And finally...a happy belated birthday to Robyn

Happy Birthday Robyn!!! Hope you know how much you are loved!

28 has been good to you...but you're looking like 29 will be even better!

I can't believe she is 29 years old! Where have all the years gone? Our once upon a time rambunctious little girl is now married to her prince charming and the mother of two adorable babies. Life with her has been quite an exciting ride indeed! Her life is like a book you just can't put down. She has definitely kept us on the edge of our seats waiting for the next chapter.

Chapter one: The cutest baby on earth! She turned heads everywhere....and those big blue eyes took in everything around her and captivated all who came in contact with her. She reminded my visiting teacher of Tweedy Bird, thus a new nick name.

I remember sitting in the rocking chair in the middle of the night with her and thinking..."I wish I could freeze time."

Chapter two: Grade school. Top of her class, smart as a whip! Definitely a mind of her own, a spunky little girl with lots of personality and a great zest for life. She had no fear and wanted to do everything. I asked her one day what her favorite color was and she said "green". When I asked her why, she said "because green means GO!" And "go" she did! She learned cursive with her left hand in the third grade because she played a game at recess called "whip" with the sixth graders. She was whipped all right. She fell and broke that right arm clean in half!

I remember thinking...this child is going to give us a run for our money, and I wish I could freeze time!

Chapter Three: Middle School. After her victory at the end of her fifth grade year for student body president, her next step was to run for office at Tuffree Middle School. She ran a great campaign as "Rockin Robyn". Everything was going her way. The kids at the school were behind her, and we thought she had it wrapped up. The day of the elections, she gave her speech, the kids voted, and we waited for the results. She lost! She had been disqualified because her speech went a little over the time allowance. I thought she'd be devastated, but not Robyn! Although that was the last political campaign of her school career, she put her focus on other things.

I remember thinking...this child is a fighter, she is going to give us a run for our money, and I wish I could freeze time!

Chapter four: High School. This was a long chapter! Teenage life and Robyn got along very well, and although she suffered some defeats, her friends rallied around her and helped her feel success in other areas of her life. This is when T.R.A.K.S. was formed (Trisha, Robyn, Amanda, Katie, and Stephanie). What a great gift to have such good friends. They really kept each other on "track". Sometimes the track took the long way around, but it was still going to the same place.

Robyn's Spanish teacher loved to tease her because her face would turn red so he gave her the nickname "Tomate". I became "Mama Tomate". She loved Spanish! She loved singing! She loved playing basketball! She loved being a cheerleader! She loved going to early morning seminary! She loved being in Young Women's! Trust me, this was a long chapter! The list could go on and on. I'm not saying that she never gave us a run for our money....she did! We worried some, we saw her through some heartaches, but mostly we watched as a young woman learned and grew from her experiences. Things in this chapter happened so quickly, that sometimes it was hard to focus on the moment and just enjoy it. The moments were too many too fast! Before we knew it we were sitting at her graduation wondering where in the world the time went!

I remember thinking...this child is going to do great things, she is a fighter, is going to give us a run for our money, and I wish I could freeze time!

Chapter five: BYU! Great times, great friends! Heritage Hall in the summer, and Helaman Hall for fall semester! Only seventeen years old, I encouraged her to go around campus all day long saying to herself "I'm only seventeen". I didn't want some returned missionary to nab her just yet. Her experiences at BYU could fill a book!

I remember thinking...she's off and running, look out world here she comes! She is going to do great things, she is a fighter, is going to give us a run for our money, and I wish I could freeze time!

Chapter six: Mission. Where do you think someone who studied Spanish for seven years, and even studied abroad in the Dominican Republic would serve her mission? Spain, Mexico, Central America? You'd think Spanish speaking anywhere right? Wrong....Finland! Spanish speaking would have been the logical choice, but Finland was definitely the right choice! She froze, but she LOVED her mission!

I remember thinking....pinch me....I'm a missionary mom, she's off and running, look out world, here she comes! She is going to do great things, she is a fighter, She is no longer going to give us a run for our money, She's going to love the people of Finland, and I wish I could freeze time!

Chapter seven: Mr. Right! Getting married! Having babies! (There's simply too much information in this chapter to share with you here.)

I'm thinking to myself....this is going to be a VERY LONG BOOK, pinch me, this is my daughter, her mission is over, she's off and running, she's going to do great things, she is a fighter, she is going to give Joe a run for his money, but she's going to make life fun and exciting, look out world, here she comes, She's going to love life wherever she is, and I wish I could freeze time!!

