Gus and Mary Morgan

A Thurston Hosted Dinner and the Annual Bailey Christmas Party

2009-12-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

The Thurston's hosted our December 13th dinner
and Dwight was the master chef for the evening.
He created quite the exotic meal!

We had Vietnamese soup, spring rolls, pork and seeds, and some other wraps that I can't remember what they were called....but trust me they were yummy.

There they are on the counter where Amy is working away assisting her man in anyway she can.

Tom and Katie were amongst the guests.

Amy worked hard to make the tables look festive.

Here she is giving out the seat assignments.

Morgan digs into one of those wraps I was telling you about.

The following are some of the attendees:

Miss Wini

And Wolfie

Along with parents, Morgan and Sara

Here's Teddy looking wide eyed.

Good buddy cousins, Ella and Hazel

This handsome guy is Thomas

And this cutie is Atticus

Sorry to those who didn't get their picture in this post, but I couldn't figure out how to turn the pictures the right way and so those that only had a sideways picture taken got left out. Please don't be offended, just vow to come and teach this old lady how to blog properly.

On December 20th, the Strasser's hosted our annual Bailey Christmas Party and White Elephant exchange. Again I had a problem with many of my pictures being turned sideways, so some guests may not be pictured....please be patient with me.

Calvin was amongst some of the guests that night.

Casey and Holly contributed not only to the fun, but brought some extremely yummy appetizers too. And I must tell Holly in this blog that her tin of goodies she sent home with us were deelish!

Tom and Katie joined us too and that might be why the guys won that Trivia game.

Here are some of the guests getting in some visiting while eating some of Sara's fantastic soup. Who needs the Olive Garden when you've got Sara!
That's Bailey with his back to us, then David, Sara, Amy, and Dwight (looking very much in the spirit of the season with his Santa hat)

Wolfie had a fun time running around dumping out people's drinks. But he was too cute to get anyone too worked up over it.

Madison, Theresa, Holly, and Tessa

Here's Ella trying to convince Katie to take her dad's earlier choice (Lady's Anti-Monkey Butt Powder) instead of that gift she's about to unwrap.

And the hit of the night....David modeling his fancy ladies panties. I'm sure it was done during an unprecedented lapse of judgment on his part.

A better look at the prized underwear. Note the "full figured" tag. Perfect for my handsome brother's physique.

We ended the evening with a game of Trivia, where the guys somehow managed to triumph over us women.

A shout of thanks out to the Thurston's and the Strasser's for hosting these two events.
We hope all of you are having similar fun times and enjoying this holiday season.
Merry Christmas to you all!

Sunday Family Dinner

2009-12-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun getting together for Sunday dinners last December, we decided to do it again this year. Gus and I
took the first Sunday and I was so clever to lay out my camara so that I would remember to get lots of great pictures
of our fun evening together. But, sadly, I still forgot all about the pictures until the Strassers had already left and the
Thurstons and Morgans were packing up their broods to leave. I managed to get them to gather by the tree before they
left so that I could get at least two pictures to record the evening for posterity!

Tom, Katie, Thomas, Violet, Hazel, and Atticus Morgan

Dwight, Amy, Howie, Ella, Bailey, and Calvin Thurston

Sorry I don't have a picture of the Strasser family to share, but they were there!

We had a great ham dinner, played a couple of games, and visited. I'm already looking forward to
next Sunday at Amy and Dwight's. Dwight's already working on some exotic dishes for the night.

A Visit With Santa

2009-12-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving with Family

2009-12-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

My favorite gatherings always include these people. . .

. . . who always bring along these people!

Sara cooked this bird to perfection and Morgan carved him up for us all.

Sara did a beautiful job setting up the tables and even made the water look special.
(Notice the water pitcher lined with oranges, limes, and lemons!)

There's lots more, but my blogger will only let me put up 4 pictures at a time.
But trust me, it was a great meal and great day.

Innsbruck, Austria (#9 Germany)

2009-11-23T11:23:00.001-08:00

We saw some very beautiful sights in Austria, but Innsbruck wasn't really one of my favorite spots. The city was much larger than I had pictured it in my mind and very crowded. But the day wasn't a complete waste as we did venture into Italy from here and found a very pretty town, not to mention the beautiful countryside we traveled through on our way there.

When we first arrived in Innsbruck, we were approached by a very persistent carriage driver wanting to give us a tour of the city outside the old town (they aren't permitted to enter the old section of town with their carriages). We decided to go for it, mainly because none of us could understand him well enough to realize what we were getting ourselves into.
Our guide took this picture of the four of us in his carriage.

This is the only picture I took on our ride. It reminded me of the Arc de Triumph.

Our driver tried very hard to give us a real informative tour, but as I said before, we couldn't understand him. He was constantly asking us if we understood what he said and we soon learned that if we answered in the negative, we only got a long repeat of something that we still couldn't understand. So we learned to just smile and act as if he was giving us some wonderful information that was greatly enhancing our visit to Austria. He was not even Austrian. He was from Bulgaria!

This is our first view of the old town area of Innsbruck.

An ornate building in Innsbruck's old town.

My token picture of myself by a fountain.

This is Peggy by an amazing mime. That girl stood upon the pedestal, perfectly still the entire time we were walking around Innsbruck!
The hotel in the background (with the gold-leafed roof), is where Liz and Greg stayed the last time they visited Innsbruck.

Street view.

I loved this shop sign. We all took several pictures of clever shop signs throughout our entire trip because they were all so cute and unique.

View of the hills around the town.

Beautifully carved building.

I liked the paint job on this building.

The next 2 pictures are random shots of the streets as we walked along.

We did meet up with a very nice missionary couple as we toured these streets. They were from Utah and were working exclusively with the youth in Innsbruck.

Our Home in Burgau (#8 Germany)

2009-11-17T15:33:00.001-08:00

After 5 days in Hammelburg, located in the middle of Germany, we moved our home base to
the southern part of Germany and stayed in Burgau. It is a small town, but sort of like Nampa is a small town; it blends right in with several other towns and so seems like a big town.

Our first night in town, we took a walk and came across this cute little guy!

And, of course, I had to find a fountain in Burgau for a photo backdrop.

When I rented the place in Burgau, I was told it had a "pissor" and so we were all quite eager to learn exactly what a "pissor" was. Here it is, hanging on the wall of one of our bathrooms.

We occupied the entire first floor of this large bed and breakfast. It had 3 very large bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, tiny kitchen, and lots of large hallways.

Moving days were always extremely stressful as we had to cram 8 suitcases and various shopping bags into our little station wagon. But, as you can see, we were successful!

My next post will be of Innsbruck, Austria.

Neuschwanstein Castle (#7 Germany)

2009-11-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

After our tour of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, we drove to our new home in Burgau. It was further south, bringing us closer to the Austrian border and to the Neuschwanstein Castle.
Our first morning in Burgau, we got up early and drove towards the castle, taking us through some gorgeous countryside as we headed closer to the Alps.

The following pictures are some of what we saw as we drove that morning.

It took us a bit over an hour to arrive in the little town of Schwangau, that sat at the base of the mountain where the Castle stood. Schwangau was a darling town and the views of the castles from there were wonderful.

This is the Neuschwanstein Castle from the town of Schwangau.

This is another of Ludwig's castles seen from Schwangau. It's a bit closer to the town than the Neuschwanstein Castle and not quite as impressive.

Another view of Neuschwanstein from Schwangau.

The town of Schwangau. You can just see the castle to the side of this hotel.

A hotel in the town of Schwangau. That's Liz and Fawn at the bottom of the photo.

