One Left!

What a beautiful day we had on Friday. My younger sister and her husband went through the temple for the first time and were sealed. My parents and one other sister from our family were there. What a wonderful thing. Only one sister left who has not been. As I stood in the celestial room and watched people coming and going, I thought about heaven and think that is what it will be like. Families being reunited after long separations. Joy and happiness on their faces and in their hearts. It made my heart rejoice for those who have experienced the temple and ache for those who have chosen different paths. Maybe someday......

Our Children

Here are our children with the "Wright Look". They all do it so well! :)



Here they are with smiles. :)

Charlie is the youngest at age 25. He is married to Michelle and lives in Texas.
Laura is the baby girl at age 27. She is married to Kasey, has 3 little girls and lives in Wyoming.
Lizzie is the 'middle child' at age 29. She is single and lives in SLC.
Sarah is the second at age 31. She is married to Eric, has 2 boys and a girl and lives in Ogden.
Katie is the oldest at age 32. She is married to Shawn and lives in Michigan.

This picture was taken at Katie and Shawn's wedding in Incline Village, NV on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

I am so very proud of each of them. They each bring joy to our lives and are successful in their own lives. I love you kids!!!

What a Wonderful Week!

The week started off on Tuesday with a trip to West Yellowstone. We spend two fabulous days riding in a snow coach in Yellowstone Park. Oh how beautiful it is in the snow and ice. Wednesday we saw Old Faithful erupt, walked around mud pots and hot springs, visited with others on the coach and got to know them. Tuesday we rode in the coach over to Canyon. We had a different guide who took us down to Hayden Valley to see if we could see any animals. There were many bison and a few coyotes. The fun part was we saw about 10 otters in two bunches. The large bunch had 7. It was very interesting to see how they play and share their food. We also watched a pack of 13 wolves for about 45 minutes. They were a very long way from the road, but with the help of binoculars we were able to see them. We stopped three different places on the canyon rim to see the falls. I can't even describe how different the park looks in the winter.

Today, Saturday, we went to Ogden to do temple work for a Russian family. Eugene's oldest brother lives and works in Russia. His wife has been serving as the Family Search consultant in their small branch there. As soon as she was called, a man went to her and asked if she would take his family's names and do their work for them in the states at the temple. She said she would be honored. Because there were 7 of them, we were invited to help. In the 1930's there was a horrible famine in the Ukraine caused by Stalin. All 7 of the children in the family died in the same year. Later the parents had two more daughters. The youngest of them joined the church when it was first allowed in Russia. Her son is the man who asked to have the work done. Today we met in the temple with 13 other members of Eugene's family to get their temple work done. Taking turns, we started about 7 a.m. with baptisms and finished about 11:30 in the sealing room. What an honor it was to be a part of this gift to that Russian family.

FREE and Catch-up

All the summer activities that I volunteered for are over! Katie's wedding (which really doesn't count as a volunteer activity, but was still an activity on my list), Relay for Life, and the Bear Lake County Fair Quilt Show. All are done and behind us and have taught me a most valuable lesson. I've learned to say NO! Well, sort of. I won't, nor could I, say no to a daughter getting married and I had agreed to 2 years with the Relay so I will still do that next summer. However, since it will be the only volunteering I do next summer, it won't be so stressful. I hope!

My camera died so now I have to rely on Eugene for pictures. :( Maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas. I didn't use it much, but loved having my own camera when I wanted, or needed, to take pictures.

Sarah was here for 4 days last week. She brought green beans and corn to bottle. It was fun doing it together. A mess with 3 (and sometimes 6) little people around, but fun just the same. I'd forgotten that I enjoy canning. It's lots of work, but is so rewarding when you hear those lids pop sealed.

Laura came on Friday. It was the county fair and the two girls, Sarah and Laura, love to bring their little ones to the fair. I must admit, it is more fun when you have little people to show the animals to.

Now it's time to move on to the next projects. I have 3 quilts to make. One needs to be sewn and hand quilted by Nov. 29th, one for Christmas and one within a year. The two latter will be machine quilted. They are a queen and a king size so too big to try and hand quilt in a hurry. My back is still trying to recover from hand quilting the Relay raffle quilt in 3 months.

