So much to blog, so little time......

I just got back from welcoming Russ and Traci's newest edition, Jake Staheli. A couple weeks ago I was in Kentucky graduating Mason on a Friday and welcoming Miller on Sunday. This past week we had to choose amongst many activities.....Saturday comes. Um.....should we move, or go have a baby or go to graduation. (Russ graduated from the U with a degree in Health Science Research, I think that's it). Needless to say, something had to go....We moved and had a baby. I have proof that Russ did actually graduate. He has his regalia to prove it. Anyway, a move to their fixer-upper that wasn't quite fixer-upped on Saturday and the baby on Sunday. It's all good......really it is. Scotty really doesn't like sharing his Mom and Dad with little Jake (or his Grandpa Staheli). When Grandpa Mike came to see the baby and was holding him, Scott pointed to Traci and said "her turn" (well, it wasn't really those exact words but we got the picture.) He wanted that baby out of his grandpa's hands and said "my grandpa" with a great big hug. Check out my "Grandma Chronicles" for more on the grand kids. George turns 8 and gets baptized on Saturday so I'll post more later.Before I get on to something else, let me just say a little bit about Spencer's tomatoes....He's proud of his kids but he's pretty pumped about his tomatoes as well....He had a pretty good crop last year with much ribbing from his neighbors about planting them too close together. This year he had the nerve to plant before Derby....such a no, no....but we shall see. Tune in later for progress on his "big beefies" and "early girls" (or whatever he calls his tomatoes).....I'm finally home....the first of May was Kentucky. The day Miller was born, Joyce and I took off in Mason's Maxima on an adventurous road trip (call us Thelma and Louise without the pistol or Brad Pitt, oh, and no dramatic ending thank goodness and we didn't rob anyone. Pretty low key. So maybe not a good analogy). We made it across Missouri in a day then decided to make Kansas our "real" road trip stopping along the way....at what, you may ask and we look back on it and are astounded that it really took us a whole day to do Kansas but we found some marvelous antique stores. Neither of us are really into antiques but that's about all Kansas had to offer (along with the Wizard of Oz memorabilia) and we met some locals and politely inquired as to why they live in Kansas....Our last day through Colorado was beautiful enough scenery that we didn't really need to stop, just gasp at the beautiful snowcapped mountains and enjoy the winding roads.

My newest grandchild......

A little boy, Miller Wells, born to Mason and Mandy on Sunday morning weighing in at over 8 lbs. Mom and baby doing fine. Can't wait to get them home in a couple of weeks.

Mason's Graduation.....

An awesome day for sure.......We were wined and dined on Friday night with a social hour for the grads and enjoyed the ceremonies on Saturday afternoon with a fun evening at Soporro's. Mason, we are proud of you and look forward to seeing you jump into the "deep end" of life and watching you swim. You'll do fine. Way to go. You did it!!!!!!!!

More graduation pics........

Lauri is the star this week so I'm putting more pictures so you can hopefully get a glimpse of the joy of this day. We all enjoyed being there and witnessing this great accomplishment and only hope more good things to come for her in the future. It was a very good day.

Rise and shout, the cougars are out, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.....

Lauri Bea graduated today.......a good day it is. It's awesome to be here at BYU Graduation and be the proud mama of a graduate. It was huge and even though I didn't know where she was in that sea of black, I was "well pleased" with this girl. She graduates with a degree in Psychology and is glad to be done. Tomorrow is the actual "get your diploma" ceremony and Uncle Gawain is the speaker so it's a double cool day all around. Congrats, Lauri. I love ya tons.

My China Adventure

I've just returned from a few days in Beijing, China visiting friends, Janet and Mac Coleman who live there for a few more weeks. He's been there at the Embassy as an attache (meaning: A military attaché is a military expert who is part of a diplomatic mission; this post is normally filled by a high-ranking officer.) They showed us a really good time and I think we got a pretty good overview of the culture and were able to see up-close and personal the preparations that are going into the 2008 Summer Olympics. We've seen the building in progress and witnessed the outward attempts to make the city presentable even down to getting garbage cans and American toilets. It's all good though and I'll be very interested to watch it and see how that already crowded city handles the crowds of Olympic attendees. The Great Wall had to be the highlight of the trip and it's pretty cool to me that I was there..... I traveled with two other friends, Kathy McCleskey from Texas and Phyllis Snow both longtime BFF's and that in itself was a kick! We had lots of BPP time.

Spring has sprung......the grass is riz...

I know where the flowers is....and I do love my daffodils. Evan does too. He wasn't quite sure what to do with them so he was hitting them and laughing. We finally taught him to smell them (they don't really smell but it's better than hitting them) but it made for a cute picture.

So, how is the sock making project coming along?