It was quite a walk up to the castle, so we took a horse drawn carriage part of the way.
Fawn is sitting by a cute girl from England who had recently bought that typical German outfit during her trip to Germany and was very proud of it.

This is a better view of the carriage that took us up the hill towards the castle.

This cute restaurant was near to the spot where we were dropped off. They were selling some wonderful treats that looked a bit like donut holes, but tasted so much better!

We still had a pretty long climb to get up to the castle, but the views as we walked along were fantastic and those with better camera's than mine, were getting some great shots of them.
I only got a picture of them taking their wonderful pictures.

A view of the castle as we got closer to it.

This is a model of the castle that was in a sort of museum area.

The entrance into the castle courtyard.

The castle courtyard.

Fawn and Peggy in the castle courtyard.

I don't have too many pictures with all of us, but we managed to get the dad of that "cute girl in her German outfit" to take a couple of pictures for us.
This one is of the view looking away from the castle and. . . .

. . . this one in the opposite direction, with the castle in the background.

This was our 6th day in Germany. I think I'll show you our home in Burgau on my next post.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber (#6 Germany)

2009-11-11T09:42:00.001-08:00

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is an old Franconian town, built sometime in the 11th century, that still has it's encircling wall and defensive towers intact. It's an adorable little town, but a bit commercialized and full of tourists. Despite that, I'd recommend it to anyone taking a trip to Germany.

This is part of the wall, with an attached defensive tower.

This, too, is part of the wall that surrounds the town.

I'm not sure what that cute little house above the wall was used for, but it's darling; wish I could have seen inside.
This church is also built into the wall.

Once we entered the gate to the town, we climbed to the top of the wall to get a good look at the town from that perspective. This is a view of a residential area from the wall. I had a picture of us climbing up the wall, but somehow I managed to delete it from this post so.....use your imagination!
This is Fawn, Peggy, and Liz as we walked inside the wall surrounding the town.

Another view of the wall.

We had a little lunch at a sidewalk cafe. It became a memorable experience, because I was kicked out of the cafe and not allowed to sit at our table!
You'll have to ask me about it the next time we see each other.

Is this building cute, or what!

A street view with one of the defensive towers at the end.

Me with one of the many fountains in the town. As I said in an earlier post, it became a tradition to get my picture taken by every fountain we came across.

There were many of these carriages taking people on tours of the town.

Another street; another tower.

Me and another fountain.

Typical street in the town.

This building in the town square is called the Ratsherrntrinkstube (Councilor's drinking-room).
It was built in 1446 and is special because at the top of every hour. . . . .

. . . . the small windows open to show the main figures involved in what is called "the Meistertrunk." According to tradition, this was a magic potion which the fighting men of the town drank in 1631 before storming out against a besieging army and thus saved the town from destruction.
So at the top of every hour, the windows open, and you see a man in each window drinking from a stein. . . .very cute.

This shop is a very popular, year-round Christmas shop. It's pretty spectacular inside. Unfortunately they wouldn't allow any photography inside, but trust me, it's worth seeing.

And, of course, I had to have my picture taken by their darling little delivery truck.

Can you believe we're only thru our fifth day in Germany?!

Our New Toy

2009-11-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Gus and I have a new hobby. When I returned from Germany Gus told me he'd had a fantastic time in Utah with friends who had a quad and he wanted one. He caught me at a good time, because I was feeling guilty about spending all that money on myself for a trip to Germany.
So......we went out and bought this.

I have to admit I wasn't too enthusiastic about it until we took it out for a day and realized it could be fun dashing around the hills in this cute little thing.

Last week we took it up past Idaho City and roared up the mountain trails and couldn't believe how well it handled.

We stopped at 6100 feet and had a picnic lunch with that fantastic view to enjoy while we ate.

We stopped off at Amy's on the way home so we could get a picture of the two of us with our new toy. Since the weather is getting a bit cold, this was probably our last chance to take it out this year, but look for reports of our adventures in the spring.

A Drive Down the Romantic Road (#5 of Germany)

2009-11-02T14:35:00.001-08:00

There are many towns along the Romantic Road, but I've just downloaded a few pictures from three of the towns we stopped at.
The first town is called Tauberbischofsteim. How would you like to have to spit that out every time someone asked you where you were from?!

This is the town square of Tauberbischofsteim.

That's Peggy , Fawn, and Liz by the town square fountain.

One of many cute streets in the town.

If you look closely, you'll see that this cool fountain has stone toads hopping out of it.

One of the many timbered buildings in the town. This one stood out because of the pretty flowers under every window.

Next we stopped off in an old spa town named Bad Mergentheim that was established as the court of a Franconian king in 1219. The word "Bad" means spa.

This is the town hall situated in the town square.

That's me by a fountain in the town square.

One of the painted buildings in the town.

The last place we went to was Weikersheim.
That's me having a conversation with an interesting sculpture by Guido Messer, that we passed before we actually entered through the gates to the old town.

This is another one of Guido's masterpieces in the town square. Apparently, someone thought it needed a bit of color, so they donated a bright orange sweater to one of the women.
These modern sculptures seemed a bit out of place in this very old town.

This is the gate we entered through to tour the town of Weikersheim.

A sample of some of the cute buildings.

That's me by a fountain in the town square, with a Gothic parish church in the background.
You'll find that "me by a fountain" became a bit of a theme on our trip.

This is the entrance to the Palace. Those are two quadrant houses on either side of the entrance.

This is the Palace courtyard. This Palace was home to Counts, Lords, and finally Princes of Hohenlohe. It's now home to a music school and we were fortunate enough to get to hear them rehearsing. I'd say they sounded as if they didn't need any more schooling.

These last pictures are of the Palace Gardens. That's Fawn standing on the bridge that takes us into the garden.

The Palace with the gardens in front.

We loved these cute sculptures.

And we each took a turn posing with one.

Fawn picked this little guy. And. . .

. . .Liz picked this fellow.

Looking from the gardens towards the Palace and town.

The Palace

Another view of the Palace with one of the garden fountains in front.

The orangery at the far end of the Palace gardens.

One last view of the Palace with Fawn, me, and Peggy.

My next post will take us to Rothenburg ob der Tauber; a darling ancient walled town.
Of course, by now, you've seen that every town in Germany is darling.

Our Day in Nuremburg (#4 of Germany)

2009-10-29T10:18:00.001-07:00

Nuremburg was an interesting and ancient city. We spent our time in the old town city center and ended up not having the time to tour the WWII history sites. I guess that's a good excuse to make another trip there, right?!

Many of the buildings in Nuremburg had sculptures, like this one, placed on the corners.

This is a view of St. Sebaldus Church, built in the 13th century.

This is The Schoner Brunnern, which means "beautiful fountain" and is in the main market square (Hauptmarkt). It was built sometime in the 14th century. There is a solid brass ring that hangs from the fountain and the superstition is that if you turn it three times, your wish will come true. Apparently, the people really believe that to be true, as there sure was a crowd of people lining up to turn the ring.

The day we were in Nuremburg they were having a Market day in the square, where they were selling all kinds of things, including some yummy looking food. Peggy and Fawn were eying those huge pretzels with the idea that they might make a great lunch.

This is The Frauenkirche, a Gothic church built between 1350-58, that sits in the middle of the Market Square.

Each day at noon, figures come marching out, that are said to be seven electoral princes, and these figures march around another figure (Charles IV) three times to chimed music. We were fortunate enough to be there at just the right time to watch this spectacle.

Peggy , Fawn, and Liz standing in the doorway of The Frauenkirche.

