Jack and Janey Nichols

Emma's Run 2010 in Athem, Arizona

2010-04-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

While I was in Arizona in March, I participated in a 5K called Emma's Run, which is named for a little girl name Emma who was tragically killed 5 years ago. My daughter in law Kortnei use to baby sit Emma and her brothers up to the time of her death. Emma's Run was started in her memory and the funds that are raised are given to help sick or injured children and their families. Josh and Kortnei have participated every year but this was the first time that me and Jill came along too.

We had to get up really early, on a saturday to arrive in Athem on time as its an hour drive from Gilbert. And we picked up Jill in Paradise Valley.

This is picture of a bunch of participates lining up, no one I know, but just to show how cool it looks out there in Athem (which is north of Phoenix) with hills and cactus, it's really quite pretty and very arizonan looking, which I especially appreciate.

Kortnei took all of these pictures. She liked this cactus. I think she takes good pictures.

Speaking of Kortnei, here she is with one of Emma's brothers, I don't remember his name but he was a little camera shy.

Jill, Janey, Josh and Kortnei when we first signed in and waiting to start our run...um, or should I say our walk....none of us are runners.

I wanted a picture of my chip thingy that will keep track of my time. I never had one before and it kind of made me want to compete with everyone. Very un-Janey like as I am not the least bit competitive.

Jill trying to look tough.

We're lining up here, again this is a bunch of people we don't know, but look how pretty and arizonany it looks. Love it!

And we're off! That's me on the left....I took off like a speeding bullet and left the others in the dust...ok, I was jogging, doing what my brother Dennis calls "the old man shuffle." I would say I was doing the old lady shuffle though. But hey, I passed every person that was walking, little kids, moms with strollers, and the elderly....

Josh running ahead of Kortnei and Jill for awhile. I believe only for this picture opportunity. See the nice hills ahead? They were green and there were wild flowers everywhere. It was a very pretty morning.

Jill, Janey and Kortnei after we were finished. Note that we no longer wanted our hoodies on cause we were sweating. Well, except for Jill. You can't tell but it was windy and kind of chilly that morning....yes, it gets chilly in Az!

Finally, all four of us again, Jill, Janey, Kortnei, and Josh after the race (by the way, it may interest all to know that I came in a good 10 minutes ahead of these youngsters, ha! Like I care, remember, I'm not competitive....) We had alot of fun at Emma's run and I personally want to do it again next year. I know Josh and Kortnei will always go.

We were so proud of ourselves that we went to Ihop for breakfast afterwards.

I Know it's April of 2010 and I'm just now finally blogging...

2009-12-28T10:22:00.001-08:00

And I can't think of a single reason why I haven't posted anything other then not much is going on in my life it seems. I just go about my days doing the same-o same-o.

I did go to Arizona at the beginning of March and spent several weeks there. That trip so far has been the highlight of my year, seeing my kids, grandkids and getting a brand new grandson!

Here I am with Sam, Carly and Jill in Sam's play room. Sam was showing us all his toys. Jill doesn't look it, but she was having fun and was very glad to be with us. See Carly is still pregnant.

My grandkids love to play at San Tan Mall so its always a meeting place for us to go whenever I'm down there. Here is Kortnei, Josh (talking on cell phone) Jill (checking text messages I'm sure), Jared (don't know whats shining on his shoes...) and me. I'm sure I'm watching the kids play. Carly is sitting on a flower just in front of me. She is large with child and not so comfortable at this moment.
I know it doesn't look like we're having fun but we really were!

Donovan, Cozette and Sam trying to sit on the same flower or bug or mushroom, not sure what.
Grandma Janey with her three sweet grandkids! How I love these kids!

Cozette and Donovan

Cozette and Donovan with grandpa and grandma.

Here we are with all of our grandkids....until

Charlie came! I fell immediately in love with this little guy.

Proud grandma Janey with new baby Charlie and big brother Sam.

Three generations of Nichols men....Jack, our son Jordan, and Jordan's sons Sam and Charlie. Now thats a great picture!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Janey

2009-11-22T21:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my

sweetheart Janey!

Visit to Utah

2009-11-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

Cozette and Donovan having fun in

Utah

November, 2009

Playing in the Snow Saturday morning.

Off to BYU Life Science Museum. But first, a stop to eat at Wendy's.

African Turtle

Petting a snake!

Having fun at the museum

Walking back to the car in the snow.

5 K in St. George

2009-10-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Dennis and Lynda invited Jack and I plus LaRee and Gary to come to St. George for the weekend to do the "Save a Sister 5 K" and to stay at their home for a mini vacation. Jack and I drove down with LaRee and Gary on Friday night and met Dennis and Lynda there, in fact we beat them there.

Here we all are early Saturday morning, ready for our races....don't we bright eyed and bushy tailed?

As many of you know, my brother Dennis has ran many marathons in the past 10 years, so he registered for the 10 K, which is 6.13 miles. Lynda has participated in several 5 Ks, which is 3.13 miles. But for the rest of us, none of us have participated in one, ( I walked in one for breast cancer in Phoenix at the beginning of the month. It hardly counts, there are so many people walking that one can hardly move, very crowded.) This was my first race where your time is posted.

I walked a 5 K every morning with Lynda so I wasn't worried.

Gary, LaRee, me and Lynda just before the start of our race.

I had ABBA on my ipod (I finally got tired of the soundtrack from "Momma Mia") and was in my personal best walking mode....Lynda was right there close by and Gary and LaRee were pulling up the rear. We each walked our personal best, keep in mind that we all are in 4 different age catagories. For example, I was in the 50 to 54 age group.

Here I am, hamming it up for my picture as I cross the finish line. See how serious I take this race? I was having fun and happy to be done. You can't see Lynda but she wasn't far behind me.

Here's my time....I finished in 100th place overall, and 6th in my age group. My time was 42:08.4 which meant I walked 13.33 minutes a mile. There were nine people in my age group and the best time in my age level was like 29 or 30 minutes. It's nice to know that I have room for improvement (I'm rolling my eyes)

Me with my walking buddy, my sister in law Lynda. I wanted to beat her but she just kept right there with me! Don't get me wrong, we both did really well, our personal best, but because of our age difference, we weren't in the same group, so while our times were the same, I was 6th place for my age group, Lynda was in 2 in her's! And she was to win an award!!!!

Lynda excepting her 2 place award, the coveted acrylic cancer awareness ribbon.

My sister LaRee won the 3rd place award for her age group, well, actually they put her in the wrong age group, made her a year younger, but that's ok, she still would have been in 3rd place and did very well.

I won nothing, but the personal satisfaction of doing my best and the determination to continue to take the opportunites to participate in future 5 Ks, maybe even venturing to 10 Ks and beyond...as I grow older to where my time will eventually be the fastest for my age group!

My brother Dennis did his personal best in his 10K, I believe he was a few minutes after us and he did 6.13 miles almost the same time as we did our 3.13! But then remember, he's a seasoned runner and I wish I could be like that. Right now, I'm still sticking to the 5Ks, and walking.

I think this picture is really cute of LaRee, Lynda and Dennis (and a bit of my profile), I believe we were giggling about the find awards they were giving out....the acrylic cut out in the shape of the breast awareness ribbon. Lynda was hoping for the pink socks.

After the races, we showered, then the guys went golfing while us girls went shopping. Then we went to Pancho Lefty's for a good mexican dinner then back to the house to watch BYU lose. During the game, Lynda baked us some pumpkin cookies that were excellent, but after the game we still had to go to Neilson's, one of our St. George traditions, to buy our super yummy custards! Sooooo good!

We had so much fun on our little mini vacation! Thanks Lynda and Dennis!

Watch for us in the next 5K....we can only get better!!!

Hiking Mt. Timp

2009-10-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

I never have been very athletic, in fact, when it comes to sports, I'm a complete dork...I was the kid that almost always got chosen last for a team since I was so bad. I never have been able to hit a baseball with a bat, I can serve pretty good in volleyball, but I'm scared to death of a volleyball hurling towards me... and I duck. I can't run fast or long. I can shoot baskets, but only in a game of "horse" not in a usual basketball game. I can't hit a tennis ball to save my life, although it seems I was okay in badminton. I can swim, but only for my recreation.

I use to jog in the 70's when jogging first became a big thing, but I never got over my shins hurting so I gave it up. I do enjoy the occasional aerobic workout and I absolutely love working out on an elliptical machine. I also enjoy walking, but other then that, I'm not into sports.

Recently, I have discovered that I enjoy hiking. It all started last May when my friend Chris invited me and Cheri to hike up to the Timpanoga Cave. We had so much fun but quickly realized we needed to build up our endurance, so we went a couple of times, each time it became easier and we were faster. But this wasn't just for fun....we had a goal...to hike up to the top of Mt. Timpanogas! (dun dun DUN!)

So, one week we hiked up to Stewart Falls which is above Sundance. Another week we hiked up to Battlecreek Falls, and yet another week we hiked up to Scout Falls. All were easy hikes, maybe 3 to 5 miles round trip, not bad at all.

