Another Year Older...

..but you'd never know it!  Steele's birthday was today.  He turned 61!  No one can believe that...I can't believe that!  There is nothing about Steele that says "old."  You'd think that I would feel great about that, but I don't ;) I'm tired of comments like, "Now I forget, who's older, you or Steele?"  OR when we run into people that we haven't seen for a while and they say, "Steele, you look amazing!  You haven't changed a bit!  I can't get over how great you look!"  Then they turn to me and say, "Hi Nancy, how are you?"  Hmmm... There's a lot to be said for things unsaid!  I know I should be incredibly  proud to be seen on his arm, (and I am) but I always thought that the woman was suppose to be the "arm candy!"  Not in our case.  How am I suppose to be able to grow old gracefully when I am married to the man of eternal youth!  I'm starting to fell like Bella in Twilight!
What can I say...he comes from good stock.  If you know his mother, you know what I mean.  She will be 90 in October and still golfs a couple of times a week and she looks amazing.  I come from good stock too... My mom's incredible, but I guess it skips a generation on our side of the family;)
Seriously...This post is just in good fun!   I love Steele and I am so proud to be married to him!  He's not only incredibly handsome, he is a wonderful husband and father and I am very blessed!  So here's to my handsome husband...Happy 61st!

California and the Fourth of July

Having family in California has both it's advantages and disadvantages. The obvious disadvantage is.... my family is 800 miles away and I wish they were a lot closer. The advantage is...my family is 800 miles away and we ALWAYS have a fun place to vacation and we get to visit some of my favorite people!

Because Chelsea is highly organized and planned this trip months ago, we were ALL able to get the time off from work and go to California. We had unusually cool weather for July, which put a damper on the beach, but we still had a great time. We had to divide and conquer...some of the kids stayed with Bob and BJ and the rest of us stayed with mom. She put on a great party for the Fourth. We ate, played games and watched the fireworks on the golf course. Our seats were great! We were close enough that we picking ashes out of our hair. It was a great show. We spent 9 days in California, but they went by far to fast! Thanks everyone for putting us up AND putting up with us! Here's a few of the highlights....

Watching the fireworks with Sean

My beautiful daughters in lawChelsea...mom to be!Playing games at mom'sWave "hello"Frozen bananas on Balboa Island Bry, Bre and Steele at Michael Jackson's grave. "Go Crazy..."The handsome photographer Swingin' on the beachSteele and Sean enjoying the beach!Play time!

Oh...and did I mention we were also there to meet this little guy!

Welcome James Robert Hexberg!

Mary, Mary....

quite contrary...

Let me start by saying, I blog as a way of journaling. I don't really expect people to read it or find it interesting. Having said that, I'm blogging about my garden. Zzzzzzz....

I LOVE having a garden! Just one of the reasons I look forward to spring every year is knowing that I will be able to plant soon. It really does bring new life! Steele worked very hard last fall tilling in all the leaves and grass clippings so we would have good soil this spring. With our "winter like" spring weather, we just barely got our garden in. Hopefully we will be able to harvest it before the snow starts flying again in the fall. We're trying our luck this year with a variety of tomatoes, tomatillos, corn, peppers, onions, basil, cilantro, oregano, mint, chives, and italian parsley. A perfect salsa and marinara garden.
Now we'll have to wait and see... "how does your garden grow?"

My Favorite Quiet Book

When Bryan was a baby I began my search for a pattern for the perfect quiet book. I found some cute ones, but none that were anything special. Just as he was about to turn two I found a pattern that I loved. It was the cutest quiet book I had ever seen, so I decided to give it a try. I am not a master seamstress, so it took me months to finish it, but it was well worth it. He loved it and I still have it today! It is nearly worn out from the many years of use but it continues to be my favorite quiet book.

When Bryan and Bre had their first child, I wanted to make one for him. I thought I had kept the original pattern, but I couldn't find it anywhere! I even checked out vintage patterns on line but no luck! Bound and determined, I used my very limited sewing skills and Bryan's old and warn quiet book to make one for Steele. I made a few modifications (and once again it took a lot longer than it should have,) but I finally finished it!

I guess now I should get started on Nick and Chelsea's . With any luck, I will have it done by the time Tess is 2!

NYC page with Velcro cars
Count the fish!Tie the bowsLace the mitt Braid and tieHook the buttonsLearn to zipUndo the buttons and see what's insideLearn to snap

The Graduate!

Looking for Dustin Hoffman? You won't find him here! But we have a new graduate in our family... Nick graduated from the University of Utah on Friday May 7th! It was a fabulous day and we are SO PROUD of him! He's worked incredibly hard and has really accomplished a lot in the last year...He's now a college graduate, a home owner and a father to be! What great accomplishments and all by age 24! So here's to Nick and Chelsea. Congratulations to you both...and to all of Nick's former teachers who cringed with they saw his name on their rolls... He did it!!!

Nick and his #1 girl!

Aunt Sue, Nick, Grandma and Ice Tea ;)
Renea, Dale and Nick
Mom and Nick
Bryan, Nick, Bre and Steele

Nick and Dad

A Day at the Races!

The boys and I made our annual trek to Sunny Cal for the "Long Beach Grand Prix." This was the first time Bryan has been able to go in four years, and the first time Sean hasn't been able to go! As always, we had a great time. The boys got to spend three days at the races and I got to hang out with my family. It's a win win situation!
This year we had a coupon for a free ticket so the boys talked me into going. ( I have NEVER been.) I have to admit...it was kind of fun! I'm not an avid car fan, but I can see why the boys love it...it's like Disneyland for car junkies. There is something very exhilarating about the sound of the cars racing around the streets of Long Beach. (My boys can imitate it perfectly) This is a perfect place to people watch... it's a plethora of people from all over the world and not near as many mullets as one would think!

You can imagine the excitement on my boys faces when I reached in my purse and pulled "my missionary bear!!" (It was my plan all along and the main reason I went to the races. I knew they would NEVER cart my missionary bear all over the Grand Prix, just to get pictures!) Can you imagine the spectators reaction to four grown men carrying a "bear" all over the races?" I must admit...although slightly embarrassed, they were great sports and even took the pictures for me! (I do love my boys!) There was just NO WAY to go to the Grand Prix without Sean!The Wave Fountain at Long Beach

The Ferrari Girls

The California cousins

No trip is complete without Hof's Hut!

He Made It!

"Where's Sean?"

After an 11 day delay in the MTC, Sean finally got his visa and headed out to Mexico. He arrived Thursday, April 15th. We got our first letter Monday and he sounds great! He LOVES Mexico and the people, he just can't get over how big the city is! He's not sure what language he learned in the MTC, but it doesn't sound anything like what they speak in Mexico. He's been on some very adventuresome bus rides and loved every minute. After being there just three days, he got to speak in Sacrament meeting. He said his companion laughed the entire time and the sister missionaries just smiled and said he did pretty good for a "greenie gringo!" He loves being a missionary and is excited to "get to work!" It was great hearing from him, we learned a lot...the only thing we didn't learn is WHERE he is in Mexico!