A view of the Market Square from across the street.

A closer view of St. Sebaldus Church.

Fawn on a Nuremburg, cobblestoned, street.

An ornate building in Nuremburg.

I liked the clock painted on the face of the building. These clocks appeared to work, as they did seem to have a shadow covering a number that coordinated with the correct time of day.

Another sculpture on the corner of a building.

The Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) in Nuremburg.

That's me at the entrance to the Kaiserburg.

Peggy and Liz taking pictures in the courtyard of the Kaiserburg.

The gate we entered through.

More views of the Kaiserburg.

Mary, Fawn, and Liz by the door that leads into the Kaiserburg courtyard.

More views of the Kaiserburg courtyard.

The central tower of the Kaiserburg.

Liz, Mary, and Fawn in the Kaiserburg courtyard.

A view of the city of Nuremburg from the Kaiserburg.

This building is just outside the Kaiserburg. I liked all of those interesting dormers on it's roof.

That's Peggy pointing out our location on this relief map of Nuremburg.

The next day we took a drive along the Romantic Road in Germany, so I'll post some of those pictures tomorrow.

Our Home In Morlesau, Germany (post #3 of Germany)

2009-10-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

We spent our first four nights in the darling little village of
Morlesau, Germany. This little village was very old and didn't
have any shops; just homes, farms, and one restaurant.

We stayed in this old school, built in 1822, and used by the children of Morlesau until 1959.
It's now converted into a home.

This is a picture of it from the back. That's Peggy, Fawn, Liz, and our
faithful Audi rental by the yellow school house.

The interior of the house was a bit inconvenient, to put it mildly. Both of the bathrooms
were on the main level, while the bedrooms and living area were on the upper levels.
Peggy didn't look quite this chipper once she drug her luggage up....

.......these!
She stayed on the top level of our little school house, which was four flights of
stairs UP from the entry!

This is the view of the village from our place.

These beautiful flowers are just a sampling of the gorgeous landscape
that was the village of Morlesau.

I took this picture because of that rooster you see perched upon the
roof of this home. We saw a lot of those roosters on not only homes and
buildings, but on many churches.
Liz says it has something to do with the cock crowing three times
before Peter denied Christ.
We're not sure if that's the reason for their placement on so many of
their buildings, but they do look cute.

This is one of several ancient barns in Morlesau.

This barn was next door to our house and if you get close, you'll notice
that it's well ventilated.

There's a cute little church in the middle of the village with
this interesting graveyard.
Each plot is a bordered garden.

Peggy by a particularly well maintained garden/plot.

About 4-5 kilometers from Morlesau was the small town of Hammelburg.
This town was obviously where the residents of Morlesau had to go to
do any kind of shopping.

It was a very pretty town, too, illustrated by this building with the gorgeous flowers
flowing from every window.

I loved this little sign on the side of a building, directing the public
to a "water closet" around the corner.

This is another common sight....clocks painted on the face or . . . .

. . . side of buildings.

I took a picture of this coffee shop because of the cute. . .

. . . . coffee beans sitting in the windows.

A pretty hotel in Hammelburg.

In my next post, I plan to revisit Nuremburg, Germany.

Marienburg Fortress in Wurzburg, Germany (post #2 of Germany)

2009-10-27T14:16:00.001-07:00

After touring the Residence, or Palace, in Wurzburg, we drove up the hill to tour
the Marienburg Fortress.
The Celts began to fortify this area 1000 years before Christ and at the turn of the
13th century, the bishop princes began to extend the fortification.

That's Peggy standing at the entrance to the courtyard of the Fortress.

A view of the tower from inside the courtyard

Another shot of Peggy at the entrance to the courtyard

This is a building that housed a well. They had the well lit and
the other ladies got some great shots of how deep it was, but
my little camera's efforts came out black.

Liz and I within the courtyard, with the ancient chapel in the background

This is a view of Wurzburg from the Fortress

Another view of Wurzburg and the Main River from the Fortress

A view from the Fortress of the vineyards that climbed the hill up to the Fortress.
That prominent tan building is the St. Burkard Church

This is the Prince's Garden at one end of the Fortress

I think tomorrow I'll show you where we spent our first 4 days in
the little village of Morlesau and a nearby town called Hammelburg
where we did our grocery shopping.

A Day in Wurzburg, Germany

2009-10-26T13:56:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I just returned from a wonderful trip to
Europe with Liz and a couple of friends from Nampa.
We spent most of our time in Germany, but did venture into
Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Luxembourgh.
It was an amazing trip and I took over 1200 pictures;
a record for me.
But not to worry, I'd never make you look at all 1200, but I thought
I'd give you a little taste over the next few days of what we saw.
You must keep in mind that I only had a tiny little Canon that I left
on automatic the whole time, so these pictures will not do justice
to the gorgeous scenery and architecture I saw, but it'll
hopefully give you an idea.

The day after we arrived, we drove into Wurzburg and the following pictures are of, what the Germans call, The Residence. It was used as a palace for the Bishop-prince. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so these are of the exterior and the gardens.

Peggy, Mary, and Liz in the Residence gardens

A view of the Residence from the gardens

In the gardens, there were several cone-shaped trees with lovely
sculptures attached to the trunks.

A view of the upper gardens from the lower gardens

A view of the back side of the Residence

Liz and Mary in the upper gardens

A view of the upper gardens

This is a picture of the Church of St. Burkurd's

This is a view of the Marienburg Fortress from the Residence. We did go up to the fortress and take some great pictures from there, that I'll have to post on another day.
Those are grape vineyards growing up the hillside.

This fountain is in the front courtyard of The Residence.

It was such a great time, that I love reliving through these pictures, so this is mostly for my pleasure, but I welcome any visitors who care to venture my way.

Labor Day With Family

2009-09-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

Noses

2009-08-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Can you guess who's who with this disgusting disguise
covering up the perfect noses of these cute little guys?

One of these little guys took this picture of me. Very impressive
photography skills for a 4 year old.

A Very Special Day (Part 3)

2009-08-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

After the baptism, the whole gang headed to the Thurston's for a wonderful dinner and birthday party for
Thomas (whose 6th birthday is actually tomorrow) and . . .

. . . for Gus, pictured here with his gift from his namesake, Grandpa Morgan

I've never, in my life, seen a child more thrilled with his birthday gifts than Thomas. He received 2 "Kids Bop" cd's that
brought on the biggest whoop of joy and dancing around the room witnessed by man.
Uncle Dwight immediately put on a cd and the dancing began. I videoed it all and am attempting to put that on the blog
so that you don't have to take my word for it. We'll see if it works. If not, you must all come by to check it out, because it
is hillarious!

This is the video, but at this point it isn't playing, so I'll see if it starts once I
actually publish my post. (keeping my fingers crossed)
Bummer, it didn't work. If anyone has any hints for how to do it, let me know.

A Very Special Day (Part 2)

2009-08-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ella was baptized by her Grandpa Thurston,

and confirmed by her Grandpa Morgan.

Gus' dad, Anthony, took care of both ordinances for him.

He got lots of support from his handsome brothers.
So did Ella, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of
her with her brothers, but they were there in full support.

These kids also had their grandparents from both sides of the family and aunts, uncles, and cousins in galore all there to witness this event. What made the day even more special, was the fact that Gus was baptized on his birthday and that he and Ella were able to get baptized with a cousin. Those kinds of things make the day very memorable. It was so great that the Esplin's made the effort to travel to Boise so that we could all be in on this wonderful day together. But it didn't end here. Tune in for Part 3 to see what happened next.

