Dave and Roni Are Engaged!

For details read Roni's blog

A Day to Give Thanks

Family, Friends,and Food

What a great day!

Recently I started a gratitude journal,

it is so rewarding, to look back on my day and reflect on all the things

I have been blessed with.

Here are some of the things mentioned at our thanksgiving table:

Family

Moms and Dads

Employment

Children

Husbands

Wives

Good Health

School

Church

Amazing weather

Having people how love us

Siblings for best friends

The Temple

Eternal Families

Good Examples

Free Country

Sports

Love

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

New Blog In Town

Check her out, Roni started her own blog!

Read all about her at: http://roni-lyn.blogspot.com/

THE GREAT ARIZONA ROAD TRIP

G & D have been wanting to see what the great state of Arizona has to offer, so we hit the road for nine days of sight seeing, rest, and relaxation, no real schedule.
July 31, 2009-August 1, 2009

First stop Bisbee, AZ

old mining town

August 2, 2009
Attended Church in Douglas, AZ.

Everyone was friendly, there meetings were in English and Spanish

Crossed through the Coronado National Forest into Chiricahua National Monument

amazing rock formations

So many great things to see, windmills, flowers, rock formations and silos

Monday, August 3rd
(Side note-35 years ago today Garry started his Mission)
We spent the night in Safford, Az on the 2nd
and the next morning driving out of town look what we found!
The new Gila Valley Temple.
The new Stake Center is already built next door.

From there we drove through Clifton and Morenci, AZ, two very small and poor mining towns. The mine was huge it went on and on for miles.
We got on a kick and started to take pictures of Bridges for me to paint this is the first of many.

We Spent most the day driving down the Coronado Trail Hwy 191. A beautiful forest, until we arrived at Hannagan's Meadow. We ate lunch, went for a hike, sat and watched the many humming birds, visited with other guests, I knitted G read.
No TV
No Internet
No Cell service
No street lights
When the sun went down you were done for the night. So we went to bed about 9:00 and we both woke up at 4:00am ready to start the day.

Needless to say we hit the rode early, drove through Eager, Springerville and on to Greer for breakfast. Beautiful country side!

We made a stop at the Petrified Forest Museum, when Garry was 18 he helped build this Museum. The forest is quit unbelievable and the painted desert is beautiful.
Next stop was Ganado, AZ "Hubbell Trading Post", is has been in continuous operation since 1874. I was able to buy 100% lamb's wool yarn that had been hand spun.
One of the highlights of the trip
Canyon DeChelly
absolutely amazing! More impressive than the Grand Canyon!
You have to take a guided tour by the Navajo tribe to go down in the canyon. It was well worth the time and money, we spent half a day driving in the canyon on a jeep tour.
Other highlight of the trip
First Mesa, Az
It looked like we had stepped into a third world country (Afghanistan maybe), no living plant life, homes built of adobe bricks and dirt floors with openings for the windows and doors.
It is on the Hopi Reservation, the people there where some the friendliest that we met. We were not allowed to take pictures in their community, but I snapped this one down in Polacca, AZ on the way up.
We met Lawarance Nomoki, a Hopi artist and were able to purchase a beautiful piece of his work. He has pieces in the Smithsonian and Heard Museums. I loved it, it was so interesting.
An interesting tidbit- Both of the Hopi homes that we visited, had wonderful memories of shopping at "Whipple's Family Fashion" store. They said it was the only place they could get clothes for their children.

I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see,

It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me!

A quick stop in Winslow, G's home town

Yes we stood on the corner, bought the tee shirts to prove it.

Visited Garry's mothers grave site

Saw the Store front of the old Whipple Family Store.

THEN WE GOT THE HECK OUT OF WINSLOW!

Thursday, August 6th and Friday August 7th was spent in Flagstaff.

We took the Tram ride up above the tree line at the 11,700 foot level

IS WAS SPECTACULAR!

Rode the Grand Railroad Train from Williams to The Grand Canyon, we loved the Canyon.

Then we took a drive through Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona, everyone should take a drive in this canyon is it very lovely.

Friday, August 8

we spent the night at "The Annabel Inn" a bed and breakfast.

One of the most memorable places that we stayed, the owner was absolutely delightful and she fixed us a great breakfast. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Saturday, August 8 and Sunday August 9th

Our stay we at the "JW Marriott Desert Ridge" in Scottsdale.