Sept. 19th, the long awaited day started at 6:00 am, we wanted to get an early start so that we could be up at the top we figured by noon to 1:00pm. We had a slight delay waiting for a turn to use the public bathroom because of a group of giggling college girls, but we started on the trail probably by 6:45, it was just starting to get light.

We knew that we wanted to take our time, knowing that we weren't a fast group of hikers, which is one of the reason I enjoy hiking with my hiking buddies, they aren't fast. Both Cheri and Chris are excellent photographers, so they would stop to take pictures frequently, which also makes a good resting moment for us.

This is me and my friend Chris posing not long after we have started our hike. We just rolled out of bed, doesn't it look it? The morning was so fresh and clear, slighty cool, absolutely beautiful!

This is a cool wooden bridge that we cross not long after we have passed the turn off for Scout Falls, which is about 2 1/2 miles into our hike. We all really like this bridge, thought it looked really cool....I always think "trip, trap, trip, trap..." Come on, remember the story for Billy Goat Gruff?

We're still in the valley a bit here, looking up on the hill side to where we will be eventually climbing. There were only a few fall leaves, not as much as we had hoped, but still very pretty just the same. As we started to climb, we needed to take more frequent breaks to catch our breaths. Even though we've been working out all summer, and our legs were strong, it still didn't quite prepare us for the thinner air as we climbed higher, so the stops weren't for tired legs but just to get air into our lungs. I have to say, I was feeling pretty good still at this point and totally enjoying this hike.

Since it was a saturday, the trail was full of other hikers, passing us each way. We met many nice people along the way, all had very encouraging things to say to us. Some would let us know that we were "getting close to the meadow..." which meant we were almost to an area that would flatten out for awhile to give us a break from climbing before we had to really climb.

Here is the meadow! And that is my friend Cheri, who decided she needed to rest awhile. Chris and I are sitting nearby. This is where we ate our lunch and tried to get our second wind to continue on up to the top of Mt. Timp. I believe that the meadow is about 5 miles from the beginning of the hike or so. The group of trees was our toilet area....the only thing I do not enjoy about hikes by the way...

It was at this point that Chris pointed out to us how if you looked at the top of the hill, you could see these itty bitty tiny people moving around...and thats where were heading. "Oh," I thought to myself, "that looks impossibly high, and steep!" What I said out loud was, "Oh, cool." You know, we kept passing older people so even though it looks high, it much not be that hard, right?

I decided that my friends we're going too slow, so I went on ahead of them. Once we started to climb up the trail, I really didn't want to stop because I felt the longer I hiked, the less closer that mountain was getting. In other words, it was taking forever! The last 2 miles were quite a climb with switch backs like crazy....and rocky! The kind of rocks that you step on and some go sliding on down the hill. Its a mountain goat trail. Last time I looked, I was not a mountain goat. Oh, and about 2 miles ago, my right shoe broke, so I was dealing with a slight handicap.

I love this picture! This is a typical trail that you see over and over again as you're hiking on up. Even though the climb was getting rough, I was still enjoying the beauty of the whole mountain. We were high enough that you could see down to where we had been earlier, and the surrounding mountains and thick, fluffy clouds in a blue sky. It was amazingly pretty.

As I was climbing up the last few switch backs, which had become even more steep, I stopped to catch my breath and realized that the itty bitty tiny people that I had seen down in the meadow, were now normal size people and if I looked down to the meadow, people down there were quite tiny. I was amazed just how high I was and how close I was finally to the top of Mt. Timp. I could see my friends still down the trail from me so I knew they were still coming and I went on up and reached the top first! (and I'm the oldest, ha!)

And here is the view from the Saddle, which is the top of Mt. Timp....not the highest point, which is the Summit, but at this point, I was pretty impressed with myself that I had made it to this point, and a bit freaked out when I looked up to the Summit, which would have been another mile, almost straight up, and I could see how itty bitty the people looked going up there...well, I decided I didn't want that adventure. The wind was blowing so strong, it was rocky and so steep...I really couldn't see how it could possibly be safe to go on up to the Summit. The trails were incredibly small, and did I mention, steep?! While I sat and waited for my friends to reach the Saddle, I decided I wasn't going to make the climb on up to the Summit and no one was going to talk me into it.

I had almost 20 minutes to myself on the Saddle waiting for my friends to join me so I looked at the view, and watched people going back down, and it hit me how it was really great that I made it up here and all, but soon, I'll have to go back down....Watching everyone else, I realized with a sense of dread, that it didn't look easy.

Here is me and Cheri at the top of the Saddle....see how rocky and steep it looks? And look at my hair and body language....I'm braced against a very hard wind!

Cheri arrived and she told me her legs felt like jelly and how very, very tired she was, and by the way, she has a fear of heights! I thought, good, she won't want to go on up to the Summit. She called her husband to tell him we made it to the top, and after awhile (we're still waiting for Chris), Cheri handed me her back pack and said "I'll never do this again, I'm going on up!" And just like that, she left me and started up the Summit! I yelled, "don't you want to wait to see if Chris wants to go too?" But she went on ahead. I had told Cheri I wasn't going on up, so I guess she thought it'd be cool if I stayed there and waited. It was already after 3 in the afternoon by this time.

Chris arrive maybe 10 minutes later. We were trying to see if we could tell where our neighborhood is from our view up there on the Saddle. We're at 11,000 ft or more so its almost like looking down from an airplane. Chris called one of her sons and he went to our church parking lot and flashed a mirror, then we could see that flash and see where we live. It was awesome that we could see that so far away.

We could also see storm clouds gathering in the west, almost eye level to us since we were up so high. It really made us nervous when we saw lighting, and we could see all these little dots, which were boats, on Utah Lake coming into shore, most likely because they too could see the gathering storm clouds and lighting. We needed to start down the mountain, and soon! But we needed to wait for Cheri.

We were getting a bit concern, but then I noticed that I could see what looked like to be Cheri slowly making her way back down the trail. Happily for us, Cheri wasn't able to keep climbing up to the Summit, and so within minutes, we were making our way back down the trail. Some nice people passed us and Chris thought to ask them to take our picture right then since we never did get a chance to ask anyone to take one of the three of us at the top.

So this is us just as we were starting back down from the Saddle. Even though our goal was the Summit, we agreed that we had done quite a feat to make it to the Saddle. I have to brag here that physically, I was still feeling pretty good, no tired legs or muscles....but mentally, I was a bit freaked out. This was so high and I couldn't see how so many people hike this all the time without any deaths. It's scarey up there! Pretty, but scarey! I was definitely ready to get back down. Call me chicken, I don't care.

Going down seemed to take forever! It was harder in that you really had to watch how you stepped down, some steps were very steep and so it was jarring to my feet. When we reached the meadows (remember about 5 more miles left still) I could feel I was getting blisters on the big toe and the bottom of my feet were getting very sore. Chris and Cheri said their legs were tired and they still made frequent stops. I was afraid if I stopped and sat down to rest, I'd never get up again! I would stop and wait for them to catch up simply because everyone else seemed to be gone. All those other hikers were already finished! It was getting evening and it was too quiet, so I'd wait till I could hear my friends getting close so I wouldn't be alone.

By time we got within the last maybe mile and a half, it finally hit me how incredibly exhausted I felt, how much my feet hurt, and yes, now my legs were tired too. It was dark by now and lucky for us, Chris is practically a Boy Scout (always prepared) and she had a flashlight, so we walk (stumbled) close together while Chris shined the light on the trail. We made it back to the parking lot where a Ranger was waiting to make sure we got down okay (we were impressed by that) and dragged our extremely worn out bodies to the car. It had taken us 13 1/2 hrs. to do our hike!

At one point, on our way down, I said something about feeling pretty good for a 7 mile hike and Chris pointed out its more like 15 round trip...(!) No wonder we were so tired and yay us! We did it and if we hadn't have been so tired, we would have patted ourselves on the back. Instead, we discussed hot showers, ibprofin and bed. All of which we couldn't wait to do.

Getting out of the car was hard, I could hardly move when my friends dropped me off at the house. Somehow I made it though and got a nice, hot shower. Sadly, my all terrain shoes didn't make it, I had to toss them. I felt better after a shower and a meal, although going up or down the stairs was a new experience in pain. I remember in the middle of the night, I needed to get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't move and I wondered, "what's wrong with me? Everything hurts!" Then it all came back to me, the walking and walking and walking, etc. (brings to mind a primary song....)

At church the next day, I saw my hiking buddies. We whined about how sore we were but still so happy that we accomplished the goal. We all agreed we were definitely interested in more hiking. Chris handed me a book called, "Utah's Favorite Hiking Trails." She assigned me to look through it and decide where we should possibly hike in the future. Okay, I'll do that after church....

I open the book, and what do I read..."WARNING: HIKING INVOLVES RISK!" Now they tell me I think to myself. But then I read, "Hiking is a sport, not a pastime..." I'm thrilled! I finally found a sport I can do!!! And by Monday, I wasn't hardly sore anymore at all. Again, yay me!!!!