A Very Special Day (Part 1)

2009-08-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

We had such a special day with our family, brought about by the choice of this young lady (Ella). . .

. . . and this young man (Gus) to be baptized members of the church.

They look so adorable dressed all in white.

I liked the way they kept checking out each others outfits. It must have been like looking in the mirror.

Sorry this program won't let me put more than 4 pictures at a time into it,
so you'll have to check out Part 2 for the rest of the story.

OUCH! ! !

2009-08-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

I've learned that a double meniscus-ectomy can be a big owie!

The doctor was nice enough to give me a copy of these pictures of Saturn he took during the
surgery. For some reason he thought they might help me to understand the problems he
discovered while scoping out my knees!

I'm still trying to figure out what these marks on my feet were all about.
Gus says that the nurse took her 2 year old in and gave her a pen to play with
to keep her quiet. She did a bit of scribbling on my knees, too.

What Did You Learn in Primary Today?

2009-08-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

I get such a kick out of little kids. I love to have long conversations with
them and get their view on things.
Yesterday, after church, I asked Wini what she learned in Primary.

Without missing a beat, she answered, "I learned that if you sit very
still they will give you some cereal!"

Update on our Feathered Friend

2009-08-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Per Emily's request, here is an update on the activities of our
new friend, Pico (thanks for the suggestion, Memzy).

Last night, Gus went outside to put the cover on our BBQ and noticed that
this lovely peacock was sitting. . .

. . . on the peak of this roof belonging to our next door neighbor,

answering the question we had been asking ourselves . . .
"Can peacocks fly?"
Unfortunately it was too dark to get a picture of Pico sitting up there, but trust me, that's where he was!

This morning he was on our front porch demanding his breakfast that Gus
quickly made and served to him out on the lawn.

If you are wondering what Pico was served . . . Mickey Mouse Pancakes.

We Have a New Friend!!!!

2009-08-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, when we went into the kitchen this colorful fellow was standing on our back doorstep.

Gus encouraged him to stick around by throwing out some bread crumbs.

He must have really loved that bread, because he was still here this morning!

If he's still here tomorrow, we'll give him a name. Any suggestions?

Pioneer Day

2009-07-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

These 2 were dressed for the occasion .

And grandpa worked hard to make them an
appropriate vehicle for the Pioneer Parade.

They were definitely the hit of the parade.

And we even managed to get them to participate
with the rest of the Primary in singing some great
pioneer songs.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

2009-07-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate enough to have these lovely grandchildren join us at church this last Sunday.

Miss Wini,

Mr. Teddy,

and Mr. Wolfie.

After church, as we were driving these 3 lovely children home to their mommy, they all begged to come to our house first. So we made a quick call to mommy and were given permission to have them for lunch before returning them to their home.

As we were eating our lunch, Teddy stated that he liked our house more than his. He then asked if we wanted to know why. I, of course, had a few ideas in my mind as to why he so loved our home, but was very interested in hearing him say all those lovely things out loud, so I responded with a resounding, "Yes!"
He then gave us this simple bit of reasoning, "Because you never say no!"

You're Missed

2009-07-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

It was so great having Maddie and Frances around for
three whole weeks...but it makes it all the harder
when they leave us.
We miss you!!!!!

Just for Jenny

2009-07-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

I found a few pictures that had your kids as a blur and was able to focus
in on this one of Homer, so thought I'd put it on the blog just for you.

Picnic at Ann Morrison Park on 4th of July

2009-07-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

These are just some random shots of the family as we
enjoy one another while waiting for the fireworks.
They may not be of much interest to anyone other than
those who were there and want a copy of their
particular loved one. Unfortunately, I don't have the skill
at photography that many of my family members have, but at least
I have the event documented!

Here's Sara and Maddie with Sara's PCS child.

Howie brings a smile to Erin's face.

Wini takes a break from talking to get her picture taken.

Grandpa is a hit with grandkids, Violet, Atticus, and Howie.

Not a very good picture of Frances, but I wanted everyone to know
she was there!

Atticus and Thomas playing together.
That's Anthony's brother and sister in law in the background
(Wade and Jenny)

Hazel

Bailey
Not sure if he just wiped out on this blanket
or if he was taking a quick break from play.

Cute little Atticus getting hydrated.

Erin, her friend Scott, Jenny, and Anthony.

Morgan, Sara, and Wini

Attius with a handfull of squished cookies.

Thomas, Katie, Violet, and Hazel enjoying their dessert.

Tom, with Calvin in the background.

Erin gives Maddie a big squeeze.

Dwight gives Amy a spot to sit, as there was a shortage of chairs.

Since I didn't get a good picture of Erin and Scott at the park
I decided to include this one taken the day before.

Jenny looks like she's enjoying herself.

Cord looking a bit rosy after spending the day in the sun.

Group shot as we wait by the marked off fireworks area.
We had prime seats for the spectacular fireworks.

Cousins play games while they wait for the show to start.

Is Howie cute, or what, in his cool hat?

Check out Hazel's pupils! Cool, huh?

Grandpa and Frances have something in common!

Hope the rest of you will put your pictures on line so I can nab a few that are surely better than mine.
Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July.

A Day at the Zoo

2009-07-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Our fun family weekend started off with a day at the zoo.
Here we are gathering at the entrance.

Our group pretty much filled up the monkey display.
Can you tell which ones are the people?

Calvin, Cord, Bailey, and Ella pose inside one of the hunts
in the new African area of the zoo.

Erin and Frances pose by the wharf while we wait
for the boat ride across the river.
Turned out to be a long wait as the boat wasn't running
this weekend!

Howie gives me a big smile as he pets this metal
giraffe, an animal he's not afraid to touch.

Homer's very happy to get a ride from his dad.

It was a stressful day at the zoo for Wolfie as he's not too
fond of living animals, but he braved a moment with this giraffe
as long as grandpa stayed in close contact.

Wini and Teddy certainly weren't too shy to give
this baby a quick hug.

Wini, Teddy, Howie, and Homer pose in this cute hut.

I think this was the only elephant we saw at the zoo.
Jenny, Anthony, and Homer saw much better in
our nations capitol.

Gus, Howie, Cord, and Amy explore this abandoned jeep.

Time for a quick snack break.

Teddy, Howie, and Ella having a bit of fun.

Wini gives being a turtle a try.

As does Ella.

Howie goes for the Parrot suit.

While Cord battles a giant boa constrictor.

Gus really gets into the role as turtle.

Howie and Ella by this neat totem.

After the zoo, we all head to The Idaho Fry Co. for some lunch.
The highlight of which, was a large bug crawling across Sara's Bison Burger!

Howie just can't handle anymore fun without a little snooze.

Wish you all could have been here with us. Tomorrow I'll show you some of the fun we had at Ann Morrison Park for the 4th of July.

Where's Frances?

2009-06-29T12:02:00.001-07:00

We lost Frances in Cabela's but finally found her in the camoflage
department!

Fishing

2009-06-29T10:48:00.001-07:00

Maddie's our best fisherperson

Fishing

2009-06-29T10:38:00.001-07:00

Frances loves fishing in our neighborhood pond. Hasn't caught anything
yet.

The Springs Preserve (The End)

2009-06-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

What There Is to See Outdoors

There's lots to see outside at the Springs Preserve. Here
we are at the entrance.

Cord checks out the river bed.

Maddie adds some beauty to the beauty of the outdoors.

Cord, Frances, Gus, and Homer check out this cool
stone merry-go-round.

