow! So we can have a white Christmas this year.

Decorating

This past week I have been busy decorating. I finally have all my Christmas trees up and if I say so myself they look fabulous. I have 3 alpine trees in my front room all decked out in gold. They match all the nice new furniture I got from a friend of Jay;s. It is really nice they are white and very soft and comfortable.They are fancy and pretty. And downstairs I have the family tree with all the ornaments from the kids past. My mother in law gives the kids a new ornament every year until they are 18. This is a fun tradition I will try with my grand kids.
I got a lot of good ideas after going to the festival of the trees. It was wonderful and exciting to see all the glitter of Christmas.I wanted to try the homemade fudge but it cost 5 dollars for 4 little squares. But I went to the gift boutique and we found some cute wall plaques and Lacey bought a cute notebook. And my mother in law bought a doll quilt in a jar.
And at last I have finished my Christmas stockings. I have been working on them since October and I think they look great. Next year I will make some for J.J.'s family. I don't have enough time this year I still have to work on the pajama pants for everyone.
It is nice to be finished decorating so I can enjoy the fun Christmas days ahead.

A Wonderful Thanksgiving!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my Sister and her family. We had yummy food and fun playing games, talking and watching movies. I was thrilled that they stayed overnight and we were able to have a yummy breakfast that Jay and Charlie made. Tammy's daughter was a joy to have around. I forgot the sweet things kids do and say. I hope to spend more time with her on my Birthday the end of December. I really wanted my Mom to come. But hopefully she will visit soon.
I also had a great week. Jay came home Tuesday from his long trip to South Carolina. I really missed him. He was gone for 9 days. We celebrated his homecoming by going shopping on Wednesday.I got a new cell phone and we were able to get quite a few things purchased from our list. I bought a gravy boat just for Thanksgiving. Such Joy! I have always wanted one. I even got some Christmas music to play on the piano. We went to the movies we saw Enchanted. Very cute and fun movie. It was too cute for Jay, he almost walked out on that one. He gets to embarassed. We ate out at this trendy college pizza place in Logan. The Pizza Factory it is in the basement of an old building on main street. It was good Pizza but the atmosphere is more for the college crowd.
On Saturday we put up Christmas lights reluctently from Jay. I finished my stockings that I have been working on. We also bought another turkey just for leftovers. I guess I don't want Thanksgiving to be over.
I didn't want my weekend to be over so on Sunday we went to see the lights on Temple Square. We went with my Mother in law and Jays brother Dan and his family. We road the tracks and went back to her house and had hot cocoa. It was good to see her. I will be taking her to our traditional adventure of Festival of the Trees. We have been going on and off for over ten years. It is fun to see all the decorations and spend time with her.
I thought my weekend was wonderful but Monday was just a wonderful. J.J. and Sam called and said that they got married! They wanted to get married in March but they are expecting a baby and his insurance only pays for spouses. So they got married at the county court house. They are still going to have a big wedding the first of March. We plan on seeing them then.
All in All I had a wonderful weekend I love Thanksgiving I love the simplicity of the holiday and Iam Thankful for all the things that I have and mostly I am Thankful for my family.

a visit to my old state of Washington

This past week I had the chance to go with my husband in the Semi truck to Washington State where we use to live. It was a beautiful drive. We went through highway 12 through Packwood and Morton. They are quaint towns with pet Elk on their lawns. Antique store and picturesque houses. The trees along the windy road were beautiful. We saw apple orchards and grape arbors for wine. After we did our work of unloading horse trailers and reloading wood to come back to Salt lake City we got the chance to visit my sister who lives Seattle. It is a very busy big city I really enjoyed watching it all from the safe seat next to my talented truck driving husband. He can drive an 18 wheeler like a compact car. Anyhow we met my sister with a little bit of trouble finding a space to park a Semi in a not so truck friendly City. We adventured to her neighborhood of Ballard and we had a nice late lunch at Smokey Pete's BBQ. Afterward she showed us her cute home and we had a nice visit with her teenagers. All in all it was a nice time. But we had to get back to our hillbilly town. I was very fortunate to be able to spend time with Jay since he will be gone for over a week this coming week. He will be going to LA to North Carolina almost coast to coast. I will miss him a lot. Hopefully he will return the day before Thanksgiving. I am not use to being without him for more than 3 days. I need to keep my mind off of missing Jay, because Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am in charge this year and I am very excited !! I love to cook and have my family over. it will be a great Thanksgiving.

Taffeta memories

Today I went to a musical at the old barn theatre near our home. I invited my friend Sondra and her girls to come with me and Lacey It was called Taffeta memories. It was about a quartet of women singing about the memories of the fifties.
Their songs were about looking for love and little things that make a person happy. There is great value in being entertained and we had a fun time. These are some of the fun songs that they sang. Sh-Boom , Mr Sandman, Three Bells, Tonight you belong to me, Mockin Bird Hill, Sincerely, Little Darlin, and many more. The scenery was all about the fifties It all reminded me of my parents especially my Dad he loved the fifties. It made me miss him and the age of innocence and joys of our youth.

