Playing Grandma - Something I don't get to do that often

I have had a great time playing grandma which is something I don't get to do very often since my only grandchild lives in Iowa. But I have enjoyed 9 wonderful days with her which included going to a movie "monsters vs. Aliens", swimming in the hot tub, getting wet by the water frogs, playing at bounce jungle and lots of easter egg hunting.







THE GOOD NEWS!!! - Jason, Chelise and Drew are moving back to AZ in May and I get to be a full time Grandma

Utah Trip

Our vacation this year was a quick trip through Utah as we visited the temples of the 1800's. We started off at St. George but I forgot my camera at the hotel so I don't have any pictures of the temple.

Our next stop was at the Manti Temple.

Our last stop was the Salt Lake City Temple.

We were able to enjoy the spoken word at the Tabernacle on Sunday.

It snowed on us almost the whole time we were in Salt Lake.
We didn't think to bring warm coats.

We then went to Velma's and Dalane's and had dinner with them, Jason and Family and Chris.

We drove 1500 miles that trip but it was worth it and I hope to do it again next year but not rush through it so quickly.

IOWA

IOWA WITH THE PATTERSONS
I was so blessed to go to Iowa and see Chelise, Jason and Drew last week. Here are some pictures from my trip.







I treasured every second I was able to spend with them and hope to be going back for Drew's Birthday on 9/5 - Oh ya, I might as well celebrate Jason's birthday while I'm there :)


Jason and Chelise are amazing at Guitar Hero; I loved watching them really get into it. They both tied in originality; Jason didn't skip a note with the guitar behind his back and Chelise didn't miss a note as she laid on the couch upside down with her head on the ground. If it wasn't for her face turning purple because of the blood rushing to her head she could have mastered it that way.



I didn't get a chance to share a the pictures from the photo shoot we did in April. Here are a couple of my favorite.

March Update

MARCH CHRONICLES:
I realize that I'm not very good at updating my blog weekly so I am going to at least try for monthly; so look back each month for my monthly chronicles.

• March was a big month for Joel and I since it is our birthmonth and we both turned 47 this year.

• We got to see Shawnda as an Angel in the Easter Pageant; this is her third year but I still have such pride when I see her up there.

• Jason was chosen to be inducted into the Alpha Omega National Honor Medical Society. What that means is that he is in the top 8-9% of his class!!!! GREAT JOB Son!!

• Chelise officially started her Bitsy Bear business. If you haven't see it yet go to BitsyBear.com. After much encouragement Chelise is sharing her own designs and ideas with all.

• Drew has grown and learned so much I don't even know where to start. Here are some fun pictures of my beautiful granddaughter. I don't have a picture yet but she did cut her first tooth in March.

Drew celebrating her first Easter

Drew Learned to sit up by herself

ARRR! This is special to me because

Drew makes the funniest pirate face and

I can't stop laughing when she does it.

• Joel went back in for another knee surgery to clean it out on the 26th; hopefully he can walk again without pain soon.

My Little Elves!!

I want to share off my pride and joy. paste the following link into your web address and enjoy.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1170677965

Let me know what you think.

Memory Lane

Well I have been putting it off for a long time but I finally got around to scanning my old pictures. I realize now that it is a huge task but I feel good that I got started and hopefully some day I will have all my photos in a digital format. YEAH

So I wanted to share some of the fun photos that I scanned this weekend.


Chelise


Shawnda


Chelise was happy to get a baby sister after having Mom all to herself for almost 4 years.


This is prompted by Halloween being just a few weeks ago. We had such simple costumes back then. I'm sure I have more costumes from different years so once I get them scanned I will show them off :)


Here are my Angels!!! Chelise always had auburn hair and yes, Shawnda is a blonde.

My Little Princess

I took these pictures with my cell phone when I was in Iowa so I could always have pictures of Drew with me and so I can show her off.

This picture is how I remember her the most; when she would cry her favorite thing was to suck on a finger and when she did she would curl her hands up to her chin.

It's kind of funny looking at this picture when she was only a few days old because when you look at pictures of her now she looks so different. Her features have developed so much since this picture.

Everyone has to throw in a wonderful sleeping baby picture so here is mine. Isn't it so precious to watch a baby sleep :) I wonder what she is thinking - I am guessing that she is thinking how lucky she is to have such a great Grandma!