My hiking Buddies: Cheri and Chris

Summer Vacation In Arizona

2009-08-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun in Arizona this summer for my vacation, that I haven't done any blogging and now have possibly forgotten everything. I do have some pictures that hopefully will help me remember.

Everyday, I take Cozette and Donovan swimming for a couple of hours. They have a very nice private pool just down a few houses from their home, so we're able to easily walk there with all our belongings and enjoy the cool waters.

This is the only picture I have of the pool in Jared and Astrid's neighborhood where I spent hours with the kids swimming. It's really a nice, well kept area with the nicest plants and flowers and palm trees growing around the whole pool, you can see a bit of them here and a some of the ramada that has a couple of picnic tables under it. It's enclosed with a self locking fence so its nice and safe. It's like a mini paradise. Very relaxing. Although you can't tell it by the kid's expression and body language, we had hours and hours of fun swimming and laughing together! It was probably 110 or 112 out.

One Friday night, Jordan, Carly, Sam, Josh, Kortnei and I met at Chick-fila to eat, then afterwards we went to San Tan Mall and let Sam play in the splash pad, which was a hoot to watch little Sam try and get to where the water shoots out.

There was a sign warning to wear shoes, that pavement is slippery when wet. Sam did slip and fell and he just laid there like he was thinking "I'm a goner!" Made us all laugh (once we saw he wasn't hurt of course) Cute!
Uncle Josh couldn't resist a little kiss!
And here's Aunt Kortnei watching Sam play...then I handed her the camera and she took better pictures of Sam then I did. I have alot more of Sam playing in the water but its on my laptop that is not working and therefore I can't get to them. But they were all cute pictures!

One week, I drove up to Snowflake, which is almost a 3 hour drive, to visit Jaclyn and David. As many trips as I'm able to make to AZ, I don't always get to see Jaclyn and David because they live in Snowflake and the rest of my kids are in the valley. So, I decided to go to them. It turned out that David was going to be at his ward Scout Camp, so we were able to have a girl's week, or at least a few days together. Jaclyn already told you about what we did, and it wasn't anything special, just fun for me to hang out with my daughter, talk constantly (we're both talkers....) and laugh alot. Jaclyn and I have always enjoyed not doing much, just hanging together and it was fun to do it again for a week. Jaclyn's husband is a really great guy and I enjoy him also. I especially enjoy observing how much he loves my Jaclyn.
Here's Jaclyn cooking. Jaclyn treated me like a guest! She cooked for me, served me and made sure at every moment I was comfortable. She cooked good meals, popped popcorn, made s'mores, I loved it! I so enjoy being lazy...and eating....
Here's Jaclyn reading. She can read a book in a day....she speed reads! She's smiling cause she knew I was taking this picture, but if I could have done it without her knowing, she would have a very serious look of concentration on her face. I think she read five books while I was there, maybe six....I read, maybe one....This is one thing we've always had in common, our love for books and reading. Jaclyn is just much more faster then I.

I look a little crazy but here I am, knitting a sweater for Jaclyn.....and no, it's not done yet. But it was fun working on it. I've never knitted a sweater for a grown person, I use to knit sweaters for my kids when they were little, one each I believe. One day, I hope to finish this sweater and Jaclyn will model it, no matter how it looks, right Jaclyn?

Here's our "my space" shot, meaning we took it of ourselves. I love my Jaclyn, she's funny, sweet and kind, with the biggest heart. She and David have alot of faith and I so appreciate that about them. I had an awesome week with Jaclyn and when David was around, he was fun too. He works hard and has fun doing it. Good kids!

I drove back to the valley a day earlier then planned because Jared called and told me that he had to take Astrid to the ER that morning. He had woke up that morning and looked at her and saw that her breathing was very shallow and that she didn't look right. On closer examination, he noticed that she didn't have her insulin pump on....he didn't know why but he recognized the problem immediately as this has happened before.

She was unconscious and he had to carry her to the car. He didn't call 911 because he knew that they would take her to the closet hospital, which would have been the wrong one, and they would have air lifted her to the right one, and he felt he could get her there much faster. The dr. told Jared that was probably the smartest thing, Jared driving Astrid there himself instead of calling 911, for he'd never seen anyone as bad as Astrid was when she came in.

Once they got her all hooked up, her numbers started going down. When I was able to see her friday afternoon, she was still unconscious, hooked up on all kinds of things and in the ICU. Later that night, Astrid was awake and able to talk, although she doesn't remember us visiting her and carrying on a conversation. She lost a whole day, she couldn't remember anything.

By sat. morning, Astrid was off the breathing machine and moved into her own room. She kept getting better and was released by sunday evening to go back home. We sure are grateful that Jared woke up early friday morning and noticed Astrid and recognized that she needed prompt medical attention. I believe that Heavenly Father was watching over them. I don't have any pictures of Astrid since she was sick so much while I was in town, and I'm not sure why I don't have any of Jared. I did have dinner alone with Jared one night and we had a good visit. Jared works two jobs so he's a super busy guy!

Here are a couple of pictures of Sam playing with one of his toys. He puts a ball down a tube and it shoots up high in the air and makes all kinds of noise! He was so cute to watch while he played. Well, he's just so cute period!

I also was able to spend many afternoons swimming with all three of my grandkids at Sam's pool and Jill came too. Jill lives in Phoenix, about 48 miles away, so we took turns visiting...I'd go to meet her after work in Scottsdale and we'd spend a few hours shopping and having dinner together. Then she'd drive out to stay with me on saturdays where we'd shop and also swim. It was so much fun for me to be able to spend all this time with Jill.

One afternoon after our swim, I brought the kids back to Josh's house with me to have dinner. They were playing in the backyard on the trampoline and noticed how tall the grass was getting, so they asked Uncle Josh if they could cut the grass. At first, they busied themselves cutting the grass under the trampoline with sissors (it was shady under there). Then, once Josh was ready, he got out the lawn mower and let them go to work. Both Cozette and Donovan thought it was great fun!

Grandpa Jack is back in town, which only means one thing....he's coming to bring me back to Utah. Love Sam's smile!

We went out to eat on my last night in town with all the kids except for Jared's family. Jared was at work, so we stopped to see him for awhile. These two pictures are of us sitting along a fountain outside of a frozen yogurt place. Left to right, baby Sam, Jordan, Carly, me, Josh and Kortnei. Jack took this one of us.
Then we took this picture with Jack using the timer on his camera. It's not the best picture, but hopefully you can see how much fun we were having. As many times as I go to visit my kids, no matter how long I stay, it's always with a heavy heart that I leave them, wishing I didn't have to go back. I love them all!

The whole time I'm playing with my kids in Az, Jack is back in Utah working and I miss him not being with me. I was glad to see him after five weeks! We took the senic drive on the way to Flagstaff, through Cottonwood and Sedona. We stopped at a senic view spot of the canyon where we took some pictures. Above is our "my space" shot.
Here's the view!
Jack wanted to take a picture of me with the canyon behind me, so I stood ready and I asked him if he could see the pretty canyon and he said "I see a pretty girl." That made me laugh...that's why I look so toothy, I was cracking up. The view was quite pretty though of the trees and canyon. We had a fun time being together after such a long separation. Jack is the sweetest guy in the world, I'm a lucky girl!

Happy Birthday Sam!

2009-06-21T13:33:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we went to a birthday/swimming party for Sam's first birthday. It was at Jordan and Carly's apartment where there is a nice area to eat and to have a bar b que.

Here's out birthday boy! Uncle Jared is holding him.

It was hot so we all hit the pool immediately! This is Jill, me, David, Jaclyn, birthday boy Sam, Kristi, with twin babies Erik and David...with Donovan jumping in the pool..all enjoying the nice cool swimming pool.

While we all were cooling off in the pool, Jordan was cooking hamburgers and hot dogs for all of us. I'm sure it was 200 degrees around that grill alone, poor Jordan. Does he look hot?

Donovan and Cozette loved the hot dogs!

Here I am holding the birthday boy....we had just got out of the pool and was waiting for out food. Poor Sam probably felt mauled as we all wanted to just hold him constantly...but look how cute he is, who could blame us.

After we ate our lunch, it was birthday cake time! Here is Carly getting the "1" candle ready while Sam and Donovan watch. Jordan is standing behing Sam, making sure he doesn't fall off the bench.

"Happy Birthday to you...."

Hmmmm, good cake!

Sam was given a whole bunch of presents

Then we were all back in the pool where we all stayed till we realized we were starting to burn. We had a so much fun, it was the best party ever!

Donovan would yell "cannonball" and make the biggest splash!

Aunt Jaclyn with two of her favorite nephews.