Trust me, this book will be well worth reading! I'd recommend it to anyone!

Happy belated birthday Robyn!!!!! Love you!!

(I'll be back soon with pictures and posts about the wedding. Don't hold your breath though. My "back soon", doesn't always mean what your "back soon" means! I'm trying to get myself back in gear! Life events always do something to me!)

My Little Secret

My dear Internets,



I have kept a secret from you for the past six months. My DH and I have been going to the gym religiously for the past six months. No lie....six months. He goes to his work gym at o dark thirty every single day, and I go to mine. (Mine is nicer, but we won't tell him that because his is free and mine's not.) Anyway...the good news is that my DH has lost over 20 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. And no...I didn't inadvertently leave my results off. Now I ask you....is that fair?!

Anne's Shower

I thought I'd better get these pictures posted before Anne and Michael are married and have four children!

Anne's shower was so much fun! It was on Saturday May 30. We had it in Penni's beautiful backyard (thanks Pen). The day was beautiful too. As it turns out, it was a good thing we started at 11:30 a.m. because it rained....I mean really rained....later that afternoon.

We could not have asked for more. We had good food....

Lots of support from family and friends....

VERY generous gifts....

And a happy and excited couple!

Thanks to everyone for helping make this such a special day! Both Kimberly and Robyn's mothers in law helped out. We really couldn't have done it without them! Thanks Helen and Cathy! I tell my girls all the time that they really hit the jackpot in the mother in law department. I should take lessons!

It was so much fun seeing everyone there. We know Michael is marrying an amazing young woman, and are so excited to have her join our family. We're a little crazy, but somehow we think Anne is going to fit in just fine!

August 8th is the day!! We can't wait to see ya'll there!

Sweet Baby Blakey Turns Three

Is this not the sweetest little face you've ever seen? Blake is three years old now and is busy making some very important decisions about his life. Like which super hero he should be. It's a tough decision! Just when you think you've got it figured out,

someone gives you a Transformer and gets you thinking maybe you've taken the wrong direction in your life.

So you take a break from those big decisions and decide to be just Blake for a while. After all, that's pretty important too, and you wouldn't want anyone to figure out your secret life as a super hero. Just humor all those weak humans, give a smile to the camera that is always annoyingly following you around, and show off a little "Blake fashion". That will satisfy them for a while!

After all, they do think you're the baby in the family and those babies do get lots of perks!

Happy Birthday Baby Blakey!!

Friends!

I have to admit I was a little nervous to have them come visit. After all, it had been YEARS since we'd actually spent time together. Would it be awkward? Would they still like us? Have they changed? Have WE changed?

Someone told me that having someone come stay at your house is like standing in a public place in your underwear. There's no way of disguising the real you! They'll see it all...the good and the bad!

In the days leading up to their visit, I found myself remembering some of the things we've done together. I remembered the many times we would go out and our kids would play. I remembered our many, many craft projects. We made Christmas Caroler ornaments one year. They were made out of smashed soda cans, and it was so cold outside that the spray paint we were using wouldn't stick to the cans. We persisted though! We were going to make those silly things even if the fumes killed us! I also remembered when we made our girls matching dresses for their eighth birthday. We even did a combined eighth birthday party for them at the Lion House.

Such fun memories!

With memories like those how could I possibly be nervous?!

When I finally saw them walking down the terminal, a feeling of sheer happiness poured over me as I realized these are our friends! I mean really good friends! I knew in an instant that everything was going to be just fine. As a matter of fact, it would be much more than fine...it would be great! We were in for a weekend of great reminiscing, catching up, and lots of laughs!

I don't know too many people who can say that their plumber is such a good friend that he would fly across the country to help with a plumbing project. Yes, you read that right...a plumbing project! That's the kind of friend Dave is. He's not only the cleanest plumber on earth, he's the best too!

The guys spent most of their time building, while we girls did what we do best.....shopped, drove around, and went to lunch. We made sure to keep the boys on a strict deadline though because we needed to hit some of the Nashville hot spots like The Bluebird Cafe, and the Grand Ole Opry.

I don't have any pictures at the Bluebird, but did get some at the Opry.

Grand Ole Opry highlights: The Virginia Boys, Ashton Shepherd, Riders in the Sky, Keith Anderson, Ricky Skaggs, Hal Ketchum, Gary Mule Deer , Little Jimmy Dickens, and Gene Watson. Little Jimmy Dickens is 88 years old and still going strong!