I thought you'd never ask.....but since you did well, I've learned a lot since the first pair. Here's a picture of my 2nd pair and there are about 5 lonely socks in the UFO (Un-Finished Object) cupboard (a couple re-wound into balls of yarn to be used again) because I found that when I finished one sock, if it wasn't impeccably perfect, I just lost interest and couldn't muster the desire to make a matching one; so guess what?????? Now I work on 2 at the same time.....and when I'm finished, perfect or not.....I have a pair!!!!! I'm sure this isn't a new idea by any means but it's nourished my addiction and given me great satisfaction. So....in my almost 3 pairs of socks, I've only made one trip to the yarn shop to help me pick up lost stitches (and I'm even kinda learning how to do that or knit more carefully so I don't have to do that.) Anyhoooooo......"I knit socks" and "darn" (pardon the pun) proud of it if you don't mind me saying so. Now, as for what I will ever do with all the socks; I wear them. As to giving them away, let's just say....I'd have to know the recipient would really appreciate them and only wash them by hand and, by the way, I'm really looking forward to finally making a pair worthy of the giving. It's coming. I've got to get a lot faster and a lot better. Hey, do any of you (my children, I'm not sure anyone else looks at this) remember when I used to make those silly pot holders that looked like citrus (there was an orange, lemon, lime and watermelon)? I was so hooked on those because I loved to give sets of them away and I thought they were the coolest things to hit my yarn basket.....I made hundreds of sets and flooded the earth with them. Then I got tired of them or they went out of style, I'm not sure (probably both). I just wonder if that's the way my sock making craze is going to be but my yarn lady sadly reassured me that this probably isn't going away anytime soon and if it does it's because I will lose interest because socks are here to stay. But there's always going to be someone who will ask "why don't you just go buy a pair at Wal-Mart for 2 bucks" and I don't have an answer for that because I'm still wondering that myself but you can bet that person won't be the first recipient of a pair of my perfect socks.........

A Beautiful Day in Zion National park

Today was the last day of Kyle's yearly national park pass so we piled in the Odyssey and headed up to the land of God's handiwork and enjoyed the day running on the lawn, hiking to "The Crying Rock", honking and screaming through the tunnel and enjoying the beautiful sunshine on this February afternoon. It was really a lot of fun and we topped it off with some playtime at McDonald's on the way home. I've added a picture I took as we passed by one of the windows going through the tunnel.

Don't go to Kentucky in February.....

I flew into a tornado warning (the plane hovered for 45 min. until it passed) and flew out in a snowstorm. The weather was cold but it was wonderful to be with my families in Kentucky and see the grandkids again. They just grow too fast and change too much to stay away very long. I got to hear them all play the piano, watch Drew play basketball, watch Maycee dance, take Seth and McKay to McDonalds, hold Jack and watch him crawl and climb up to things and yes, we did make it to Grandma's Hotel on Friday night. Always a fun time.

Sock it to me.......

Da ta da da.... drum roll please..... Here they are. I finished a pair of socks; a real, wearable, comfortable pair of socks. Ah...accomplishment. I love having the time to learn new things. I've tried socks before but never successfully and I finally took a class and wallah.....socks!!! The hardest part is getting them to be exactly the same but what the heck. I can wear them and I made them..... mistakes and all. I did it! I'm taking orders. State your size, color preference and act quickly to get your pair by 2010.

A good chick flick and a good read......

Lauri and her roommate Ashley came down last night to get out of the Provo guck and enjoy the Dixie sunshine. We went to a good chick flick, "27 Dresses" and enjoyed it immensely. Now I've got to get ready for my book review of "Some Wildflower in My Heart" this coming Wednesday. As I've read through it the 2nd time I've come to realize why I love it so much: lovable, believable characters created by a talented author that can weave a story and teach me some valuable lessons as well. A very good read........

I'm continuing on my "Bucket List" and one of the items on that list is to get good at making socks. I went to our local knitting shop this past Wednesday and stayed all day and got to the heel part of the sock and was feeling pretty proud of myself. I'm on my way and hopefully next week I can show my finished product.

Welcome 2008 - Happy New Year

How can you stay inside on a day like this!!!! Oh my gosh, it was gorgeous. Lauri and I took the kids up on the Temple Quarry Trail and hiked as far up it as we could until they started to complain. They were quite proud to be good little hikers (for the first 15 minutes) but we made it to the south edge where we could look over the valley and see where the Wells Dairy used to be. The milk house is still there. I'm pointing to it as I look off to the south. I tried to capture the beauty of the day with Pine Valley Mountains in the background but no pictures can ever do it justice. It was just beautiful beyond words. I love this place. If you want to see some more pictures of the beauty surrounding us here, go to Camille's or Maggie and Justin's links listed at the bottom right of my blog.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town