Grandma Janey with her three sweet grandkids. You may ask, where's Grandpa Jack? He's the photographer!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

2009-06-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

My dad is a good, kind hearted man that has always worked hard to take care of his family the best he could. He's smart, funny, and has an awesome tenor singing voice (even in old age, he still sounds excellent). He has a love for his country and served in the Air Force as a pilot

during WWII. Dad deeply loves his family and although has been without his eternal companion for six years, he tries to find happiness in his children and grandchildren's lives. He is faithful in living a righteous life and has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He's been a good example to me my entire life and I love and admire him greatly.

Our family in 1960.

This is dad, 2 yr old Brian, and I was probably 8.

This me, mom and dad at the grand canyon probably in 1975...I think I was 19.

My wedding day.

Happy Father's day, dad. Thank you for always being such a good dad!

Visiting grandma and grandpa

2009-05-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

My blog is my journal, so not all my entries will be interesting to anyone other then myself as I record events that I want to remember such as this week's events. This may be too long to bother reading, but here it is...

Saturday, Cozette and Donovan came to Utah to spend a whole week with us! They flew here with Jared and Astrid, and we all enjoyed an afternoon at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. A zoo is always a good idea.....

Jared and Astrid flew back to az this morning, they forgot to pack the kid's Sunday clothes, so we didn't go to church, but we did have a nice walk to the cemetery where visited their great-grandma Larson's grave and walked around looking at all the pretty flowers. We came home for lunch and then went to play at a park. We are going to visit a different park everyday....they are both full of energy and need a place to play!

Donovan came with only one pair of flip flops and of course they broke while playing at the park yesterday, so today, first thing, we went to Target to buy him a new pair. Then we went to Big Lots and I bought them each a mini art set and a sketch pad so they could draw, paint and color to their heart's content.

We went to the park in our neighborhood for awhile and the kids played for an hour mainly on the swings. So far they have wanted tuna for lunch, then they are happy to draw while they watch the cartoon network. Today they played in the backyard almost all afternoon while I finished a quilting project and did some laundry. We decided we wanted to have a dinner picnic at a park, so we decided that we should go to the Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove, and the kids decided that we needed to have Little Caesar pizza and pop. Grandpa thought that sounded just fine.

Cozette proclaimed Discovery Park " the best part ever!" There was so much to do and see, and we're really having fun even though it was windy and cloudy. We stayed till it started to rain and even then, they begged to stay. I'm sure we'll be returning to this park again soon!

On Tuesday, we just stayed around home today. Cozette and Donovan enjoy playing with the kids next door and on their playset, so they spent most of the day on the swings. I was happy to let them just play and I did a load of laundry and worked on a project. I think tomorrow I will reward them with a movie since they are being so good for me.

Wednesday afternoon we went to Costco for a super cheap lunch, then went over to the Cinemark to see the movie "UP" in 3D. We had an hour to kill, so we walked over to the Dollar Tree and bought our movie treats, and when we came back to the theater, we were the first people in the theater. The kids thought that was pretty cool since I let them wander around the theater till other people came in. We liked the movie, it was quite cute even though I did get nervous during parts (I was worried about people fighting on the outside of a blimp....) but Cozette and Donovan didn't think it was a bit scarey. The 3 D was fun, but didn't make it anymore entertaining then it already was.

The two pictures that are hard to see were taken on my phone camera....not very good, but the first one is them standing in front of the screen at the theater...I was sitting in the very top roll. The second one I wish I had a better camera with me because it was a hoot! It's the kids sitting there with their 3D glasses on, made me laugh.

Thursday we went to the library and checked out some books. We spent some time on the front porch reading to each other till the neighbor kids came out to play and Cozette and Donovan wanted to join them. I was happy to continue reading on the porch. Later we went to visit my favorite store which is Broadbents in Lehi, they weren't all that impressed, but did get to see their Aunt Lynda working there.

Friday morning I went on a hike to Stewart Falls, so the kids stayed home with great grandpa Larson. I was gone from 7:30 to 11:30, but grandpa Larson said they were good and he almost forgot they were even there! I had a very enjoyable hike and was glad the kids were good while I was gone. I rewarded them by taking them to lunch, their choice, which of course they chose McDonald's so they could play on the toy. I took a book along, so I didn't mind how long they wanted to play. It was super windy that day and they wanted to go up the mountain, so I took them to visit Aunt LaRee and Uncle Gary since they live right next to the mountain. That evening we all went on our family night out to JCW for a kid friendly dinner.

Jared and Astrid flew back in town on Saturday, but I was having a fun day with my friend Susan who was visiting from Utah, so Jack entertained the kids and took them to pick up their parents at the airport. I went to a baby shower at Dear Lizzie and had my first taste of their famous cupcakes! Hmmmm, I highly recommend them, and I'm told that their brownies "are to die for"...anyway, I'm getting off the subject. I didin't see Jared and Astrid till dinner time, which we went to JCW's again, but this time, we ate outside and it was nice and cool. Then Jared and his family went to my nephew's house to visit his family and Jack and I went grocery shopping which is our usual sat. activity.

Sunday, we took Jared to the airport, there was only one seat available so Jared needed to take it since he needed to go to work on Monday, so Astrid and the kids stayed till Monday afternoon. The kids were glad to have their parents here and not happy at all that Jared left them. I guess no matter how much fun it is at grandma's house, they still miss their parents, which is good of course.

I had alot of fun with the kids being here. They happy and sweet and easily entertained! I'm hoping coming to stay with grandma and grandpa is an annual event, that Cozette and Donovan will never tire of coming to see me! I loved it!

More Arizona Pictures

2009-05-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun playing with Sam when I first arrived to AZ. Jordan was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and bring me directly to his home so that I could see Sam.

Sam studied me for maybe a minute, then had a big smile for his Grandma Janey!

Does my nose look big to you? Just look at cute Sam, not the grandma.

Sam was so fun to watch, to play with and to hug and kiss....I couldn't get enough of him!

There's an hour difference from UT to AZ, I always have jet lag...Josh took this shot without my permission or knowledge. Sleeping beauty I'm not!

One day, Kortnei decided we needed to learn to make our own flour tortillas. This is actually the second try that I did which turned out better then the first simply because I watched a YouTube demo first. Once you've tasted homemade, you'll never want store bought!

"This is my day, my Baptism Day"

Cozette, minutes before she was baptized by Jared.
She was so excited! She was very cute, all smiles and very happy. Her bishop asked her parents if she was always this happy. He also told us all how much he enjoyed interviewing Cozette and how ready she was to be baptized, that she knew all the right answers. Later, after Cozette was baptized, she read her testimony to us all, and we were all given a copy of it with her cute picture.
We were all very proud of Cozette.

Donovan looking exceptionally sweet. He is sitting on Grandpa Jack's lap waiting for Cozette to be confirmed.

We all were invited to the Daughtrey's home (which is Astrid's family) for a nice lunch and swim. We didn't swim because we had shopping to do!
Grandma Doe had a poster for everyone to sign for Cozette so here we are, Jaclyn, Jill, Kortnei and me all taking our turns. I don't know where Astrid was, but she was there too. Maybe she had gone out to the pool when we took this picture.

Jared and David looking like they're having fun...

Here are some action shots of Donovan and Cozette swimming in their Grandparent's swimming pool. They both are like fish, they love to swim!

After Sam's nap, we went over to play for awhile. Look at Jaclyn's blog to see more pictures of Cozette's baptism. I didn't get a picture of Cozette dressed after she was baptized, or of Sam in his church clothes, but Jaclyn did.

Later that evening, Jared came over to pick up Jack to go see the movie Star Trek, I told him that I was very proud of him and Cozette today and he told me that Cozette told him "This was the best day ever!" I'm glad and hope it's a day she'll never forget. It was a great day for me too!

Our Arizona Room

2009-05-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Whenever Jack and I visit Arizona, we stay at Josh and Kortnei's house where they have given us our own bedroom. It was just a plain room with a bed and nightstands, where I kept a few of my belongings, books, and a few clothes. There wasn't anything on the walls, and only a shade on the window. When I went to be with all my kids for mother's day and for Cozette's baptism, I got a pleasant surprise. Kortnei had rearranged the room and decorated it so it's not only comfortable, but a very pretty and personable room....just for us!

This is the lovely bed with our end tables and lamps. Josh hung up the two shelves and Kortnei made the flower pot and arranged the flowers on the right. On the left is a couple of framed pictures of my mom, and a little one of my parents that my niece Sarah took for a photography class.

Kortnei had each of my grandkids trace their little hands, then she made these cute pictures and framed them and hung them on this cute shelf that she painted. I was very excited how Kortnei put all my "Arizona reading books" on top. (I never want to find myself without something to read)

Kortnei painted these blocks and hung them over the closet. Now, if any of you out there ever go and visit Josh and Kortnei, and I'm not there....I'm sure you're more then welcome to use this room, after all, it is their only "guest room." But I like how this makes it clear whose room this really belongs to. In case you haven't ever heard, Jack and I are quite the proud grandparents and are happy to have what we are on display at all times!

On either side of the window, which by the way, Kortnei added these nice, cream color curtains, Kortnei also took some of our favorite photos of our family, printed them in black and white and framed them with selected paper with my favorite color, purple. She was really creative how she put them together. These pictures don't do them justice. They are super pretty.