Here's the whole gang standing on the seats of this neat
outdoor theater.

Frances volunteers to be the star of the show.

Anyone named Gus raise your hand!

Jenny and the two Gus' take a stroll thru the pretty desert gardens.

Frances and Homer are fascinated by this gardening display.

Cord poses by this quite large cactus.

Erin was accidentally planted in this pot. But since she looked just right,
we picked her out and took her home.

The whole gang checks out this display, trying to figure it out.
No one did!

It was a great day, but time to go home.

Hope you get a chance to see it in person someday.

THE END

The Springs Preserve (Part IV)

2009-06-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

The Museums at The Springs Preserve

There were many displays and museums at the Springs Preserve and we had a lot of fun checking them all out.
Here's Maddie, Gus, and Cord in the entrance to the first museum we entered.

The kids listened to some information on flash floods...

....then saw one come crashing in on them. Homer was a bit nervous,
but everyone else took it all in stride.

Maddie checks out the innards of a Gila Monster.

Frances does an even closer inspection and nearly ends up
inside forever!

Jenny isn't sticking her tongue out at you...
...she's just imitating the Gila Monster Cord is looking at behind the glass.

Erin gets a bit freaked out by this creepy vampire bat.

She and Jenny decide they want to check out something a little more fluffy.

Erin, Maddie, Cord, Homer, Jenny, and Frances pose
outside an Indian hut.

But Homer wants to see what's going on inside that hut!

This display informs us of the growth in the population in Las Vegas each
decade and the amount of water being used during that decade.
Jenny poses under "1970's" the decade she added to Las Vegas' population.

There's still more to show, so feel free to check us out again tomorrow.

The Springs Preserve (Part 3)

2009-06-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Springs Preserve Gift Shop

I think we had almost as much fun in the gift shop as we did in the museums!

They had some wonderful puppets. That's an owl that I'm
holding. He turns his head and blinks his eyes.

Gus took a liking to this large lizard.

Maddie, Cord, and Gus were even brave enough to take a ride on him.

Frances is admiring these great recycled pieces of art work.
They're spiders, frogs, turtles, and lady bugs, all made
from old military helmets and other pieces of metal works.

Jenny is taking Homer and Frances picture in front of the display as
a ruse for getting a pattern for her kid's next Saturday art project!

Homer and Frances find a cool spot to sit and rest for a moment.

It took the kids a while to notice that the floor they were walking on
concealed some pretty scary reptiles underneath.

Above the gift shop was a tasty Wolfgang Puck restaurant with this great view of the
city from their nice patio dining area.

The weather was so perfect that we decided to eat outdoors.
Here Grandpa is handing out the drink orders.

If you're not bored with this place, come back again for a few
pictures of some of the great museum displays.

Springs Preserve (Part 2)

2009-06-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all been dying to know more about The Springs Preserve,
so here's a few pictures I took in one of the museums on Las Vegas history.

We ran into an interesting group of people while in there and
right off Erin took a real liking to one of the men in the group.
Frankly, I didn't get what she saw in him!

Maddie made a friend there, too.

Gus invited this young lady to take a train ride with him,
but she wasn't too responsive.

Homer was only interested in finding place to sit.

But Cord, being a Boy Scout, shooed Homer away
and offered to help the guy lift his heavy load.

Frances felt that this guy was a bit too forward
and shouldn't be staring at her. She put him
right in his place, though. That girl can take
care of herself!!

We eventually ditched that group and headed for the train.
Cord was first to board.

Followed by Erin..

Who never did find an available seat. But Frances, Homer,
and Jenny, got front row seats for the ride.

But Jenny, being the devoted mother and aunt,
gave up her seat to Maddie and Gus for the rest of the ride.

Come back again and I'll show you some more of this
fabulous spot in good ole' Las Vegas.

Check Out This Place!

2009-06-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

While in Las Vegas, Jenny and Erin took us to this great museum and park, called The Spring Preserve, where we had a fantastic day with everyone. There were tons of displays, fabulous gift shop, and this extremely creative park that I'm focusing this post on.

This is Cord checking out a giant bird's nest.

There were so many places to climb and explore.

Here's Gus E. up on some rocks that rival those at the City of Rocks!

Frances and Homer found this little train more to their liking, though.

This is a better view of that giant bird nest.

Frances wasn't much for climbing up high, but she didn't mind posing on this huge snake.

Even Gus got in on the fun.

Tomorrow I'll show you some of the other fun spots at
The Springs Preserve is Las Vegas.

Are We Old Enough for This?

2009-06-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a great trip to Las Vegas
to see this lovely young lady graduate from
High School.

It's hard to believe that it's been 18 years since this
precious granddaughter was born into our family!
We are so proud of her and have been every day of
her life.
Congratulations, Hayley!

No Way! Not Again!!

2009-05-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

When we got home from our short trip to Albion
we parked in the garage and after unloading the car I went
to our front door, opened it, and noticed all this
trash on our front mat.

Remembering an incident from last spring, I immediately looked up at our front door to discover the source of the mess.

Some clever bird had again made a nest in our wreath. Last year we discovered
the nest after the bird had laid her eggs and so felt that we couldn't disturb her
nursery. You wouldn't believe the mess we had to deal with for over a month!
Our front door was constantly covered with mudd, bird poop, etc. until the
little darlings were hatched and old enough to leave the nest. As you can see,
if you look closely at the pictures, the mess had already begun.

Fortunately for us, we got home in time to avert disaster.
I know a lot of hard work went into the building of this
prime property, but she should have asked first!

Since the nest was empty, we felt free to take over our
front door and remove the unwanted nest. We have now posted
a no trespassing sign on our front porch (in the form of a very
scary looking plastic owl) and hope that will save these squatters from
wasting a lot of precious time, especially when they are in a
"motherly condition" and time is of the essence!

Banana Bikes...Yikes!

2009-05-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

As all of you who attended the great Family Thingy of 2009 know, there was plenty to entertain us at Campus Grove.
One day, a few families contributed to the rental fee of several banana bikes and the fun began.
Almost everyone gave it a try. They came in two sizes, one size fit this guy, Cool Gus Esplin...

...and the other size worked well for this slick chick, Sara Strasser

From the look on Amy's face, I'm thinking she was hoping for one a little longer...

....and Homer was hoping for a motorized version

These aren't the only troupers.....I got a few more shots of some of the others willing to give these vehicles a try. Check out part II

Banana Bikes continued

2009-05-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

David proved he was man enough (or was it boy enough) to give the contraption a try!

Megan could zip around with the best of them

Eden looks more like she's sunning herself on a deck chair than roaring around on a bike

Cord had to squeeze himself on the kiddie bike as he wasn't quite long enough for the big guy bike

That ends another fun activity at the Family Thingy series. I think we'll check out the City of Rocks next.

Hot Tubbin' It

2009-05-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

There were lots of things to entertain us at the Family Thingy, but hanging out in the hot tub
seemed to be one of the favorites for the younger set.
You can't tell it from these pictures, but it was breezy and in the 50's outside
as these brave youngsters donned their suits and headed into the warm waters of
the HOT TUB.
Sara and Amanda were the life guards on duty at this session.
Amanda is keeping warm thru pregnancy, but Sara is appropriately bundled up in her ski coat,
indicating her arrival at adulthood.
Only kiddies, like Tucker, shown here, can brave those temperatures
soaking wet.