The funny thing is that Vicky is the one who got me hooked on country music. Now we can say we've gone to the Grand Ole Opry together! Whoda thought!

And we won't let any of our friends leave Nashville without a trip to The Loveless Cafe. Those world famous biscuits are worth the two hour wait. Trust me! They leave a lasting impression (especially on the thighs)!!

So, it wasn't' awkward, I think they still like us, we've all changed (for the better, I hope), and I never once felt like I was standing in a public place in my underwear! Thanks guys, it was so much fun having you here! Y'all come back now, ya hear! It would be fun to do it again when you don't have to work so hard!

Now for those of you who have been asking... here's pictures of the progress in the basement. As you can see, we're coming right along.

They broke the concrete, moved the spot for the toilet, re-cemented everything and even got the tub set.

Dave made sure everything was done better than just to code. He and Bob built a whole new wall so they could run pipes and not weaken any support walls.

They installed the lift pump (yes...lift...that's what it does). They also installed my favorite thing... a sink in the garage... so Bob the Builder has a place to wash his hands and anything else I won't allow in the house!


Hooray for progress! Hope y'all will come over for movie night when we're done.

The Adam Lambert/American Idol Finale

If you missed the American Idol/Adam Lambert finale, you really missed out! It was a great show! The results were shocking, but it was a great show!

Adam Lambert was my pick early on. I know he seemed a bit dangerous, but maybe that's why I liked him. I was happy that Kris won. I mean, after all, he did sing with Keith Urban, and who in their right mind wouldn't like that! But... there was a part of me that really LOVED Adam Lambert...glittery makeup, black nails, elevator shoes and all! Maybe this all stems back to my teenage concert-going years!

He is just such a performer! I'll have to forgive him for picking KISS as his music icon to perform with though. I can listen to them, I just can't look at them. They creep me out! Seriously, how old are they anyway?! They really need to stop than tongue thing!! The pyrotechnics were great though!

So history has been made, a new idol has been crowned, and the underdog has come up the winner! So I give three cheers to Kris Allen who has proven that nice guys don't always finish last!

Mr. Personality turns three!

Meet Mr. Personality.....

There's never a dull moment with him around!

He can make even the worst snowstorm fun!

He loves posing for the camera,

He loves his family,

and we LOVE him!

Happy birthday Parker!

Taylor Turns Seven

It must be April! The Pansies are in full bloom.... The Dogwood tree has blossomed....

And it's Taylor's Birthday!!!!


My Sweet Taylor,

It seems like it was only yesterday I flew to Utah to see you right after you were born. I couldn't wait to get to the hospital to hold you and to look at you. You were absolutely perfect! I spent a week with you before I had to go back home to California, and I cried when I had to leave. That was such a special time!

Soon you moved to California where I got to see you a lot more. I was pretty excited about that, and knew I'd better take advantage of the time we had because somehow I knew it wouldn't last forever. I never grew tired of that beautiful drive from Placentia to San Diego.

You even lived close enough that I got to babysit you. Your parents were pretty new at this parenting thing, and it was pretty funny watching them fuss over you. One time when I got to babysit you, your mom left me with detailed instructions for your meal times:

Meal Time

Morning (7:30 a.m.)

Bottle with rice cereal when she wakes up.

1 hour to 2 hours later give snack (i.e., fruit, muffin bar, yogurt)

Afternoon (1-2:30 p.m., after nap)

for lunch she likes hot dogs, mac & cheese, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, string cheese, fruit, yogurt.

Dinner (4:30-5p.m.)

She will eat any of the same as above.

7:30: Breakfast

9:00-10:00 Snack

11:00 nap with bottle

1:00-2:00 lunch (if grouchy, give bottle for snack)

5:00 dinner

8:00-8:30 bedtime (unless tired earlier)

This was just part of the instructions I was given. The best ones were what your Dad wrote:

Getting Taylor to Bed (8:30-9:00)

1. Get a bath drawn.
2. Get house a little darker
3. No loud TV, softer voices, no romper room play!!
4. Take Taylor into dark bedroom
5. Sit down in rocking chair (put rocking chair in bedroom beforehand).
6. Rock Taylor while you feed her bottle (she likes being sung to).
7. When she finishes bottle, lay her down in her bed.
8. Say "Go night night Taylor, close your eyes".
9. Cover her with her blanket.
10. Then leave and close the door.
11. Listen for 5 to 8 minutes to see if she cries out loud.
12. If she cries out loud, go back in, don't say a word, rock her until she goes back to sleep.
13. Once asleep put her back in crib.
14. If she wakes up, repeat the rocking....DON'T TALK TO HER!