Jack and I have always felt at home when we visit AZ, , but I can't express how it made me feel when I walked into my newly decorated bedroom! I was astounded, no one has ever done anything like that for me, ever! I so appreciate all the time and work that Kortnei and Josh put in to make our bedroom special for us. It was a cool surprise and I love it!

Thanks Josh and Kortnei!

Watch for more about my AZ trip to come in upcoming post...

Spring in American Fork

2009-05-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

Took a few pictures as I walked around the neighborhood. The high today was 70 degrees.

Janey and I decided to start a container garden project. We'll keep you posted on how the squash, peas, carrots, cucumbers and string beans turn out.

Just like mom's...

2009-05-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

About seven years ago, Jack and I got a Bosch Universal Kitchen Machine (?!) for Christmas. (Santa brought it) It was with the hope that I would learn how to make homemade bread that would be just as wonderful as my mom use to make. Well, Jack was the one who actually learned to make the bread, and yes, it did taste like mom's!

That was a miracle because when we asked mom for her bread recipe, she didn't use a recipe, she had it memorized. Mom wrote down for us what she thought was the correct recipe, and it was very close to the recipe that came with the Bosch. So Jack's bread was very good and it became his self appointed, weekly chore, to make and bake this very yummy homemade bread. Very close to mom's...

I wanted to learn how to make bread but for some reason or other, I never did. When we moved up here to Utah, the Bosch was packed away in a box and left in my dad's garage for the past few years. Recently, I rediscovered the Bosch and decided I would learn how to use it.

So today, I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies....a big huge batch of them...just like mom use to make. They are extremely yummy! ( I confess, I usually just use those Betty Crocker cookie mixes) Maybe I'll try bread next...

I really miss my mom.

I'm just a material girl...

2009-04-29T09:31:00.001-07:00

Want to see my fabric collection? I work part time at a quilting shop, and we get paid in fabric. Yes, it's legal because they pay taxes on us. Even though I only work 8 hours a week, it didn't take long before I filled up my cabinet with fabric.

I organize the fabrics with their pattern in boxes, all ready for me to make some day.

This is some in another cabinet.

More future quilt kits...I'm starting to fill up the drawers in a dresser.

I have been collecting quilt books for years. I also get "paid" with any quilt book, magazines, threads, rulers, any quilting supplies that our shop has of my choosing. It's fun....but each one of these books (and I have binders of magazines full of patterns) has quilts that I would love to make. I counted all my kits, I have enough to make over 50 quilts! My questions is, will I really get these done?

Now some of these kits are for small wall quilts or table toppers, or real small ones like this one that I'm working on to put on the coffee table....

I do enjoy quilting and I love looking at fabric. I can spend hours just going through my collections. I suppose I'll get all these projects done someday, one at a time.

I saw a sign one time that said "Whoever dies with the most fabric, wins!" Although this isn't my goal, I just might win.

Maybe I should get a real job.

Yes, deer!

2009-04-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

I don't want you all to think that nothing much is going on in my life, but really, nothing much is. My days are pretty much same-o same-o. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I go to my sister-i law's house (Lynda) early each morning where we work out together, Monday thru Friday. This morning, as I turned off the main road into the street that leads into her neighborhood, I noticed a group of five deer (a herd?) grazing on somebody's garden (I hear that deer love to eat tulips). "You don't see that everday," I thought to myself, so I stopped in the middle of the road and took these pictures from inside my car.

I thought it was pretty cool. They didn't like me taking their pictures apparently because they started to go behind the trees and bushes so I couldn't see them as well.

While Lynda and I were walking, I kept a lookout in case we got to see more deer. We walk a path that is just down from the canyon and I hear it's not surprising to see deer, but we didn't see any today. It was exciting to see what I did see. You know, I'm such a city girl and all.

Remember last week how I was anxiously awaiting the blooming of our tulips? They bloomed! Jack took these pictures this evening of all our flowers. We think their pretty.

This is the view walking out from the front porch.

Front sidewalk view....sorry you'll have to turn your head.

My favorite....Jack being a true photographer, isn't this cool?

I have such an appreciation for nature and its beauty and I just remembered, today is Green Earth Day, and here I am enjoying it's beauty. Cool, huh.

Spring Has Sprung! or has it.....

2009-04-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

I have these blocks on my shelf celebrating the new season of spring. One of the things I enjoy about living in Utah ( and may be the only thing by the way), is the changing seasons. You all know I love Arizona, but its so boring, weather-wise, and I so enjoy the changing seasons.

Jack planted daffodil and tulip bulbs last fall and they have been growing slowly because our weather has been so crazy. Nice and warm one day, cold and snowing the next. For example, today is thursday, just last monday, 3 days ago, it was a nice, warm day, clear skies....warm enough to crack the car window down a little to enjoy the nice breeze. It's spring break here so there were families playing in the parks, there was such a feeling of, yeah, its spring! But back to my flowers...The daffodils are up, but I wanted to wait for the tulips to come up before I took a picture.

On Tuesday, it started to rain. Wednesday it was more like slush. When I came home from my morning workout, I noticed how pretty the daffodils looked, all bright and yellow, and I said to myself, "I really need to take a picture of them." But then, I put it off thinking its raining too hard. I would live to regret this....

So, it's Wed., about 10:30, and I'm putting a pot roast in the oven, and its pouring rain. Perfect day to sew on a project. I have my day all planned out, after a few chores, I'm going to sew and listen to "Angels and Demons." And may I just say, nothing is more fun then to be working on a project while listening to a good book. Before I knew it, it was 1:30 and I realized I was hungry. Now, keep in mine, I'm in the basement all this time. I now go upstairs to fix some lunch and I'm shock to see the grass, trees and my flowers are covered with snow! And its still snowing! What the heck?!

I so took these pictures....

Notice the pink blossoms that are now covered in snow.

These are my would be budding tulips, the poor things.

Poor daffodils!

So, it's snowing. I never checked the weather much that evening, although I did listen to the weather report on the news, and thought I heard that it would be more rain/snow mix expected on Thursday. So, I went to sleep, not thinking much about the weather. Apparently, it snowed most of the night, because Thursday morning, we woke up to this.....

This is the plum tree with the pink blossoms. And now, there is a broken branch from the weight of all that snow!

Close up of the broken branch.

Side of the house as well as the neighbor's tree.

My car that I'm about to clear off so that I can go to meet my sister in law Lynda to do our daily workout together. I'm not happy about that....having to clear off the car I mean.

This is all you can see of my daffodils and future tulips!

Later that day, Thursday, the skies were clear and the snow started to melt. You could hear the sound of steady water streaming and an occasional plop of snow melting or falling off the branches rooftops.

Today, is Friday. Clear skies, warmer temperatures, and I'm happy to report that my daffodils survived!

Lynda told me that daffodils are hardy and will survive and I didn't believe her, but she was right. They are gradually raising their drooping heads towards the sun. They're alive!

And the tulips, are about to open up still.....they are in the first box at the bottom and along the top. I'm anxiously awaiting their opening to see all the pretty colors. What a week! I think it's safe to say now....it's spring! At least Utah-style.

It's all I have, I don't have cute stories to tell of my cute little kids since they're all grown and I'm old....

5 things!

2009-04-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

My dear sister in law Bobbi tagged me, so here are my "5 things....."

5 things I was doing 5 years ago

1. I still had kids at home...Jill and Josh
2. Looking forward to Jordan coming home from his mission
3. Having fun with little Cozette and baby Donovan
4. Was planning a trip to N. C. for a family reunion
5. Lived in AZ and thought I always would

5 things on my things to do today list

1. Grocery shopping with Jack
2. Hang out with Jack
3. Eat lunch and dinner with Jack
4. Watch a movie with Jack
5. Sleep with Jack...in other words, do everything with Jack

5 things I'd do with a million dollars

1. Pay off all debts
2. Buy a house in AZ
3. Buy my kids a house....Jaclyn and Jordan
4. Pay for Jill's college
5. Use in old age....which is anytime now!

5 places I have lived

1. El Paso, TX
2 . Mesa, AZ
3. Tucson, AZ
4. Gilbert, AZ
5. American Fork, UT

5 jobs I've held

1. Produce Dept. at Romney Produce Co. El Paso, TX
2. Stock shelves at Albertsons El Paso, TX
3. Account Receiveable at Romney Produce Co. Phx. AZ
4. Instructional Assistant at Neely and Oak Tree Elem. Gilbert, AZ
5. Assistant at MHS Gilbert AZ (loved this one)
6. Sewer at Beehive Clothing for LDS church AF, UT....sorry, couldn't resist adding

my last job as well, now you know my whole job history, other then babysitting off
and on as well.