Thursday thru Saturday we are going to Yellowstone for more than a day trip. We went with Charlie and Michelle when they were here on the 7th. Left at 5:30 a.m. and got home at 11:30 p.m. That's too hard when you have little ones with you. Sarah and Eric are coming and we are going with them. It's a short trip, but better than nothing or even better than one day. Hope it warms up so we don't freeze!

There's my summer in a nutshell. Nothing on my schedule now but Relief Society and sewing/quilting. Yay!

Wedding Attire

The wedding is in two weeks and one day. We leave for Tahoe in 12 days. Woo Hoo!!!! A vacation! The stress load is getting less each day. The quilt is done, the 6 little girls' dresses are finished and my dress is cut out. When having to alter the pattern to make it fit, the cutting out part is the worst.

So, as I promised, here are pics of the little girls' dresses. I will post a picture of the quilt after the wedding. The design is a surprise and since the bride-to-be visits this blog, I don't want to ruin the surprise. :)

This is the dress for the 4 little girls, two of which are flower girls. The flower girls' dresses have a big bow in the back.

This is the dress for the two babies. Front and back.

Our Two Newest College Graduates

On May 8, 2009, Lizzie graduated from the University of Utah with a Masters Degree in Political Science. We attended her graduation. The speakers were very good. I was quite impressed with the student speaker. The commencement exercises were held in the Huntsman Center on Campus at 9 a.m. The convocation ceremony was held at 11:15 a.m. in the Huntsman Center. There were over 7100 graduates in the class of 2009 and over 1400 graduates in the College of Social and Behavioral Science. That is the largest college at the University. Both ceremonies were over by 12:45 p.m. The three of us climbed on Trax and rode downtown where we had a nice lunch together. Congratulations, Lizzie!

Our second graduate is our daughter-in-law, Michelle. She graduated on May 9, 2009 from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelors Degree in Social Science with an emphasis in Psychology and minor in Sociology. Due to work restraints in Texas, Michelle was unable to attend her commencement exercises in Wyoming. Congratulations, Michelle! This picture is of Lizzie (left) and Michelle (right) from vacation last summer.

We are extremely proud of both of you!

Visit to Sarah's

I went to Sarah's for a visit this week. I don't get there nearly as often as I would like. When I'm there, I'm having so much fun playing with the little people that I forget to break out the camera. I got a couple of pictures. It took four tries to get all three of them looking at the camera at the same time.

Notice the look Marlee is giving her brothers! :)

This is the only one I got with them all looking at the camera. Sorry Emery for chopping off your head. :(

Sarah, Evan and Marlee went shopping with me while Emery was in school. We found some fabric for my dress for Katie's wedding. It is rose colored crepe backed satin. Very pretty. We also found some embroidered organza for the babies dresses. If I remember, when I get them made next month I'll post pictures. They are going to be so darn cute!

After leaving Sarah's on Wednesday, I drove to Green River, Wy. Laura's baby was being blessed. That was a very short visit. I was concerned about driving home in the dark by myself. I tend to sleep when in the car, driving or not, and I was concerned about animals being in the road. It was a good drive home. No animals where they shouldn't be and I didn't get sleepy! :)

Another New Granddaughter!

Kimberly Paige was born today at 12:23 p.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and is 17 1/2" long. Mom and baby are doing fine.

As soon as I get pictures, I'll get them posted.

THANKSGIVING

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Sarah and her little family came. Lizzie and her friend, Julia, came. My parents were going to come, but my mom wasn't feeling well so they stayed at home. We got to love on those grandbabies for a day and a half. So fun! Katie and Shawn were in Cancun at a friend's wedding, Laura and family were in Washington with Kasey's family, and Charlie and Michelle were at home in Texas with her dad and brothers.

I read recently that gratitude is a commandment. When we show our gratitude for the blessings we receive, we receive even more blessings. Amazing how we are always in debt to God. We can never get ahead. I hope that I show my gratitude enough, but I fear that I do not. I am grateful for so many things, but on the top of the list is my dear family. My life would be oh so dull without them. I thank God for each of them every single day!