If she doesn't go to bed!!!

1. 1. Take her for a drive
   2. Go on the 57 Freeway to Pathfinder Road and back. That will probably work.
   3. You WANT to get on the Freeway!!! (Evidently it was best to be on the freeway where I wouldn't hit any stop lights.)
   4. Put her straight into bed...close door.
   5. If that doesn't work, you have a LONG night ahead of you!!

Amazingly enough we survived!!!! I think they were surprised to come home and find out that you did great. We didn't even have to make that drive on the 57 freeway.

You are such a beautiful little girl and have brought so much love into our family! We love you so much! Have a happy happy birthday!!!

Love,

Grandma Nannu

Goin' home, Meeting Anne, Conference, and a Birthday

The weather changed and allowed us to make our flight on Friday morning getting us to Salt Lake City by 11:00 a.m. Of course, to get there by that time meant we had to leave our house at 4:00 a.m. to leave Nashville at 6:00 a.m. If you EVER travel with us, you can rest assured you will NEVER be late! You will also we awakened in plenty of time to get your "tired ol' @**" out of bed and your A.I.S. (a term now used in our household frequently meaning your blank, blank, blank, in your seat in time to get you to where you are going plenty early....thanks Steve, or should I say....thanks Everyone Loves Raymond). Being late, or just on time, is NOT an option! You'd think he'd run into long security lines a time or two or something.

Nashville to Colorado...Colorado to Salt Lake City. What's up with the snow? It's April right? We landed in a snowstorm! Note to self....listen to your son when he says you should bring your winter coat. Since you did not listen this time, you'll just have to think warm thoughts while you are standing in the freezing cold snow.

Next stop Robyn's house. From this point, the weekend is a blur! We just hit the ground running...literally! So if any of our family is wondering what exactly it is that we do to keep us so busy while we're in Utah, here's a brief synopsis...

Goal....meet future daughter in law! Hope she's not disappointed! Be fresh, beautiful, alert, witty, and fun!

• Arrive at Salt Lake International.
• Baggage claim.
• Rental car.
• Drive as fast as we can to Parker and Avery's house, glad Robyn and Joe are there too.
• Feel bad that we don't have that horse that Parker told his mommy grandpa was bringing to him.
• Stop at Del Taco for a combo burrito.
• Arrive for hugs and kisses and see how much the kids have grown.
• Take kids to see "Monsters vs Aliens"
• Meet up with Michael and Anne at Red Robyn.
• Meet our future daughter in law in person!
• Crash in bed.
• Up early to take TRAX to downtown Salt Lake City to go to conference with Michael, Anne, and Robyn. (Thanks to Joe for watching the kids.)
• Wait in the freezing snow in the longest security line ever because I didn't leave my purse behind.
• Be glad that we had to wait in the freezing snow when we see friends (Elder Dalton and Louise) from California!!!
• Shed a few happy tears!
• Enjoy conference!
• Anxiously await arrival of Luke, Taylor, and Blake....glad Kimberly and Devon came with them.
• Enjoy a girls night together while the guys attend the Priesthood session of conference.
• Eat pizza and learn the Cleveland Shuffle (thanks Kimberly)
• Have my makeup done by the expert...Kimberly!
• Crash in bed.
• Awake early to drive downtown (forget TRAX) for early session of conference with Kimberly.
• Meet up with California friends (Randy and Linda).
• Shed a few happy tears!
• Home for steak dinner prepared by our sweet Robyn who is such a good sport to have all of us in her home.
• Surprise Happy Birthday to Me!
• Eat Anne's delicious chocolate strawberry shortcake!!!
• Later more surprises.
• My family shows up to say happy birthday!!
• Mom brings delicious chocolate cake.
• No worries though birthday cake calories don't count!
• No candles (thank goodness).
• Laugh over improvised matches on birthday cake!
• Shed a few happy tears!
• Say tearful goodbye to daughter #1 and her family.
• Visit and laugh with family.
• Get things together.
• Crash in bed.
• Awake at the crack of dawn to have my A.I.S. to get to the airport in plenty of time.
• Take off.
• Arrive home.
• Unpack.
• Crash in bed!

Salt Lake City to Chicago.....Chicago to Nashville. What's up with the cold weather. Doesn't anyone know it's April for crying out loud?!