5 things I want to do in 5 years

1. Move back to Arizona! I miss my kids and grandkids!
2. Be a grandmother to at least 4 more children (seriously kids, get cracking!)
3. Get that million dollars
4. Be healthy and strong and looking good for 58 (sadly, that really is 5 yrs away...or
just still be alive!
5. Still be the happy, loving wife/mom/mother in law/grandma/friend/ that I am now,
living near all my love ones and enjoying my old age with them all, surrounded by
all grandchildren and kids (refer to #2) and able to still do all the things I
enjoy, reading, quilting and knitting but mainly playing with my grandkids (all 7 of
them) and possibly be a temple worker (its what old people do). Still loving life,
but hopefully back in AZ where we belong (Jack and I)

5 people I tagged

1. Shellie
2. Carly
3. Ashley
4. Leisel
5. Janna

Happy Birthday Cozette!

2009-04-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today is Cozette's eighth birthday and I can't believe how fast time is going by. Cozette not only is our only granddaughter, but she's also our very first grandchild....she made us grandparents! We were so happy and excited to learn that we were going to become grandparents, we could hardly wait till she was born. I remember that Jared called me and told me that Astrid was in labor around 1:00 in the afternoon, and he'd call when it was getting close. We all went to the hospital to wait when they extimated Cozette would be born in around thirty minutes, around 8:00 that night.

We waited in the waiting room for almost 25 min., and I was just thinking that this is taking too long ( I was so excited) when Dave (Astrid's dad) caught sight of Jared and yelled "Yay!" And Jared told us the good news that Cozette had just been borned, and that we could go see her in a few minutes.

I fell immediately in love with Cozette the minute I saw her...and I could tell then that she looked alot like Jared did as a newborn, she had his same mouth. She was so cute with dark hair and such a sweet little face. I was the first grandparent to hold her!

Cozette is the smartest little girl, she was talking at a very early age, clearly, not baby talk....she wasn't even 2 yet when one day she said to me, "grandma, that's ridiculous!" She always happy and smilely and loves to come to play at my house. She's quite smart and learned to read easily and does very well in school. She's a good swimmer and is presently taking tennis lessons.

Cozette always makes me smile!

Cozette loved to come over and have us take her to a park not far from our house and we'd play there for hours! She still likes to do that as often as we can.

This was taken last summer when I spent all summer playing with Cozette and Donovan! I love this picture of Cozette and I hugging, even though I look a bit crazy here, but I hope Cozette always knows how much her grandma Janey loves her!

Donovan's Birthday Continued

2009-03-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

I, Grandpa Jack, was able to go down to Arizona for the weekend and spend time with the family. My sweet wife, Janey, wasn't able to come down this trip.

Friday night we got together at Pizza Hut for Donovan's birthday. Since Cozette's birthday is coming up on April 6th, she got an early present too. Uncle Josh and Aunt Kortnei bought them both Star Wars Learning Laptops.

Sam was having a fun time too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONOVAN!

2009-03-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today is our cute grandson Donovan's sixth birthday, and he is spending it at Disneyland with his mom, dad and Cozette. Jack and I just got to talk to him on the phone, and he told us that his favorite ride is Space Mountain! That's so brave, that ride scares me...

This is a picture of Donovan when he was two and we often sat on the front porch of our house in Gilbert, Az, so I bought these little chairs so that he could sit with us. I love his cute little face and how blue his eyes are! (He also looks alot like Jared did at that age.) He's a fun, sweet little guy that always makes me laugh when he talks. Grandpa Jack and grandma Janey sure love him!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

2009-03-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

"Today's your birthday!" (da da da da da a da) "Gonna have a good time."

Thats me singing to Jordan. I love Jordan very much, I fell in love with him the first moment I saw him right after he was born, and he turned his little head and showed off this huge, deep dimple in his cheek. Jordan was always a happy boy, good natured, always kind and thoughtful of others and very appreciative of anything we gave him. When he was four and he'd get mad at me, he'd say "Mom, I don't like you right now, I still love you, but I don't like you!" I thought he was so smart to know the difference between loving and liking...its like when we don't like what our kids do, but we still love them. Very knowledgeable for someone so young. All my baby pictures of Jordan are in Az in my room there at Josh and Kortnei's house so I can't scan any of them, but he was a real cutie from day one! Always smiling. The family group picture was when Jordan was in the second grade and you can see how cute he was and he still is! He's a great son and has given us nothing but pure joy his entire life. We love you Jordan (my Dun dun)
Happy 26th birthday Jordan!!!!!!

I survived!

2009-03-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

My talk is over with, and yes, I did survive the whole ordeal! Whew! What a relief! And thanks to you all that made comments on my last post, with all my whining. It truly helped to know that I had all your sympathies. Oh, and as far as brownie points go....forget the points, bring on the brownies! I'm so looking forward to a much more fun,worry-free week...all smiles for me :)

If only I could just quit the church.....

2009-03-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

Jack and I were asked to give talks in sacrament meeting this sunday, and may I just whine a bit about it? I absolutely, do not enjoy giving talks in church. It scares me! And then, if just talking isn't bad enough, we've been given the topic of, are you ready for this....self reliance, both physical and spiritual (using three articles in the Mar. Ensign). Are your eyes rolling in the back of your head and nodding off to sleep? Nothing like doing something scarey that promises to bored everyone.

So, every morning, I work a little on my talk....then spend the rest of the time wishing I didn't have to do this, it hangs over me like a black cloud, threatening to ruin my happy life. I'll be going about my business, enjoying and yes, even laughing out loud, when suddenly, I remember, I have to give a talk on sunday.

Its too bad that I have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the teachings of our gospel and all our prophets and church leaders, or I be so out of this mess.....

I'll let you know how it goes, if I survive this ordeal. Stay tune.

I love being a grandma, and a mom

2009-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

Last week, I flew to AZ to babysit Cozette and Donovan while their parents went to Hawaii. I don't know who was more excited, Jared and Astrid for their trip to Hawaii, or me, for my chance to spend all this time with my grandkids. As I have frequently whined, I live too far away from all my kids and grandkids and will welcome any chance I can get to be with them. Why else would I be so happy to come and clean house, feed, clean and entertain kids as well as make sure they get to school, do homework and do their chores while I make sure they stay safe and hopefully have no illnesses or accidents? Does this sound like a vacation? Absolutely!

Its the chance to do the thing I have always loved the most, being a mom. Except now, its so much better because now I'm being a grandma. Its the chance to relive some very happy memories of when my own children were little and dependent on my care. How can I describe the pure pleasure of listening to my grandkids tell me stories about what happened at school today and realize how much what their saying remines of me their dad, my son? How when Cozette talks, her expressions and comments are almost word for word something her dad has told me some 19 yrs ago. How it makes me laugh to hear her love for Star Wars, (something her own dad has loved since we took him to a dollar movie to see the original Star Wars movie back when he was 3 and wanted to be a Jedi...)

I get such a kick out of hearing Cozette singing in the shower....singing songs from the movie "Labrinyth" a favorite of my Jaclyn's. Hearing Cozette singing those songs really took me back and of course we had to watch it (have to admit, I still don't think much of it, but my kids loved it and now my grandkids do...I'm more of a "Mamma Mia" person). Donovan, who has a bit of a speech problem (calls me gwamma) has a nice clear voice, good pitch and sings loud and long in the shower. It was great.

Speaking of Donovan, he's more like his mom, so things he does doesn't remind me so much of Jared other then he's a boy and has lots of energy and has a love for Star Wars also. He's the sweetest little guy, big blue eyes and a great grin. I love listening to him talk, he sort of sounds like Elmer Fudd from the Bugs Bunny cartoons (wascally rabbit...) "Gwamma makes the best cookies!" Its what he looks forward to the most when I come around, me baking cookies, never mind that I use the dough you buy that are just squares already cut and you just have to put them on the pan....he still thinks I do it best. Donovan came home with a little cup with grass growing and I asked him "what's this?" "My prant. We gorow it in science." Later that evening, he watered it and Cozette asked him why and he said, in the most serious voice and face ever, "I want the prant to wive!" Cracked me up.

I also got to spend some time with my baby grandson, little Sam who is barely 8 months old, crawling around, big eyes and huge grin with dipples and so sweet and soooo much fun to watch play and discover his world, I couldn't stop squeezing him and kissing his little chubby cheeks. I love watching Jordan and Carly in their roles as new parents, how they work together like a team and how much fun they're having creating their little family unit.

Jaclyn spent the weekend with me and Jill came over and spent sat. with us. What a treat for me to spend some time with my two girls, shopping, ( just looking really, none of us have much to spend, but we did find buy 2 get 1 free earrings at Clare's) Of course I immediately started in on Jill, telling what she should or should not be doing and she took it all well, thats my job you know, but she knows how much I miss her, and the hugs she gave me when we said goodbye, I know she's missing me too. I do miss my boys, but oh how badly I miss my girls! So anytime I have with my girls, is heaven to me. We really had a good time.

