Nothin' better to do....

.....on a Thursday night..... Go to a Mystery Dinner.

Hosted by Spencer and Shana, we all showed up in "true character"....ready to solve the mystery and find out who really killed Judge Waylon Payne.

Shana and Spence put on a 3-course meal while we sat around the table eating and throwing out accusations trying to "figer it out"....

The cast of characters..........ready to get 'er done.

Ye haw.....good times. Ya outta try it some time.

'Tis the season.....

....for family, food, and fun and we have done just that throughout the past week. I've had a really hard time feeling the spirit of Christmas this year but as soon as the family started to arrive and the festivities began, I pumped up the the tunes and the non-stop fun began. Pretty late in the season for this to be the first time at the Temple to see the lights but I ventured up with Spencer's fam on Thursday.....Traci and Russ arrived Thursday night....

Friday night was our 3rd Annual Gingerbread House Competition....winner, me, proclaimed by me 'cause I was the judge and all of my little grand children wanted to win so badly and I didn't know which one of them should win and so I proclaimed myself the winner because I felt in my heart that none of them would get mad at their grandmother....right, wrong, call it what you want....I've always felt that losing once in a while builds character so we did a little character building that night but each of their little houses was a winner to me and it would have been hard to pick just one. There actually was a very minimal amount of grumbling. My many thanks again to JoEllen who works hard to put the framework together for all 16 of the houses.

Saturday morning was our hike to the red hill...a must on Christmas Eve. Kills time and tires the kiddies and gets them ever so ready to climb into bed at night....

...but the Homerun Derby that is usually on Christmas day was also on this day as Christmas fell on a Sunday....so everyone was even more tired by the time this was over....

...and Spencer being home for the first time in a lot of years went home the winner....and had the privilege of holding the Louisville Slugger bat in the group pic.

...then on to the Christmas Eve party at my Mom's....this year over 50 of us but we fit and had fun. After the usual great food, Colleen had prepared a "Minute to Win It" competition....

...where everyone enjoyed trying the various stunts....

....and the kids posed in their jackets from Great Grandma.....

....then on to my house for my "Grandma Gift" to the kids......

"You have to wait on the stairs until I'm ready"........

Money jars for everyone.....Three parts to this gift. 1. Something to put the money in. 2. Some money (a roll of quarters for each kid) 3. When it's filled up, come to me and I'll give you another roll of quarters. Now on to a new year. May your days be as merry and bright as they possibly can be. Happy New Year!!!!

What happens at Grandma's...

.....stays at grandma's unless you blog about it so here goes. The kids came over for the evening.

After a little pizza and pop....

....let's just say it turned into a "Shasta Blast" as I bought a bunch of those little cans of Shasta so they could each have their own can of pop (they usually waste the big ones)...and Drew had the idea that if you shake it really hard and chuck it at the wall, it explodes.

He begged me to let him do it...and of course, trend setter that he is, they all wanted to try it and as disgusting as it was and as wasteful as it was and as messy as it was....I didn't say no.

Grandmas kinda don't really know how to say no and it made them happy and it made me laugh....so what's a few half cans of Shasta if it brings momentary joy and laughter.

Jack got in on the act....look how proud he is. How could I deny a kid that joy?

Then the silliness began....three little girls in a big pair of pajamas...."help, we've fallen and we can't get up"......

...and I finally got my tree decorated...they did a mighty fine job.

We actually tried going Christmas caroling....didn't work out so well but we decorated some cupcakes, colored some pictures, played a little "Steal the Pillows" and by about 9....well, let's just say my love had run out and I was ready to have them put their heads on their own little beds. That's where mine's going right now...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

To the sons in my life....

....I pay tribute this day because when I saw this picture of Traci's boys, I couldn't help but remember what fun it was to raise sons.......

Hers are every bit as different from each other as mine were.....

....so different that some would wonder if they came from the same mother.....

...but I'm here to attest, they are all mine; and these days I see George, Seth and Miller.....

.....and I'm so happy to have them close by, raising sons (and daughters) of their own. Love it, love it. But I'm grateful for my daughters too. They were "the icing on the cake" for me and raising them was a piece of cake.

It was great to spend a day this past week with Traci and her sons Scotty, Jakey and Max and Lauri and her daughter, Lucy. I'm a pretty happy grandma right now and count myself blessed to be able to watch my kids be moms and dads.

Gotta do a little back tracking...

....and mention that we really did have a nice Thanksgiving week-end. Just some random pics. Enjoyed Lauri and James here and tho' we all met at different places for Thanksgiving dinner, we were able to come together for some traditional Mexican cuisine by Lauri. Always love it...the food and the company.

Tres Leche, everyone's favorite.

Everyone pitched in to get the feast ready.....

Lucy's lovin' the whipped cream, Wells style....

Celebrating firsts.....

.....is always a good thing and I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we will celebrate and commemorate the "first" Wells family tradition....BLT day remembering that December 1st (or 2nd, there seems to be a discrepancy so we celebrate both days) in 1972, a sunny, cold, Logan afternoon when we just happened to be having BLTs and eating them outside at the top of the stairs in the sun and happened to be talking about establishing family traditions and just happened to say..."let's have this be our first one, BLTs on December 1st (or 2nd, not real sure and it was not documented so learn from me people, document, document document or it is as if it never happened but this did happen and we have kept it as a tradition through the years).