Howie is obviously having a fabulous time, despite the cool temperature. Keep looking, as this is just the first of 3 in the series on Hot Tubbin' It

Hot Tubbin' It continued

2009-05-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Tucker looking cute and rosy faced

Becca, sporting a bit of suds

Ella, floating dangerously near Tuckers posterior

Wini, with her fancy hairdo

One last series of photos, so keep looking

Hot Tubbin' It continued

2009-05-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Violet looks a bit disgusted with something about Wini

Teddy, who must be relieved to have his hair out of his eyes for a change!

Violet, looking a little happier

Hazel, trying to get a little sun on her face

This concludes the series on Hot Tubbin'. Tune in again, cause there was
lots of fun to be had on the amazing Family Thingy 2009!

A Few of the Attendees continued

2009-05-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

Darling picture of Tucker and Wini bonding over a game on the DS

Hyrum trying to figure out how to put his model ship back together

This was the only picture I could find of Michele; just wanted
everyone to know she was there

Love this picture of Howie enjoying his last meal at Campus Grove

I know that some of the attendees where not pictured in this series, but hopefully
I have some shots of you in other activities that I will feature in future posts
I'm loving reliving the good times!!!

A Few of the Attendees continued

2009-05-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

My fabulous son-in-law, Anthony (that's Eden in the background)

I had to be quick to get this shot of Violet on the run

Ella, proudly showing off her craft project of the day

The fabulous 7 of generation 3 enjoying kicking the 'bums' of generation 1 & 2 in a
lively game of ...........you guessed it....CHARADES

One last installment of "A Few of the Attendees" to come

A Few Attendees continued

2009-05-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

The always lovely Frances, who never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Bailey, Maddie, Cord, and Calvin; the awesome foursome!

Gus enjoying his bowl of potato cheese soup, just like his brother, Homer

Tom with his little clone, Atticus. That's Violet sandwiched in between

A Few of the Attendees continued

2009-05-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

Laurie, whose always a big help in the kitchen.

Gus, showing off his muscles that allowed him to carry in that HUGE watermellon all by himself!

Sam, Dan, and Mom taking time from visiting to pose for a picture for posterity's sake.

Emily, looking pretty in pink!

More to come. Must do it in shifts of FOUR

A Few of the Attendees

2009-05-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Just a few of the people who attended our Great Family Thingy
Mark, showing off his new physique

Homer, chowing down on some great potato cheese soup.

Mom getting her picture taken with her great granddaughter, Sara, who she met for the first time!

Katie and Atticus, taking the time to pose. Doesn't he look great with his new haircut?

You may have noticed that I have posted 4 pictures at once.
That's because my extremely sharp mind figured out how to do more than 1 picture at a time.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to post more than 4. I'll have to keep working on that one.

The Great Family Thingy

2009-05-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

The gathering was full of wonderful activities and I have the pix to prove it.
Unfortunately, I don't have the know how. I can only figure out how to post
one picture at a time!
Since I have a couple of hundred pictures, this could take a while.
I'm starting with this great picture of Hayden risking his life
to pose inside this cool rock that was on the edge of a deep cliff.
Not shown, is Uncle Dan standing to the side to catch Hayden should he slip!

This was taken on the second day of the reunion at the City of Rocks.
A sight worth seeing if you are ever in the area.

A final.farewell to Sam, Michele, and Megan who saddened us with an early departure

2009-04-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

Mom came to and insisted I send in an extra 50 votes in for Danny

2009-04-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm rooting for Danny

2009-04-29T11:41:00.001-07:00

A night at the local Albion, Idaho tavern watching American Idol

2009-04-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

This is the second time jenny taught me this

2009-04-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

Wini, Dressed for Spring

2009-04-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

This little gal is looking mighty "springy"
in her blue flowers.
I think she's hopeful that the weather will soon be warm.

Spring, at Last!

2009-04-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Look what's happening in our yard!!!

Could this mean spring is here?

These cuties actually survived a snow storm a few days ago.

Hang in there! I'm sure warm weather is on it's way.

Wild skip-bo party

2009-01-31T15:21:00.001-08:00

Out of Town Guests

2009-01-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

I've missed blogging and keeping up on all of the happenings with my favorite bloggers. I've had a few things holding me back: 1. Nothing to blog about 2. Setting up, learning to use, and playing with my new Iphone 3. Out of town company.

We did have a great time with our friends the Belt's who flew out to Idaho to get in a quick visit. We had fun eating, visiting, eating, playing games, and eating. Amy was kind enough to give us her old deck of Five Crowns to entertain ourselves with. They were a bit sticky, but that just added to the fun.

I'm leaving on Thursday to go to Bakersfield to stay with mom for 3 weeks, so I may not get to do any blogging for awhile (unless Memsy wants to come over and train me to blog on my Iphone). But I'll look forward to catching up when I get back. Try not to have too much fun without me.

It's All Jenny's Fault!

2009-01-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

It's back!!!!!

I just measured 8 inches out there and it's still coming down hard.

But I don't even care, because Jenny talked me into one of these.....

...and I need a day indoors to play with it, download applications, input information, and maybe even make a few phone calls.
Unfortunately I've been too weak to make any New Year's resolutions yet.
I needed to make one about not spending money before I talked to Jenny!
Too late now....thank goodness!
This is a fun toy!!!!!!!!!

Look Whose in Town!

2009-01-03T10:22:00.001-08:00

We had a great 'Girl's Night Out' (:o( sad that Katie couldn't join us)!!
We started our evening out at our favorite restaurant:
Sa-wad-dee's
Anna, Amy, Sara, and me behind the camera.
A very good spot for me.

Then over to Amy's for some fun:
Five Crown's, Sequence, and.....

...some unnamed word game that Katie would have loved
(it's a shame she had a previous engagement).

Thanks, girls, for including the old lady.
I have no idea how long the games continued into the night, because I had to have Gus come and pick me up due to the fact that I'm old and need to be in bed no later than 11:00 on a Friday night.

Happy New Year's

2009-01-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

Our New Year's Eve wasn't much to talk about, but New Year's Day
brought some fun guests.
Gus invited the Strassers over for a late (very late) breakfast.
Despite the late hour, there were a few in the bunch that were roused from their beds
and brought over as they were, in order to get in on the meal.

Hope you all had a great day that lasts all year long!

Can You Believe This?

2008-12-30T14:00:00.001-08:00

Can you believe this is the view out my front door on Sunday morning......

...and this is the view Tuesday morning?!!
I like this view a lot better.
On Monday it was actually in the 50's after weeks of 20's and below.
I guess our snow headed over to Arizona; have fun with it, Emily!

Morgan's Rock!

2008-12-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

We went out with a BANG, pun intended!
Our final December Sunday dinner group was hosted by:

And:

And they laid out the most delicious taco bar ever seen. The choices were numerous, including 3 different choices of meat, cheeses, and salsa (all homemade).

Since Katie was still hurting from her Christmas morning accident,
Tom served as the on the spot tortilla cooker.

And he had a very appreciative group of diners.

And though the food was fantastic, the company was even better.

Hazel proudly showing off a missing tooth.

And Wolfie, just relaxin'

This little guy is a special buddy of mine and as adorable as they come.

Wini is a big fan of the Hulk and it appears that he's been rubbing off on her!

This special moment with Atticus was a highlight of my evening.
Why is it they're always cutest when they're asleep?

The evening included games........

.....and some serious Rocking!
Guitar Hero was the real star of the evening.

It started out with the youngest generation testing their skills.

Ella and Hazel were great on the vocals!

And Thomas and Calvin weren't too shabby at the drums.

But things really began to rock when that middle generation took charge of the game!

Wish you could have been there to see Dwight belt it out. Didn't know he had it in him.
I thought sports was all he knew.