Josh and Kortnei took a mini vacation so I went over daily to feed their dogs, Miles and Chubbs, my granddogs. I love going to their house, its my AZ home, they have a bedroom for Jack and I so usually I spend most of my time there when I visit. I did get to visit with Josh and Kortnei a couple of times during the week before they left town and afterwards. I love to eat lunch with Josh...Josh works from home and its just sort of become our thing to do together. I also love seeing what new projects Kortnei has going, shes always doing something creative and smart to their home. She's very organized and has remarkable housekeeping skills. I really admire her.

I had a great week, got enough hugs and kisses and squeezes and smells (and I'm not just talking about my grandkids.....) to hopefully see me through till the next opportunity I have to visit all my grandkids and kids. Oh, and this is the best thing about being a grandma...I get to do the fun stuff, then leave with all the sweet memories. Thanks to all my kids and especially my grandkids for my fun week, love ya!

Jill doing "my space" shots. I'm not suppose to posts these, but oh well, I think they're funny.
(I'm such a trial to Jill's life....that's my job, hehe)

Valentine for Janey

2009-02-13T23:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day

I was planning to surpise Janey with a Valentines message here on our Blog, but she beat me to it. However, I want to let everyone know that I have a very sweet wife. I love Janey very much. She has been my best friend for over 31 years now. We have a great family and look forward to spending time with them whenever possible.

There are endless things I love about Janey. She is a wonderful wife, mother and grandma. Janey loves her family. She has many talents. Among her best talents is enjoying life. Her sense of humor is also one of her best. I love her way of letting you know what is on her mind. I also love her talent in making things. Especially her quilting!

I am very grateful to have a loving, smart, pretty, sweet etc. companion and look forward being with her forever.

Happy Valentines to Janey!

love,

Jack

Heart Cookie Jar

2009-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

One day last month, I was shopping with Jack at our local Target, when I saw this red heart shaped cookie jar. I have a thing for cookie jars (bet you didn't know) and while I was admireing it, I noticed it was only 12.99, although that is completely affordable, I decided to not buy it, thinking I'll get it later on in the month since we had already a shopcart full of items. It can wait, so I put it back.

One week later, I was again shopping at Target, needing less items and decided I would purchase this cookie jar (thinking it will look so cute on the kitchen table with my quilted table topper) There were two of them a week ago, now, there was none! I was mildly irritated but figured I could just order it online.

I googled it "red heart shaped cookie jar" and two came up, both on ebay for 25.99 plus shipping! What?! They were only 12.99 and I could have kicked myself for not buying one when I had the chance. I looked online for over an hour, trying to find it elsewhere with no luck. Jack said I could probably find it at another Target. True, but I was still put out that there weren't any at our Target.

Monday night, Jack called and said he was on his way home, but would be a little late, he'd stopped at one Target but they didn't have the cookie jar, but had called another one and they did have one and he was on his way there now. I was thinking, what cookie jar? But, luckily didn't say it out loud. In all my whining about not getting the cookie jar on sat.(yes, I actually was whining about it....), Jack had thought to find one for me, and I had simply forgot all about it......

That's the kind of good husband I have....Jack always thinks of my needs first no matter if they are huge important, matter of life things, or simple, little things that mean nothing to anyone but me. He'll cook dinner, run any errands, go out and scrape the ice off my car and get it all warmed up (when I use to have to be at work at 6:30 am), fill my car with gas just cause I don't want to, etc.

My mother use to say that she spoiled me while raising me and Jack continued the spoiling once we were married. Its not so much that I'm a brat as Jack has a huge, generous heart and is madly in love with me! Everyday, I'm amazed I had the good sense to marry him....and how very lucky I am to have Jack as my husband and friend, and how I'm madly in love with him also!

This cookie jar will always be special to me...and no, it wasn't my valentine's gift....that'll come later.....

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

I enjoy decorating each month and have gradually collected different items to decorate with, for instance these "Love" blocks, and the heart shaped candy dish. (I carefully took out all the red M&M's out of a huge Christmas bag I got for Christmas...clever, huh?)

I also enjoy making quilted wall hangings to change each month....

and table toppers.

My red heart shaped cookie jar (see story ab0ve)

Quilting Retreat in St. George

2009-02-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last week, my sister in law, Lynda invited my sister LaRee and myself to go to St. George for a 4 day quilting retreat. We left Thursday morning and arrived around 3:30-ish, where we immediately set up our sewing stuff before we were to go into town to visit all the fabric shops and eat.

There are all the usual places to eat there in St.George, but we like to go to Cafe Rio, The Pizza Factory and usually some other kind of mexican food place, or maybe somewhere to get a hamburger. But this time, we went to The Outback for :an early dinner that my brother Dennis paid for! It was a very nice and much appreciated surprise for us. Thank you Dennis!

We have certain quilting retreat traditions that take place in St. George, for instance, We always go to "The Scrap Apple," "The Lazy Daisy," "Mormon Handicraft," and "Ben Franklin's," where we look at quilting fabrics and supplies. If you're a quilter, then you understand that you can never have too much fabric, EVER! And St. George is the only time we allow ourselves the treat of getting a concrete custard that we get at Neilson's which is very yummy and we learned is actually better for you then ice cream.

Back to the more important stuff, quilting! I brought a box of spring like fabrics...

that I wanted to make into this.....

sorry, I couldn't get the photo to turn, but this is the picture of my project on a book called "Celebration" which has the patterns for wall quilts for the four seasons. I'm working on the Spring.

Our schedule is: we work on our projects, cutting fabric and then sewing the quilt blocks till maybe around 10:30 or 11:00 pm, then we watch movies while we work on any handwork. We usually watch chick flicks but on our first night, we watch the action movie Vantage Point, which we all enjoyed. Other movies we watched were Mamma Mia (love it), While You Were Sleeping, What About Bob?, Overboard, and You've Got Mail. Now, that's entertainment!

We sew and watch movies till 2:30 -3:00 in the morning....yes, we are quite the wild girls when we get together to quilt! We wish we didn't have to stop to sleep! But we don't sleep for very long, we're usually up by 8:00, ready to start sewing again, which we do (we eat yogurt and cereal for breakfast) and we work till maybe 2:30 in the afternoon, where we then are ready to go to town to visit the shops and have our dinner. And that is our daily, traditional, quilting retreat schedule.

I got this far on my project....

I only have to do the hand work on three more blocks (the basket of flowers, the birdhouse and wheelbarrow) and sew the blocks together and add borders and I'm finished! We had to come home before I finished completely, but felt I was able to accomplish alot. Lynda and LaRee accomplished alot on their projects too but you'll have to check their blogs to see their results, but I can say, they were very pretty quilts.

One day, I think it was on Friday, I looked out the window to see if it was raining, and I saw all these quails in the back yard. There was a mom and a bunch of little ones. I tried to get a picture of all of them but was only able to get this one.....

They were cute and it was exciting to see something so nature-ish (made up word) and completely enexpected!

No matter how many days our quilting retreat is, it is with heavy hearts and slow hands that we pack up and drive back home. Our only solace is there will always be quilting retreats in the future! My sister in law Lynda is the perfect host, sister in law, and friend, very giving and considerate and so helpful (quilt making decision-wise, well, actually in all ways) not to mention just a whole lot of fun! We have a blast everytime we go, lots of laughs, good eating, etc. Thank you just isn't a big enough word to say to her, but I think she knows what these quilting retreats mean to me, but I still will say a huge THANK YOU!!!!! to Lynda anyway.

Walking Can Be Deadly or My Near Death Experience

2009-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else in the world, I too am determine to improve myself through daily exercising. Sounds simple? No. As you may have noted from previous post, its winter out there, and therefore, way too cold to go on my morning walks, not to mention street and sidewalks covered in ice.

So, I decided to just do my walking indoors, walking around the basement, going up and down the stairs, doing some of the workouts on the Exercise on Demand, etc...got very boring real fast. First of all, let me explain that I do have tenitis in all my joints and have been told by the doctor that certain forms of exercise are out for me, such as running (sorry Dennis, no marathons for me). I have joint pains at all times, but walking is good for me.

To be successful at any exercise routine, I need to just roll out of bed, throw on clothes, shoes and socks and get it done before I do anything else. That's almost impossible in the winter months here, so I thought of joining the local fitness center. Jack and I went to look into that, determined it wasn't in our budget (plus way too many kids running around...must be the mormoms, ha ha) and then I thought I should get an elliptical because I do enjoy workouts on them and I could just roll out of bed the way I like. But, that needs to be saved for, so in the meantime, I decided I can't just sit around and wait till we're ready to buy our elliptical. I need to go walking every morning no matter what.

Jack assured me that when he leaves for work in the morning around 6:30, he sees lots of people out running and walking. So I decided that I will bundle up and go walking each morning from 7 to 8. After all, its February, the ice has melted and the streets and most sidewalks are clear. I got up Monday, bundled up, got my MP3 player ready and plugged in ears, and walked around our neighborhood once, then walked down to the cemetary and walked around it four times....both of these areas are good cause they have hills to go up and down with (good for the legs and butt)

It was wonderful! Cold, but it was so nice to be out, walking hard and fast, taking good deep breaths, watching the world wake up. I really enjoyed it and felt good afterwards. Tuesday morning, I did the same walk, but this time, I walked in the opposite way around the neighborhood, then went down to the cemetary and walked around any way that lead to me having to go up the hills more. I was happily listening to "Million Dollar Baby" (Alice Cooper), when I tripped and I went flying! I landed hard,completely on my front, arms out and hands down with a huge thud (did anyone feel the earth move around 7:45 am tues?)