We have stayed here before and always enjoy it. We laid by the pool. Roni, Dave and Kelsie came out for the after noon and evening and floated the lazy river with us, we all had a nice dinner together and enjoyed the live music outdoors.

The best thing about it was that we were all rested and only had a 20 minute drive home.

DISCOVER THE GREAT STATE OF ARIZONA

Smurfing Good Times

The Funniest Party of the year!

We opened our back gates and invited family, friends and neighbors

to stop by any time during the evening for:

Homemade donuts: glazed, sugared, sprinkled, chocolate, nuts, coconut about any thing you would want (We make them right on the spot in the back yard).

Homemade Soup, this year we had Baked Potato Soup, Santa Fe Chicken , Chicken Noodle Soup and Chili (Thanks for the Chili Lauri )

We had about 70 people join us for a Smurfing good evening

Roni and Kelsie decided that they wanted to match

and the rest of us jumped on the Smurf wagon

Smurfs Unite

Flamboyant Smurf (Ben), Brainy Smurf (Dave), Go Go Smurf (Roni), Terrifying (Tiff), Robot (Tyler), Nielsey Smurf (Niels), Vanity Smurf (Kelsie), Mama Smurf (Debbie), Papa Smurf (Garry), Count Dracula Smurf (Trevor, he wasn't here for the pic)

GREAT COSTUMES

Trevor and Kelsie carved these amazing pumpkins!

More Urban Renewal

Before:

I decided that my bed room needed a little pick me up, it looked way to boring. I have been loving the Aqua color that all the decorators are using, so I added some to my room

After:

I covered all my pillows that I already

had with some coordinating prints.

Then I made pillows for my foot bench

Used the scraps for a piecework pillow for the chair

I had a great time collecting frames and mirrors from around the house (one from a thrift store), to frame the top of the wall. This was a so much fun and it only cost a few dollars for fabric.

It's a Boy, I think?

Trevor was in a auto accident a few weeks ago and they totaled his Lancer. So he bought himself this awesome Mini Cooper Sport. It is fully loaded and has a Turbocharged engine. Have him take you for a ride it is a blast!

I think this about as close as we are going to get to a Grandchild,

so I guess will enjoy his new toy.

BEFORE AND AFTER

Urban Renewal

I've been having a good time with thrift store finds and spray paint lately.

First Project: An old hanging light fixture

Finished: A candelabra, complete with cob webs

Second Project: Dining Chairs (found two at the thrift store $5.00 each)

Finished Project

Third Project: Bar stools (I already had these)

Finished Project

Watch for more Urban Renewals to come!

Sisters!

Sisters, Sisters,

there were never such devoted Sisters!

I smile because you are my sister,

I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it!

A sister shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams.

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost

What's the good of news if

you haven't a sister to share it?

Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom. Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there. Defending you against all comers.

How do people make it through life without a sister?

A sister is a forever friend

Happy Birthday

Kelsie and Roni

Life Is Good... Can You Tell

We had an amazing Girls Camp this year. Our theme was "Life is Good...Can you tell?". The focus was on attitude. We taught a class about "Attitude is Everything"

The girls laughed , sang, danced, hiked, played ,gave service, learned leadership, crafted, rappelled, built fires, did knife carving, outdoor cooking, and all manners of other certifying. They built some great new friendships with each other and their leaders and had many opportunities to feel the spirit.

You can tell by the photos that as the Stake Young Women's Presidency we had a blast!

We had an evening that was "Road Show Night". All the wards participated with a song and dance routine. We were assigned a dance number that required us to dress like salt and pepper. This is our interpretation of it.

We dressed alike everyday, to help the girls identify us easier and get to know us a little faster.

Every evening we went from cabin to cabin and sang some sort of crazy goodnight song. I'm sure it really settled them down for the night.

Meet The
"Fantastic Four"

J, M, D, & T. Yes we really called ourselves "The Fantastic Four" we wore capes, goggles, flew around the cabins, did high kicks, made up super hero bedtime songs, wore glow in the dark lipstick, laughed ourselves silly and clapped away the skunks. We came home exhausted!
Thanks to all the ward and Stake Leaders who helped make it happen!