Latest footprints...

We have added to our Grandkids stepping stone collection.

We really miss the ones that we had to leave at the old house.

Anybody want to make theirs and bring up??

Guess I had better take inventory and see whose is missing.

Yeah. Later.......

Blessing Isabelle

Okay, Star is here to try to educate me on the posting pictures thing. We will start with pictures taken at the recent blessing of our 18th grandchild. This took place of February 17 in Huntsville, Utah.

These are Isabelle's current favorite men. Each stood in the circle to bless our little doll.

Brother Darryl Barnes from the Bishopric, Great Grandpa Stephens, Daddy Lee, Papa Primm, and Oppalua Georgi.

Papa Primm is very proud.

Big Papa Stephens loves this little cutie, but is eager for some Great-Great Grandchildren.

Star, you are wonderful. Let's hope that any of this sticks in my brain.

As Promised...the party animals

I did promise to show an actual picture of all the culprits that surprised us for the latest birthday. Of course there is Lee and I, then left to right, Gavin 7, Shea 4, Cordin 11, their mom Julie, Jackie and Garrett 4.

This was a fun weekend for us, but it took 9 hours for the kids to get back home on Sunday.

My absolutely firm conviction......Family is the most important thing in the world. I'm so thankful that we come here to be part of a family and not like the animals that give birth and then there is no connection after that. Looking forward to seeing a few more family members in March and another group as soon as a date is set to bless our newest granddaughter, Isabelle.

My love and kisses and hugs and snuggles to all our family. xoxoxo

The Big 70

Tomorrow is Lee's birthday. Julie and Jackie and their kids ( only two in this picture. Two others will be caught next time) came on the spur of the moment to surprise their Dad for the weekend. Sure WAS a surprise. They had streamers hanging from the ceiling and balloons and cake and all the party paraphernalia. Now this is the kind of surprise I like. I was needing a little family time! I love it.

Pauline, you win

Okay, already!!! I had decided to quit this blogging thing...and have been taking some flak from family and friends for being lazy, giving up, not trying, don't let the picture thing get to you, etc. So OKAY. I'll give it another try. Pauline, you'll have to come give me some training. Oh yeah, and be on call 24/7 to get me through a meltdown. Are you still willing??
oh, the things your kids will get you into!

Bet you thought that there would never be another posting on this site! Had some trouble with posting pictures and just got very frustrated. Santa brought me a new digital camera, so part of the problem is solved. The part where the blogger is just plain lame will have to be addressed later.

So far, I have managed to download pictures from my camera to the computer, but need a
co-pilot to help me get them to where I need them. JULIE...where are you?? PLEASE rescue me. I'm too young to die like this.................cough cough gasp gaaaaasp..............

On Saturday night, our little town celebrated Veteran's Day with a Retiring the Flag ceremony. I went over and got Big Papa out of the shop, he dusted the sawdust off and went in to get his "WWII Veteran" hat.

The ceremony involved lowering the flag at the firestation and placing it and about 20 other flags donated by townsfolk on a frame and burning them. It was a wonderful ceremony and I was pleased to see Big Papa participate. I wasn't sure that he would even go since he was still sore from kidney stones. He carried one of the donated flags with the Scout color guard to the burning site. You can see BP on the left side of the fire (he has a white paper in his vest pocket). I love living in this little Norman Rockwell town!!!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

Rules: When tagged, you write 6 things about yourself then tag 6 friends.

1. I really hate rodents and snakes. Also, anything that jumps (frogs, grasshoppers, etc.)

2. I love to watch HGTV and pretend that I'm going to redo my whole house.

3. I wish that I hadn't quit college in the first semester to get married. The married part is good, but the quitting school has been a regret my whole life.

4. Often, my mouth runs away with me and before I know it I've made a big fool of myself.

5. I love tools. Playing in the woodshop with my Dad is a really fun day.

6. I love to read. Especially books about strong women or about cultures that are new to me.

Okay, here's the hard part. I don't know 6 people with blogs, so Julie and Jackie and Cordin--you are officially tagged. Have fun!!

Small Town Halloween

You know how much your dad likes to have booths..... So here we are with a booth in the park for the town Halloween celebration. Of course, there was Usana all over the booth, but the kids ignored it and played and had lots of fun. Dad did too.

The prizes were apple juice boxes and apples (left over from all the applesauce-ing we did) . Actually, the kids liked the healthy stuff almost as much as the moms did. Lots of kids came back for more apples (thank goodness). Next year the game has to have an auto pin setter! We couldn't set them up fast enough.

Following this part of the celebration came the parade down main street with Dave Crouse the police chief leading the parade with lights flashing. The kids were to Trick or Treat from the lines of parade observers rather than going door to door. There were homemade parade floats and a Halloween movie shown at the park. The fire station had a haunted house set up. Now I hope that Halloween is done for the year......don't need all that candy around here.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

Apple Sauced

Aunt Connie agreed to share some apples from her tree and brought them down last weekend. Little did we know that she would show up with 12 moving boxes full. 12!! We stacked all the boxes in my sewing room and turned on the air conditioner to keep them cool until we could get to them. Today was the day.

Aunt Shelley stood at the stove all day, Grandpa cranked the apple peeler (with a smirk on his face cuz it was fun to him ;) ) Uncle Don and Dad were designated corers and I rotated around and spelled folks who needed a break, made the syrup and washed bottles. Dad was also in charge of the canner which was outside.

We bottled 80 pints of applesauce and 44 quarts of sliced apples. AND STILL ONLY EMPTIED HALF OF THE BOXES. And besides being so productive, we fed the peels and cores to the horses, goats and chickens next door! How's that for do-gooding??

Of course, now I can't let anybody actually EAT any. Too much work!

Happy Birthday, Big Papa!!

Ok. So I'm an idiot. Can't figure how to rotate my photo, but I managed to get this far without being in direct contact with the family expert. Gotta take my bows where I can get them.

Anyway, we went to lunch for Big Papa's birthday. He is 82 today and doing well--except that he doesn't hear much. (But then, neither does your dad or I.) He wouldn't let us have the waitress sing to him. Said he would leave in a big hurry if we tried such a stunt. So we just had lunch at Iggy's and came home. Since we couldn't have candles and wishes, I asked what his wish would have been. He said that all he wants is to be here for his next birthday. THAT'S JUST WHAT I WOULD HAVE WISHED FOR!!!!! What a coincidence!

He is already back to the shop and planning how to build a tiller to attach to his tractor so that he can plow like a real farmer.

You asked for it...

Okay...so here is a look at your dad and his bicycle. He just came home from the post office and was a little perturbed that I made him stand up just a minute longer. Understandably, his knees are a little wobbly after his ride. He puts me to shame, but I'll get over it. You know that my idea of exercise is BUYING the exercise tape. Sad but true.

Non-techie outreach

This is an experiment for a couple of non-techies to get into the 21st century and keep up with our kids. Have patience with us. Grandparents don't have a marvelous record for keeping up.

We sure have enjoyed the fruits of your work and hope that you will be able to tolerate our efforts. Here we go!