He had some good back up from the band.

But then they brought in the seniors......

I admit I was rather reluctant as I was placed at the drums.

And rightfully so, as the rest of my band soon (only 4-5 tries!) decided I might do better on vocals.

Yes, we Morgan' s rocked the neighborhood until well after 9:00 PM!
Can you believe the hour?
As we all prepared to leave, the 'Von' Morgan's treated us to a "So Long, Farewell......."

Thanks gize for a fantastic evening. I just don't want these Sunday evenings together to end.
Maybe we can at least do it once a month in 2009!
What do ya' say, gang?

Snowed In

2008-12-27T11:30:00.001-08:00

I woke up to blizzard conditions this morning. But, being the die hard exercise enthusiast that I am, I still got up and drove to the gym for a nice one hour work out.
When I came out of the gym, my car was covered with snow. Since I couldn't find any snow scrapers in the car, I had to sit there for about 10 minutes with the windshield wipers going and the defroster heating before I could get enough snow off the windows to see how to drive home.
The snow continued falling quite heavily until 12:30 and then it began to slow a bit.
This is what it looked like a few minutes ago:

Anyway, since I'm stuck in the house instead of out shopping the sales with my treasured gift certificates, I have plenty of time to post this darling picture of
Thomas, Hazel, and Violet in their new Christmas jammies,
that I took Christmas morning. Somehow it got left off of my Christmas post and I just knew you'd all want to see it!

You gize drive safe, okay?

Grandma and Grandpa Take to the Road

2008-12-26T09:38:00.001-08:00

Since all of the kids made the trek to our house for Christmas Eve, it was our task to hit the road at first light and make the rounds to each of their homes on Christmas morning.

The roads were treacherous, but we managed to slip and slide our way to the first stop:
Home of the Morgan Strasser Family

We arrived in time to see Wini open her major gift:
Baby Alive

I must tell you that she didn't seem all that thrilled with the gift.
She insisted I include her transformer in my picture of she and Baby Alive.

I understand her motherly instincts took another dive when Baby Alive did her first
poo poo! She found it a bit disgusting to be on the other end of a diaper change.

Teddy seemed pretty thrilled with everything he opened.
This light saber brought a big grin to his face.

The big guy was quite pleased with these cars. He told me he was a big collector.

Wolfie was pretty quiet during the whole unwrapping process, but did get a smile on his face when grandpa removed another Chevron car from the packaging and handed it to him.

Here he is with a couple of favorite gifts....his new brown gloves and a pink Chevron car.

Teddy and Wini's favorites were these transformers.
I believe one was named Bumblebee and the other Optimus Prime.

They immediately had a battle of the transformers.

The final scene before we headed off to our next stop.

As we arrived at the home of the Thurston family, we were greeted by this adorable little guy who proudly displayed his new hat and gloves. From the way things looked on our drive over, he's going to be able to put those gifts to good use.

Bailey was very pleased with a new book. Did you know he was an avid reader?

Calvin was busy trying to figure out this interesting puzzle.
Before we left it had been solved....way to go Calvin!

Amy was busy in the kitchen assisting Ella with a big cooking project using Ella's new cooking, decorating apparatus.....can't remember the official name, but obviously it was a big hit.
Dwight wasn't too sure their cupcake maker would really work, but he was proven wrong.

Calvin received this three D puzzle from his Christmas Eve treasure hunt and is proudly displaying his ability to put it together. Looks great, huh?

Ella was very pleased with a gift that was really for John, the hampster.
He's in there and is soon rolling across the living room floor in his nifty new exercise ball.

Grandpa got a lesson in patience as he tried to help Howie figure out how to transform his transformers into whatever they transform!

A final pose from 4 exceptionally sweet grand kids!

Our final destination took us out to Eagle and the home of the Morgans.
We found poor Katie incapacitated and in terrible pain due to this stuff....

...here.
She had a bad slip and slide accident on her way down the driveway to pick up the newspaper.

She was doing her best to be a good sport. We're hoping nothing vital is cracked, or broken, so that she'll be up and about soon.

Violet was very happy with a new DS that she's displaying below.

Hazel is showing me all of the books she got from Santa.
Would you believe a little 7 year old could read all of those.
Hazel is definitely an exceptional little girl.

Thomas is more into Wii, so this game put a smile on his face.

Atticus was at first terrified by this new bear who wiggles and such.
But he soon became a bit more comfortable with it's presence.

The family gift of Rock Band (I think that's what it was called) was the big hit of the morning.

Even grandpa thought it was fun.

Thomas gave grandpa a lesson in how it's done.

Hazel and Violet got new matching hats, gloves, and scarves.

Don't they look cute in them.

That was our last stop. It was a joy to see all of the happy faces on Christmas morning.
We returned home and made a few phone calls to the loved ones who are far away.
It was fun getting to hear how the morning went at each of their homes.
Thanks to all of you for the wonderful, thoughtful, gifts we received and most especially for the beautiful posterity you have blessed us with.
We love you all with all our hearts.
Merry Christmas

And the Winner Is.......

2008-12-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

It was a great Christmas Eve with all of my favorite people around me.
Of course it all started with food. Everyone brought something
so that we had quite the variety.

Then we spent a bit of time just visiting.

These guys are showing off their new Christmas jammies.
A present from their other grandma.

These 2 cuties are showing me their gift from the treasure hunt that took place later in the evening. But I forgot to put it in that section and have no idea how to move it, so keep it in mind when you get to that part of my post.

The big Christmas trivia game was the highlight of the evening.
We had 3 family teams: Morgans, Thurstons, and Strassers.

Ella got pretty excited when she got an answer right for her team.

Hazel was her team leader and boy does that girl know her Christmas trivia.

The Morgan's came in first and won the Monopoly Collectors Edition Game.

The Thurstons came in right behind and won the gourmet chocolates.

Leaving the Strassers happily in 3rd place with the Hickory Farms gift pack.

Immediately following the trivia game was the grandkids favorite annual event:
Grandpa's Treasure Hunt.
The following are pictures of the grand kids showing off their find.

If you recall from the earlier picture of Wini and Violet, Wini was at first quite pleased with her purse and jewelry. But the more she watched the boys playing with their nifty swords, the more disenchanted she became with that girlie purse. Soon she couldn't hold in her sorrow over not being able to convince Teddy to make a trade.

This year grandpa decided to have a Treasure Hunt for the grown ups and I think they may have gotten a bigger kick out of it than the kiddies.
With clues like:
uoy rof tfig a eb ll'ereht erehw eulc a dnif ll'uoy dna eulf eht pu kool eulb era steloiv der era sesoR
and
8-1, 4-2, 3-2, 3-1, 4-3, 6-2, 4-3, 6-2, 4-1, 7-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

I wouldn't have expected them to ever find the treasure, but I underestimated their desire for these great gifts!

All too soon it was time to face the clean up.
Everyone worked hard to get it done.

The kids ran outside ahead of their parents to see if they could maybe break an arm
slipping around on the snowy sidewalk.

The kiddies crowded into the doorway, waiting for someone to carry them out to their waiting vehicles. Oooh to be a kid again.

The final couple to get out to their car, stood in the snow
so I could get a cute picture.

The evening was a great success. It was wonderful to be with family on this special night.
I wish you all joy at this holiday season.
Merry Christmas!

Yikes! He's on the Snowplow Again!

2008-12-22T11:55:00.001-08:00

Gus is loved by all of our neighbors for his willingness to
plow the snow off everyone's sidewalks and driveways.
What a guy!