My Kids

I really enjoy being a mother. It is a challenging job but an equally rewarding job. I have 5 children. I have 4 boys and 1 girl. I have always wanted to be a mother from the time I was little. I remember playing house and I always wanted to be the mom. Sometimes I was the maid or the Dad but I wished to be a mom. And my wish came true. I may not do anything spectacular with my life but I think that being a good wife and mother is important. I love my family.

My oldest son J.J. will be turning 24 soon. I can't believe how fast time goes by. His name is John Jordan he is named after his grandfather and dad and his middle name is my great great grandfather( I think) Jordan Brady. J.J. is a quiet and keeps to himself. He is good at fixing things and he is caring. He lives in Indiana with his girlfriend Samantha. They plan on getting married in the spring. They met while serving in the Army in Iraq. I am so proud of him. He has had some rough times but has made it through them and I look forward to his future endeavours.

Andrew James is my second son. He likes to be called Andy. He is 22. He is strong willed smart and stubborn. He is always right. He loves sports of all kinds. He served an LDS mission in Hartford Connecticut. He is good at wood working. His current job is at a cabinet making shop in SLC. He also is going to school in the paralegal program at SL Comunity College.

Peter Kenneth is my third son. He is named after his great grandfathers on both sides. Peter is 19 and he is currently on an LDS mission in Knoxville Tennessee. He is a funny kid. He likes to help people. He is outgoing, and talkative more so than my older boys. He plays the trombone and the tuba. He was able to get his eagle scout award. He loves cars; fixing driving, dreaming of them, anything to do with cars he loves. We miss him and his funny things he says's and does but he will be home soon.

Alexander Jay is the fourth son. Before he was born I knew he would be a boy. He is named after my dad Alex and his own dad Jay. He is always had a special place in my heart. Alex will be 18 on December 26th. He is funny and outgoing and social. He is the life of the party. Kids love him. He will be a good uncle and Dad one day. He is a senior in High School and he works at Wendy's and going to Bridgerland College in auto body repair.

Lacey Jo is our only daughter. When Lacey was a newborn a Lady once told me "What is a petunia doing amongst all these onions?" She has blessed our lives. She is sweet and thoughtful. She is 12 years old but going on 21. She is artistic and plays the violin and piano. She loves being with her friends and family. She would like to be a teacher one day.

I think that all my children are great! It has been hard raising them. They weren't always good and sometimes they still aren't. But for the most part they have turned out to be good people. And that makes me a happy mother!

Small town growth

As I was driving around our small town today I looked around at all the growth that has taken place and the growth that is happening as I write this blog.

When we arrived here almost 10 years ago the town was relatively small about 4,000 people. It had 2 small grocery store 1 small discout store and a few banks and gas stations. If you wanted to eat out your best bet was the Cross roads restaurant or if you wanted a bad experience Denny's. Not much for entertainment either 1 movie rental store and 1 run down bowling alley. All in all we liked that it was small.

But things change. Our population is over 6,000 we still only have 2 grocery stores but they have been remodeled and one was bought by a bigger company in Idaho. We now have a variety of places to eat quiznos, wendy's arby's burger king, artic circle, a steak house that I use to work at called Bar T L Steakhouse, Dominos pizza and Figaros take and bake pizza these are just some of the restaurants we have now. We have more entertainment as well. we have 3 movie rentals and a new bowling alley, a recreational dept. for the city which provides activities to all ages. A skate park, We have a fancy new library and several new parks. We see our raods torn up because of the new Utopia services. And they are in the planning stages for a new high school and a few new churches and they are building a new hospital.
When we moved here there were mostly farms but lately we have more new subdivisions going where the farms used to be . We had only a few places of employment like lazy boy and Auto liv but we now have Malto Meal, West liberty lunch meats. Toyota and Brstol myers are putting in plants in the area. And I hear rumors of a walmart going in by the new Hampton Inn and I Hop in town.
I like all the changes but I hope it doesn't become a new Lehi! Small Town life is what we like and hoepfully it stays that way!

A sisters birthday wish

It is my sister Tammy's Birthday today. I would like to wish her the best day ever. I wish that I could spend more time with her. She is so fun to be around.

How she makes me laugh.

Always there when you need her.

Pretty eyes

Perfect in many ways

Youngest sister

Best friend to many

Intelligent

Radiant

Tender hearted

Happy

Darling

Awesome

TAMMY

Youthful

BUGS!

I have a bug problem . I have box elder bugs are plastered against the side of my house. They are not a bad bug but none the less they still are bugging me. They fly in as soon as you open the door they come in the closed up swamp cooler, they are stuck in between the screens of the windows, they are even some in the bathroom. I can't wait until it gets cold so they will die. I know I live in Box Elder County but this is ridiculous!

A good Recipe

I made this yesterday and it was delicious! Old Fashioned Apple crisp
4 cups of Sliced peeled apples(about 3 medium) 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/3 cup cold butter, vanilla ice cream, optional. Place apples in a greased 8 in. square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon and allspice; cut in butter until crumbly, sprinkle over apples. Bake, uncovered, at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender. serve warm with ice cream. makes 4-6 servings

This is a picture of me and my Hubby Jay. We have been married almost 25 years. We love each other more each day.

Sundays

I love Sundays it is my favorite day of the week. Most of my family is home and it is the day to relax and enjoy life. I also enjoy going to church so my spirit can be uplifted.