VACATION/REUNION Days 3, 4 and 5

Day 3 of the vacation/reunion was July 4th. We started the day by having a group breakfast of breakfast burritos. They usually go over well and are easy to do. After the clean up we parted to do our own thing for awhile. Eugene, Liz and I drove up to the highest point in the park. Kasey, Laura and girls followed along. Eugene and Liz wanted to hike to the top of the knoll. Makayla didn't want to be left behind, nor did Kasey and Laura. I stayed behind with Ellie and we wondered the gift shop and visitor's center. We went back to camp to start lunch/dinner, also known as linner. The kids had requested a dutch oven dinner. We cooked chicken and potatoes. It was a big hit. Here's a picture of Eugene cooking. :)

He really did do most of the cooking. He was resting while it cooked. :)

Here's a couple of pictures of Grandpa and Ellie. Ellie LOVES her grandpa!!!

The next pictures are of Grandpa and Ellie coming back from one of their many walks.

Here is a picture of Shawn playing football with Makayla while waiting for the food to cook.

After we ate our fabulous dutch oven meal, we went into Estes Park for some family fun. We went to this great fun park. We rode bumper boats, bumper cars, go carts, some of us played mini golf and others went to the batting cages. It was great fun. I didn't have my camera so I have no pictures. Makayla went on the bumper boats and the go carts twice with Katie. I think she had fun. She liked the mini golf too. After the fun park we found a grassy spot, spread out our blankets and settled in to watch the fireworks.

On Saturday we went on a tour of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. It is a haunted hotel. The ghost hunters have been there and have determined it is haunted. The Stanley Hotel is the hotel from Steven King's The Shining. Following are some pictures of "ghosts". We didn't see them, but they showed up on our pictures. See the white orb on the ceiling? Weird! (click on the pictures to enlarge)
The hotel is beautiful and the history is facinating!

After the tour, Eugene, Liz and I went back to tour more of RMNP. There is an alluvial fan that we went to see. It was caused by a dam failure. Here is a picture of the creek that runs through it and a picture of Liz sitting on a huge rock that was deposited when the dam failed.

On Sunday we packed up and left for home. It was a very nice vacation and reunion. I figure the reunion was a success because there were no fights, no one blew up at anyone, and we all left friends. :) Our next reunion will be May of 2009 at Lake Tahoe for Katie and Shawn's wedding.

VACATION/REUNION Days 1 and 2

What a whirlwind the past two weeks have been. We left on July 1st for a family reunion for just our immediate family. We stopped in Logan for my check-up with the oncologist. Cancer markers are good. Don't have to return until November. We then drove to Ogden to visit Sarah's family. When we left Ogden we met up with Lizzie at the Rodizio Grill at Trolly Square in SLC. We had a fabulous dinner. It was great! We spent the night at Lizzie's. Wednesday morning Lizzie picked Katie up at the airport and we headed for Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. On our way through Wyoming we stopped in Green River and met up with Laura's family. Katie and Lizzie drove on ahead. We arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park in mid afternoon. We pitched tents and cooked dinner. Charlie and Michelle arrived around 3:30 a.m. They drove up from Texas. Sarah's family weren't able to attend because of the arrival of their 2 week old baby girl.

This is Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). It is MUCH smaller than our Bear Lake. We were able to walk around it. Makayla and Michelle throwing rocks in the lake. Laura watched her throw and then said, "Oh dear! She throws like a girl." A passing tourist said, "Imagine that!" We all laughed! Sorry Michelle! I cut off your head! AAAHHH!!!Laura, Kasey, Makayla and Ellie at Bear Lake.

Charlie and Michelle at Bear Lake.

Eugene, Charlie, Makayla, and me.

Laura helping Ellie touch the water in the lake.

Katie and Lizzie are absent from these pics because they drove into Denver to pick-up Shawn, Katie's fiance, from the airport. He flew in from Michigan.