Goal achieved...met future daughter in law in a loud restaurant with popcorn between my teeth, baby banana fingers on my sweater, sticky kisses on my cheeks, straight hair from the wet snow, bags under my eyes from having to get up at O-dark thirty and have my A.I.S. early enough to be at the airport before on time, and smeared mascara from happy tears shed. She, on the other hand, was absolutely gorgeous! I think she liked us anyway! All in all, a perfect weekend! Not "picture perfect",but perfect just the same!

My Next Career....Storm Chaser!

What happens in the South in the springtime when the air is warm and a storm is in the forecast?

TORNADOES!!

For the second time this week, we've had to seek shelter. The first time was last Saturday when Penni and Rick were here. We took Bob's brother Rick to the airport on Saturday morning and then headed to downtown Nashville for a fun-filled day. We toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, walked to Demos' for lunch, and then headed back home. The weather had been GREAT all day. It was a bit windy, but other than that it was a perfect day to be downtown.

When we got home, Penni and I decided to go to town and rent a movie. As we were driving down our street, I heard something. I thought maybe it was the radio, so I turned it up. It wasn't the radio. Just then, my cell phone rang and it was Bob telling us we may want to turn around and come home because we were under a tornado warning. It was then I cracked the window of the car and heard the eerie sound of the tornado sirens in the air. It was sunny outside and looked like we might get some rain, but didn't look that serious. Then I looked to the West and saw this big black cloud moving our direction. Needless to say, we headed home.

We turned the television on and watched them tracking the storm as it was moving our way. We thought that was pretty interesting, but not nearly as interesting as watching the clouds converge from the vantage point of the front porch. Isn't that what you're suppose to do when the sirens are blaring and the clouds are mixing it up in the sky? I mean, how can you take your eyes off of it? Seriously, I think Penni and I could be storm chasers! We finally relented and went downstairs to our "safe place", and did so only after Rick told us it wasn't some little spouts we were looking for, it was THE WHOLE SKY! So off to the basement we went. Thankfully, we had enough light (thanks to the other Rick) and a ping pong table to keep us occupied for the short time we stayed down there. Penni and Rick were able to get the full Nashville experience....country music, barbecue, and tornado warnings!

The second time we had to seek cover was today. Our flight was scheduled to leave Nashville at 5:15. We left home, drove through torrential rain and lightening, parked the car, checked our luggage, and stood in line to go through security. As we were standing there, they suddenly closed everything down, had everyone stand against a wall. Then they led us all to a secure hallway away from any windows. You know the door that says no unauthorized personnel? That one! We were under another tornado warning! We stood there for about 15 minutes before we were allowed to go through security and to our gates. When we got to our gate, we found the flight had been delayed until 6:40. That would have been fine, but we would definitely miss our connection in Chicago. Only problem....no seats on ANY OTHER FLIGHTS! Even if we got there tonight and put ourselves up in a hotel (they don't pay for anything if it's weather related) there were no seats on any flights to Salt Lake City on ANY airlines leaving Chicago in the morning.

You know you've got a real dilemma when the girl at the desk has that "deer in the headlights" kind of look and looks at you and asks..."What do you want me to do?" Uh.....GET US ON ANYTHING THAT WILL TAKE US TO OUR DESTINATION!!! I think she wanted us to say "Oh, that's OK, we'll just go some other time...have a nice day!" We have learned from experience that it is better to just keep cool and keep trying ANYTHING! This, unlike the guy next to us trying to do the same thing. I guess while I was gone and waiting in line at the Southwest counter to see if they had anything at all available to get us to Salt Lake, he started losing his cool, left the counter, and left "cool-hand-Luke" (Bob) with the flustered girl at the counter who finally exhausted all efforts and found the only two seats available for 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. If you're ever in this situation and see Mr. Cool standing next to you....DO NOT LEAVE THE COUNTER! This is the guy that can get you first class seats when you miss your connecting flight and sweet talk the girl on the other end of the phone when everyone else is yelling at her.

When Bob called me and told me to come back because the girl had found something for us, I didn't know about this other guy and how upset he was with this girl for giving US the seats. It must have really rubbed salt in the wound when I returned and told the girl she was a miracle worker and thanked her over and over. I didn't even notice this guy seething next to us. Hmmmmm, I wonder if he's going to conference too. I'd sure hate to ruin his entire weekend for him by saying hello and reminding him where he has seen me before! Guess he'd better work on that little attitude of his now shouldn't he!