I am like a teapot short and stout...Here is my handle...Here is my spout...When I get all steamed up here me shout...Tip me over and pour me out.

That was a song that Jonathan sang in Kindergarten when he did a little play. Kindergarten is a cute age and Jonathan was really cute. He is all grown up now and is having his first anniversary of when he got engaged to Janilee.

The other day they called me to ask about diapers. Being the mother that I am I got really excited. I wonder if that was their intention. Well I thought that they were asking if I used cloth diapers for the reason that they were about to tell me that a little baby was on the way and I was going to have another grandchild. I was really getting ecstatic at that point. What a let down when they started telling me that they wanted to put diapers on Joey. Whoa. I have heard about putting diapers on a puppy before that has a leaky problem. But I had not heard about putting plastic pants on over the diaper. I came away from that conversation totally disappointed about having another grandchild and wondering if it was going to work to put Joey in diapers. In my imagination I can see the little puppy finding a new plaything and tearing the diaper right off and then piddling on the floor. This is good experience for Jonathan's little family to learn how to potty train a puppy. Good for them and besides I had a good chuckle.

Trip to Sequim

On Saturday our little grand nephew Todd Lodder turned 1. What a cute little guy. Todd was dressed up in brown that matched the decor of his party: the chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, milk, raisin cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. He was toddling around as his Mom and Dad took pictures, read stories, and watched his little toddler friends play. We enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to him. Putting a special 1st birthday bib on him and just enjoying the company. He had presents from grandparents and friends to open. Then he started rubbing his little eyes so he was put down for a nap.

It was a pleasant trip to and from Sequim. Kerry and I stopped for a sandwich at a small restaurant on the way and enjoyed the scenery.

Joslyn and Mike are moving to Utah in the next year because his company is transferring him back. I will be sad to see them go. They have participated in our family events and have gone to great effort to support us.

After the Move

We are enjoying our new home in Tumwater and are adjusting to everything new. I have been exploring the town to find out where to go to get groceries, jobs, and everything that I need to run the household. It is quite an undertaking and I have had help from Kerry.

I have been decorating the house and finding furniture to fit into the new home. It is an interesting change. I have found my favorite books that have been buried in the garage for over a year while we have been selling our home. I have had to buy some new book shelves and still can't fit all of them in...there is still more to do.

December: A Wedding, A Reception, Christmas, a new baby coming, and then a Move

I don't think I have ever had so much packed into one month. First of all Kristen and Bryce were married on December 12th. Everyone of my children and brothers and sister came along with my Dad, Marva, John, and Marcia. Next, I had to sign papers to sell our home in Vancouver, then I flew to Sacramento to meet with the Phillips. Sandy rented a car and then we went to Vasilia to have the reception there. The week after that was Christmas and we had the exciting news that we were going to have another grandchild. Kerry thinks its a girl and I think it is a boy. This week we moved to Tumwater. I am up to my eyeballs in boxes. There is so much to do and I have a garage full of stuff. We can only get one car in our three stall garage that is how full it is. I love being busy....

Oh, by the way. Jenessa is being transferred back to Rome!

Reception in California and Christmas

In California it was a party every night. The Phillips family were fun to be with and I had a wonderful time meeting with Bryce's Aunt's, Uncles, cousins, and Grandparents.

Kerry and I missed everyone on Christmas day but we celebrated Christmas with our family on December 11th. I loved having all my children and their spouses and my little grandchild Lily at our home. It was the best.

Packing an Enormous Load

Today I packed an enormous amount of stuff into boxes. I wonder what would happen if I took half of it to Deseret Industries without even opening the boxes. Would I miss the stuff that I have? I did not remember that I had even half of the stuff that I have. Wow. I didn't feel bad though because Kerry has 4x more stuff than I do. How do I know this? Well when I packed my office we used about 5 boxes and when I went down to Kerry's office he had 15 boxes packed. When I go into the garage Kerry has 80 percent of the cabinets and I have 20 percent and the stuff in my cabinet belongs to some of my children. Hmmm. Did I marry a packrat? I am sure that if we had a contest to see how much that we each had and piled it up Kerry would have the most presents. Talking about presents we didn't have enough paper to wrap the dishes in so we used Christmas wrapping paper. It will be like I am having Christmas all over again when I unpack the zillion boxes that are leaving this house on Tuesday.

Memory of a Family Reunion in 2004

I was going through some old pictures, getting ready for the wedding when I found this video. Our family sang to my parents this song and then we sang it again at my mother's funeral. It brought good memories back of the reunion that we had. It is one song that helps me to remember my Mother and her testimony of the Savior. I hope that you will take time to listen to us sing. We are not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but we sing with feeling.