We later drove into Estes Park to pick up some food items we didn't have room for when we left home. The following is a picture of our impromptu picnic in the Safeway parking lot in Estes Park. Weren't they nice to provide grass and trees in the parking lot for our picnic?

Actually you only get to see a picture of Grandpa and Ellie. That's all I have of our picnic in the parking lot. Ellie wasn't a happy camper. While walking around the lake earlier in the day, I was carrying Ellie on my shoulders and holding onto her hands and wrists so she wouldn't fall off. She pulled back and partially dislocated her left elbow. She has what is called "Nurse Maid's Elbow". It comes out quite easily but a dr. has to put it back in. We ended up at the ER before the day was over because Ellie was very unhappy and in pain. Sorry Ella Belle! :( She was much happier after her elbow was put back into place.

Eugene, Charlie and Kasey left from here to go into Denver for a Rockies game. They met up with Katie, Shawn and Liz. It was very late when they got back to camp. Laura, Makayla, Ellie, Michelle and I stayed behind and shopped in Estes Park. It was fun. It was probably a good thing we did since we ended up taking Ellie to the ER. What's vacation without one visit to the ER or a clinic? A lot less adventurous!

Aunt Liz with Emery, Evan and Baby Marlee

Here's a picture of our new granddaughter with her brothers and with Aunt Lizzie. It was taken at the hospital on the day she was born. Emery is 4 and is in the solid green T. Evan is 2 1/2 and is in the striped green T.

New Granddaughter!

Marlee Ruth was born this morning at 11:52 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 in. long. She has a little bit of hair that Sarah said looks like it might be red. Mom and baby are doing great. Dad is still on cloud 9. He wanted a daughter. I'll post pictures when I get down to see Marlee.

A side note. My maternal grandmother's name was Ruth. :)

Tardy Baby!

Sarah is now 39 weeks and still has not had her baby. She has carried this baby 7 weeks longer than Emery and 3 weeks longer than Evan. She is so miserable. She went to the dr. today thinking she would be induced tomorrow. Nope! They can't get her in until Sunday. So, Sunday, June 22nd, Sarah will be induced to have her third and final baby. I pray all goes well for her and the little one!

Fun Day with My Sweetie

Eugene went to scout camp last night. The Young Men Pres was really organized this year and got enough men to sign up that they each only have to spend one night. That means about 10 men because of the two deep leadership requirement. Anyway, Eugene got home around 10:30 a.m. We finished up a few things and then went on a 3 1/4 hour 4 wheeler ride. I usually don't go with him because I really hate the dust and dirt. Because of the wet spring, we didn't think it would be very dusty. WRONG! It was very dirty. I still had fun. We left here on the wheeler, drove down 8th Street to the cut off that goes up Joes Gap. We rode up Joes Gap and over to Home Canyon. From Home Canyon we rode down to the Montpelier Reservoir, up past the reservoir and on up to the Y. We rode right at the Y and went up another hollow to the top of Geneva Summit. When we got to the highway, we rode up the highway until we reached the Wood Canyon Road. From there we rode up and over Bear Hollow, down past Bomstas', across the highway to Bench Road, along Bench Road to the highway again, North on the highway to Jefferson, up Jefferson to 8th and back home. What a ride! It was very nice! And we got to go for that fun ride bacause I finished cancer treatment last week and didn't have to go to Logan today. Woo Hoo!!!!!

Sarah's Text

I got a text from Sarah tonight. She said she took her last stop-the-contraction pills (Terbutaline) tonight. That means we should get a new grandchild soon. With Evan, her second child, the day she quit taking the pills her water broke and Evan was born the next morning. She will be 36 weeks on Wednesday and has been taking the pills since week 27. She will be so glad to get this baby here. Will post when the baby arrives, hopefully with pics.

Memorial Day Visit

We had a visit today from Laura, Kasey, Makayla and Ellie. It was lots of fun. They came to have a barbeque, but it was raining so we cooked inside. The girls wanted to watch a movie so we put Phantom of the Opera in the DVD player on the computer and they sat on Grandpa's lap and sang along.

Both girls got their clothes dirty. They didn't bring any extras so they wore Grandma's t-shirts while their clothes got washed. There dad said they looked like Star Wars characters. :)

We had a great day! Thanks for the visit!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAKAYLA!!!