Oops! Is that our neighbor, Bill?

No One Perished!

2008-12-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

When I woke up Sunday morning and looked out the window...

..I thought, uho, I know a guy who won't want to drive anywhere in this weather
and I have almost $40 worth of tri-trip marinating!

Things didn't improve as the day wore on...

And sure enough, Thom called several times during the day, to tell us they
may not make it as he wasn't feeling comfortable about driving in the snow...
he's 'from Las Vegas', you know!

I had everything set, though, just in case the thought of my smoked"tri-tip" (even better than brisket) would be the bait that would entice him to risk the lives of all those he holds dear.

I heard the doorbell ring and ran to see who would be the first to arrive.

Yeah, the Strassers made it and the little munchkins were delivered into my welcome arms, one at a time.

Sara and Jesse brought in last week's left over shrimp mold.

The Thurstons soon followed and were able to get he whole family to the door in one trip.
Don't they look happy to see grandma?
Not the big draw, though, it was that smoked tri-tip on their minds.

Grandpa was in the kitchen starting on the delicate carving process.....
..has to be done just right.

Don't ask me how it happened, but Sara managed to grab a quick sample without losing a finger...
didn't even get a nail trim!

Our final arrivals were the Morgans and those smiles have more to do with the relief they felt at making it to the tri-tip without even a dent in the fender, than the thought of being at grandma and grandpa's house for the evening.

In minutes we were all seated and chowing down...yum, yum.

There was a place for everyone right in the kitchen where we could take complete advantage of the wonderful aroma that was eminating from the oven that so recently held
that magnificent smoked tri-tip!

Atticus had a table unto himself, but didn't seem to appreciate the solitude.

Grandpa wore his birthday present from his thoughtful Nish grand kids. He insisted I take his picture so they'd know he loved his present in case they check out grandma's blog.

Grandpa took at least an hour out of his day to set up a huge village playground, for the grand kids, in the basement. But I still caught the little munchkins playing with the much more interesting Christmas decorations in the living room.

They each got a picture of some Christmas item taped to their back.....

...and were asked to guess what it was by asking their cousins "yes or no" questions.
Miraculously they all guessed.....without cheating.........NOT!!....
Everyone got a prize!!! Yeah!!!!

The contest between the adults was a little more intense.
They were given clues to the name of Christmas Carols and worked in teams with their spouses.
Sara and Morgan had a few differences of opinion.

Amy was very concerned about someone copying off her paper (where most of her answers were incorrect) and didn't get a lot of help from Dwight who had wandered down to the basement to check out the score on a football game.

Katie really stressed out over her answers. Tom did help, however,...he kept going off into the office to look up words in the dictionary. Cheating got him no where, though, cause.....

..Sara and Morgan were the triumphant winners of the candy jar!
Recognizing, however, that this is the season for giving, they divided up the candy amongst
the other contestants.
They all had a bit of a problem with..

"To Decry Matriarchal Osculation of Yuletide Anthropomorphism"
"Jehovah Dulcify Blithe Cavaliers"
and
"Endocarps Vesicated in a Conflagration"

Soon after the game, Tom began to worry again about the weather and so rushed his family out the door before we had even served dessert.
Poor Katie and the kids were so disappointed that I quickly put together a "to-go" bag. To get the kids moving towards the car, Tom promised the kids they could even eat it in the car!
Too bad for the car, 'cause it involved
CHOCOLATE.

Howie was quite pleased that his family decided they could brave the snowy streets.
Chocolate rules....right, Howie!

All too soon it was time for everyone to say their good-byes.

We're having such fun, that we are extending our Sunday dinners thru the end of the month.
So join us next week at the Morgan's for our final December Sunday Dinner Night.

Guess Where We Went!

2008-12-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

This is your first hint.

No, not China.......

This is Gus' favorite Chinese restaurant but due to cost and distance we only make it there
on very special occasions.
This guy was our special occasion on this visit.

You know, his birthday. You can tell by the unwrapped gift on the table.
Thanks Strassers!

Only one Strasser was able to join us. Morgan made the sacrifice and stayed home with the kids.

Tom and Katie,

Amy and Dwight,

and this adorable fellow, Howie, all got in on the fun.
Howie managed to keep all of his little friends under control.

Thanks gize, for sharing in our fun celebration.

Annual "Bailey" Christmas Party

2008-12-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

I appreciate all of the comments about my "title post" Apparently my delete button didn't work. You see, I started to make my post when I discovered I hadn't yet downloaded my pictures....it's what has come to be called "a senior moment"
Thus, I hit the delete button and figured I'd get back to it later, not knowing that it would be on my blog the next morning.

So here are the much awaited pictures!
First, our lovely host, Amy,

and her trusty mate, Dwight,

and their precious kiddies, Bailey,

Calvin,

and Howie (who brought a large green friend with him).

We were missing one of our regular families, the Bishop's :o( who broke our hearts by moving off to Utah.
But we had a new family join our group :o)
Tom, Katie, Violet,

Hazel, and Thomas. Also, our cute Ella who got left out of her family group.

And Atticus, who's learning he can trust his grandpa not to eat him.

Another regular is Sara and Morgan (who is looking adoringly at his wife).

And their kids, Wolfie,

Teddy,

and Wini, who all look quite happy to be included in the party.

Here are the only actual "Bailey", Baileys to be at the "Bailey Christmas Party"
(Did that make sense to any of you?)
David and Theresa

Poor Holly, not only had to come without Casey (who was out of town), but also had her picture taken with my camera set on the blurry setting. But she looks lovely no matter what setting is used.

Heather and Pete came again this year, along with their 3 adorable daughters,

Madison,

Tessa,

and Liesl (hope I got the spelling right).

Of course, as always, food was a big part of the evening.

Dwight's digging into the sushi as Calvin looks on anxiously awaiting his turn to try it out.

Wolfie was the first to grab some of his favorites (chips) and find a nice quiet spot to chow down.

And the part of the evening that everyone prepares for all year....The White Elephant Exchange!
I failed to get a picture of my first pick. But it was a giant jar of two kinds of fish in a jelly sauce.
It was immediately taken from me, believe it or not, by my sweet little brother, David.

Some of the gifts included:

Wolfie took an immediate liking to grandpa's "Incredibles Yoyo," so grandpa reluctantly (not!)
gave it up to him.

After losing my giant jar of fish, much to Gus' pleasure, I received this book on 1001 Ways to be Romantic! You can see how pleased he looks.

Holly also lost her first pick and then received this great little "potato shaped casserole."
You can see that she was quite happy with it and will surely find a prominent place in her home in which to display it.

Amy got these great tattoo sleeves that Howie tried on immediately. But they were a bit loose on him, so...........

Dwight took them over and I believe wore them to work the next day.

Now this is what Holly opened first. This great little Snuggle knock-off created by Amy.
But...........

this odious little gal stole it from her and then.........

had the gall to flaunt it's practical uses (like playing cards while keeping warm).

This is Wolfie's reaction to the next gift, received by Katie.

A pair of doves (it was suggested that they were of the "turtle" species).

Katie and Wolfie may not have been too pleased, but Tom seemed ecstatic.

Dwight received an actual white elephant as his "white elephant" gift.
He was very impressed, as you can see, until the paint came off on his hands, making him feel that it might not be a genuine white elephant!

We played a quick trivia game (quick because the men slaughtered us in a very timely manner), before things began to wind down.
Howie was the first call it a night.

Thanks Amy and Dwight, for a great evening of family fun. We are already working on next years white elephant gifts and looking forward to another evening of fun, food, and family.