We are heading into "tradition full" times and anticipating those "yearly" things we do as families and establishing new ones. I, for one look forward to a few simple things we do this time of year....getting my "real" tree and getting it put up in my family room, home run derby, Christmas Eve chaos at Mom's....appreciating ever so much as we all know some of these don't last forever and will be replaced with new ones...but that's o.k. too. So....welcome to December. Simplify...and try to enjoy the "reason for the season" (I'm talking to myself here). Be kind and be happy. That's what He wants from us as we celebrate His birth. My love to my friends and my family....this may be the only Christmas card I send.

It's maddening....

....when technology doesn't work and my Internet Explorer has been down for the last two days and hasn't been letting me blog and I have so much to say....don't all of us bloggers? Anyway, let me start out by wishing JoEllen a great big Happy Birthday today and tell her how much I have appreciated her taking Kyle off my hands.....she has done a super job with him and she is an amazing mom to their four little kids, George, Emily, Evan and Matty. I hope you've let them pamper you today, JoEllen....

Also, I just got back from a little trip to Northern California where I was able to re-connect with some old friends from our Vet School days. Julie and Raul Rodriguez lived by us at East (or North, can't remember) Fairway in Pullman, Washington. When we first met them, they were newlyweds and we really enjoyed them as neighbors but didn't really ask them to join our church. We talked a bit about it and answered their questions and when we returned from Spring Break, they told us they were going to be baptized. Some other neighbors are the ones that asked the question....but they have always reassured us that we were a good example to them. That should have been a reason for me to be more bold and ask "the question" more....but I'm grateful for those bold neighbors that did ask. Time faded away as we met last Thursday and spent a few minutes together to get caught up on life......

One of my favorite things in this life is to meet and associate with good, positive people....and to know they are never really out of my life and that I will meet them again some day. When I actually do, it's amazing.

Every now and then...

....as I'm enjoying my grand kids, I think of how much Scott would have loved being a grandpa and how fun it would be to have him here enjoying them with me...and it's pretty normal I guess just to wonder what would be different....what would be the same. All I know is that there would be a whole lot of laughing and a whole lot of love but I hope tomorrow, we can all pause for a moment and miss him as it is his birthday. He would have been 62 and would have been lovin' life. He taught me a lot about "lovin' life"....and appreciating the blessings we have been given.

Laynee and George are the only grandchildren he got to hold in this life....I'm sure he's loved and sent the others on their way.....but I know he would have loved watching these little ones play and I had to take this opportunity to once again pay tribute to my wonderful basement that gets transformed into many creative dwellings.....here's the latest from last Sunday.
Several little huts with specific purposes...... ....and of course, a menu. No basement play is ever complete without food. I love it....always a surprise to go down the next day (or week) and see what they have been doing but that's how I raised the kids.....never wanted to intrude on their territory and interrupt any creative play if ya know what I mean.











I'm sure he's somewhere (wherever Heaven is) watching me enjoy these cute kids and enjoying them with me. Happy Birthday, Grandpa.....you are missed.

I just don't understand...

....why everyone doesn't want to live in Southern Utah....and why they don't, but I'm glad they don't 'cause it would be pretty dang crowded, but I'm mighty glad that I get to and I'm especially glad that some of my family are feeling it too....and I'm especially grateful I was invited along on this day.....a beautiful fall day to be exact...in Zion National Park where all of us attempted and some of us completed the hike to the top of Angel's Landing.

I was in charge of the "Wus Patrol" (Me, Jack and Seth) today...and o.k. with it. I could have made it to the top (ya, right) going at my own pace (like, probably 2 days) but chose to head on back down the trail and enjoy a nice, leisurely lunch at the lodge while we waited for the others to finish. It was a great day for interesting sights from the Ostrichs just as we headed out of Rockville.............

....... to a couple of beautiful bucks and a goat or two to the side of the road after we got out of the Mile-Long Tunnel and then a squirrel and the weirdest bug I've ever seen on the trail. Oh, what nature has to offer....it was awesome.
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Drew is enjoying the victory and the view from the top of the world. Way to go, buddy.

Jeremy made it too but he must have been taking the pics....way to go you guys.

Back at the lodge just remembering the good times when we'd bring the kids up and let them romp on the big lawn while we listened to conference.

....and just so ya know....I'm going to get me one of these shirts in about a month.

....as I will be hiking Angel's Landing at my own pace after a little more training. Hope you had a great Saturday; we sure did.

The only thing better...

....than fresh pomegranate jelly is homemade bread and pomegranate jelly....yum...
We have another convert....Joyce has a small pom bush and she was able to get a couple of batches from that crop....it has been a good year for the poms....extra prolific and amazingly juicy.

.....and speaking of yarn.....here's a wonderful little wreath that Lauri made for me....I love it.

Just a reminder that I haven't had time to knit for goin' on EIGHT MONTHS NOW....argghhhh.

It's always interesting...

....to see who will drop in for my birthday celebration.....and each year just gets better and better as we wait anxiously to see Mason's costume. He outdid himself this year as "Sven"....

It's been an awesome day as my whole fam damily was here. Traci and Russ just happened to be passing through from North Carolina moving back to Salt Lake...and Lauri and James came down from Provo....

.....and another line-up of my beautiful posterity...what could make a mom happier and all I ever wanted for my birthday was happy children and I think I got it this year.

Not sure where these two got their "zest" for this most worthless holiday but they seem to take part with gusto every year....Sven and Glenda hooking up....actually quite disgusting (but funny).
...and as always, love it when my friends drop by.

Pretty fun day to say the least. Thanks to my girls for putting on a fabulous spread. Another year under my belt...wondering what year 62 will bring. Thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate in style....still hate halloween but love my birthday.