Today is our oldest granddaughter's 4th birthday! Happy Birthday Makayla!! We wish we could come see you, but both Grandpa and Grandma have to work. We hope you have a wonderful day and that you had a great time at the zoo yesterday!! We love you!!!

FABULOUS Last Four Days

We spent the last four days in Spokane visiting Katie. Oh! What a relaxing time we had. She was worried we would be bored with her at work all day. Not so. It was nice to just sit around and do nothing. We arrived Wednesday evening after stopping at Laura's in-laws for a visit. We visited with Katie during the evening. Eugene went to bed around 10 or 11 and Katie and I sat up and talked about her wedding plans til after midnight. Thursday Eugene didn't feel well so we just sat around. I did venture out to the grocery store. Katie had given me directions. Eugene was worried I would get lost but I told him I would call if I did. By the end of the day Eugene was feeling a bit better. After work Katie cut Eugene's hair. My sister Jeanne was in town working so we went to dinner with her. We did some shopping before we went back to Katie's. I got Makayla's birthday present. I think she will love it! I hope she will. Katie and I again sat up into the wee hours visiting about the wedding. Friday Eugene and I ventured out shopping. We went to Shopko and bought a 6' folding table. I have been looking for one since Thanksgiving. It was even on sale for about 50% off. Cool! We went to JoAnn's and then to the mall and wondered around for a couple of hours. When Katie got home she and I went to JoAnn's again. We looked through pattern books and found the pattern for flower girl dresses. Then we went to the fabric so she could show me what she wanted. She found this gorgeous embroidered organza type fabric. Her colors are pink, green, silver and black. The embroidery was pinks and greens. Perfect! Even better was that the patterns were 40% off and the fabric was 30% off. She bought those two items. She'll watch for sales and get her name on the mailing list so she can get coupons in the mail. These little dresses are going to be beautiful!!! Katie and I sat up and talked more about the wedding plans until after 2 A.M. Eugene went to bed early because he had to drive all day Saturday. Katie cut my hair that evening. It was such a pleasant visit. Thanks Katie for putting up with your parents for 4 days! Oh, and thanks for the hair cuts!

From the Mouths of Babes part 2

Sarah called me on Tues to tell me what Emery said. Eric is painting the kitchen. He had painted a swatch on the wall to see the color. Emery walked in the kitchen and said, "Oh no! What did you do?" Sarah said it was like listening to herself. She told Emery that it was ok. Momma told daddy to paint the walls. Emery then said,"You better get that cleaned up."

Last week Sarah took the old Kenmore sewing machine to Wimmers in Logan to get it serviced before I take it up to Katie. When she got out to the car, Emery asked where the sewing machine was. Sarah said she left it there to get fixed. He asked if it was broken. Sarah told him not really but that it was going to get checked out before Grandma took it to Katie. She said he flipped out. He said, "NO! Grandma can't take it to Katie! We need it to make costumes!" Sarah told him she had another sewing machine that could make costumes. Emery said,"No! We need that one." He was quite upset.

I got an email from Katie today that she got from Laura. I'll just cut and paste because Laura is much better at telling the story than I.

Makayla has been missing you a lot since you called the other night. Tonight she said to me, "I think I need to go see Katie." Since we have 2 babysitters named Katie, I asked her, "Who's Katie?"
"You know, Katie. Your sister."
"Do you know my sister Katie?"
"Yes. My sister is Ellie and your sister is Katie." (She's really starting to understand the concept of family relations.)
"That's Right! But we can't see her today. It's too far away."
"It's not far away. It's just in Washing."
"Oh, Baby, Washington is far, far away."
"But I want to go to Washing to see my Katie!"
I didn't tell her that grandpa & grandma are going next week. Then she really would be begging to go! Hope you have fun when they are there.

Yesterday Makayla found a dime in her pocket. She said to her mom, "Look! I found a baby quarter in my pocket."

I know all grandparents think their grandchildren are the cutest, but I KNOW ours are the cutest of all. :)