I was soooooooooo embarrassed! These two older ladies saw me and came over to make sure I was okay. When then asked if I was hurt I said yes, my boob....I landed hard on them but particularly on the left one (if I had inplants, they would have burst....) but other then that I told them I was fine and I continued my walking till my hour was up.

When I showered, I learned I had two scrapped knees, one is puffy, but other then that, there is no visible signs of my accident. But oh, am I sore, from head down, every part of my body is sore and I feel like I got hit by a bus or something. I'm popping Ibprofins and rubbing the Icy Hot (no, not on my boob), using a hot pad, taking hot showers, and whining alot. Today, I walked around the basement and up and down the stairs....

Hmmmmmmm, Chili!

2009-01-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

I didn't think to take a picture of this, even though I actually did have my camera with me, but yesterday, I made a wonderful crock pot full of the most delicious chili for a "Empty Nester's" luncheon we were having at our ward building. I put the crock pot on the floor in the front of Jack's car (he had my Escape to get it licensed and registered so I had his Hyundai) and drove ever so carefully down the driveway, over the lumpy patches of ice in the road, making sure to miss any and all pot holes, or anything that could spill the chili. I seriously took my time, driving to the church which is only about a half block down the street from the house, turned nice and slow into the parking lot, slowly drove to the back of the building to the door that leads to the kitchen....turned...slowly....and plop! The crock pot tips over, the car windows immediately steam up (it smelled wonderful), I stopped and just stared at the mess.

I didn't know what to do! I righted the crock pot, parked the car (barely seeing because of the steamed windows...) took the crock pot into the kitchen (where my friends laughed, after making the appropriate comments...) I barely had half of the chili left! I cleaned the outside of the crock pot so it would be presentable, went out to the car where luckily, the majority of the mess landed on the car mat so I was able to just take that out and I emptied all into the bushes (some dog will love that....) rubbed the mat in some snow (which made the snow look a little disgusting) and decided to deal with the rest later since I needed to be helping inside with the luncheon.

Needless to say, my chili was a hit, every bit was eaten, and I was asked by many for my recipe! Immediately after the luncheon, I had to go to work at the Quilting Cottage, so the chili mess stayed in the car till almost 7 last night (keep in mind, its like a freezer outside...) and Jack and I cleaned it up as best we could. It wasn't till after I was in bed last night that I realized that I had a great blogging moment happen and should have taken pictures! I can't say, well next time because there will be no next time...I'm determine to learn how to transport a crock pot of food without spilling ever again!

Jack, of course, was very nice about it....car stills smells good....

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snoooowwwwww!

2009-01-06T20:46:00.001-08:00

Jack and I drove home on friday and had no problems weather wise. We were aware that it had snowed several times here while we were in AZ and knew that it would probably snow once we were back, after all, it is winter. But this is so much! It started to snow Monday afternoon and snowed all day today (tues). Its very pretty out but the roads are slick! This the view out our kitchen window.....I'm copying Jaclyn.

This is the view out the front window towards the front porch....note how thick the snow is on the roof, and our trash can is getting buried.

Our poor Escape half buried in the snow.

My street from the left to right. Everyone keeps trying to shovel the sidewalks, but soon its covered back up with snow.

This is the view of the front of our house as we're backing out of the garage. See the tire marks on the driveway. I'm on my way to work.

I work a part time job here at the Quilting Cottage. Its in a cute little house just down the street from where I live. It's a fun place to work, after all, quilting is my hobby and I love fabric, and this little cottage it packed with fabric.

Merry Christmas! Nichols Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T09:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We started our Christmas season with a visit to Mesa Temple Christmas lights. This is the nativity scene. We thought the star was particularly awesome.
The weather was nice and clear, but I thought it was cold still, and I had a big cup of hot chocolate with me, as well as gloves and scarf. But my kids didn't think it was cold at all.
Cozette and Donovan

Sam was impressed with the lights, or my (grandma's) face.

We decided to have our first annual family gingerbread house making party! Each family brought their own kits, or whatever they wanted to use to make their houses. And we ordered pizza for our dinner. It was fun and messy! Here is Sam and Donovan and Cozette helping grandma Janey. (I actually didn't make one, I was having too much fun holding Sam)

Jordan, seriously contemplating the construction of his gingerbread home.

Josh and Kortnei thought the kits were "lame" so they decided to be more created using only graham crackers and candy they had around the house....

here's their masterpiece! They called it "a trailer park gingerbread house." Very creative and cost effective! My kids are so smart.

And here's Cozette and Donovan's! They did a great job, and ate most of the candy instead of putting it on the house. What could be more fun!

Sam's job was to just be cute and entertain. He did a great job too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FROM THE NICHOLS!

Christmas day! Finally, the whole family are together under the same roof, so we took a casual (it's the only way to go) family picture. You'll notice some are still in their jammies (Jill, Kortnei) We used Jared and Josh's cameras using the timers. This is the one from Jared's camera, and although a good picture, sadly, Sam's little face is a blur. I'll have to put the one from Josh's up later when I get it downloaded. I believe in his, Sam is smiling, but the rest of us are not or something silly like that. Anyway, I love the picture simply because these are the people that I love the most and I don't care what they look like. I just like being together.

Pictures from 2008 Happy New Year!

2008-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

Since I'm all new to blogging, I thought I better try to post more quickly before I forget what my Josh has taught me. I'm going to put a year in pictures, Ta ta a Daaaaaaaaaaaa!

Jack and I went on our first every cruise! Here we are boarding our ship in Vancouver. We were so excited to be going on this 7 day cruise to Alaska, thanks to Josh and Kortnei who helped us.

Here we are lounging on deck. The sun is nice but Kortnei was getting burned, so shes the one that has her hoodie covering her face. There was a library onboard, so I had checked out a book to read, sitting in the sun out to sea, doesn't get better then that.

I actually found a quilt shop in Ketchikan! Bought some fat quarters to remind me of Alaska.

We rode a tram up a mountain in Juneau. This is us at the top waiting to go back down.

See how pretty the glaciers are? Incrediable!

Our glacier pose.

It was very cold.

My cute kids.

I thought we needed a picture of us waiting at the airport to fly back home, and an lady heard me say that and offered to take our picture. I wanted it to look like how were were normally, just reading and not posing for a shot, that is why I'm looking down. Josh must have thought the same thing. We were sad our cruise was over though.

I (Janey) spent the summer in Arizona. I was so homesick for all my kids, I couldn't stand to stay in Utah, so I came down in hopes that we could move here. This is some of my kids, Jill, Jordan, Carly and Kortnei.

I love this picture of my grandkids, Cozette and Donovan. Jack tried to get a good picture of them in their sunday clothes, and they kept laughing and not paying attention to him, but I think they look cute.

Our new grandson!
Borned June 20, 2008.
Grandma Janey with all her grandchildren. Cozette, Donovan, and new baby Sam. Sadly, grandpa Jack was in Utah working.

I saved this See's chocolate cigar since Mother's Day for this special occasion.

Uncle Jared, Aunt Astrid,

cousins Donovan and Cozette

Aunt Jill, Uncle Josh, and Aunt Kortnei.

Grandpa Jack with all his grandkids, baby Sam, Cozette and Donovan on the 4th of July.

Obviously we all were extremely excited for Sam to join our family.

I spent the summer swimming daily with Donovan and Cozette. Donovan doesn't like water in his eyes, so he always uses his goggles. I got such a kick out of how he looked in his goggles that I wanted a picture of him. I chose this shot as the picture of the year 2008! (its an award in my mind only) And no, I have no pictures of me in a swimsuit, although I wore it daily. Just picture a cow in swimwear....

How I love my Cozette.

We went to eat at Chili's in Tempe for Jill's 19th Bday. This is Jill with her bf Paul.

Astrid, Donovan, and Cozette came to spend their fall break with us. We went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. They had been there before with Astrid's grandparents, but Jack and I hadn't ever been. We really enjoyed it. Oh, Jared was there too.

Thanksgiving at the cabin!

Josh, Kortnei and Miles (my granddog), we all just arrived at the cabin for thanksgiving and I had brought this santa hat for them to take a Christmas picture with Miles wearing the hat because I was secretly working on a calendar for Josh (all with pictures of Miles....he loves his dog.)

It snowed Thanksgiving Day. It was so exciting to my desert rat children. See how fast Sam is growing? He's five months now, and his daddy, Jordan, loved the snow.

Our Thanksgiving feast was yummy. And now were digesting, and planning our Black Friday in Showlow, a much smaller shopping area then AF....we only went to Walmart.

Sam wants to play with Miles.

Sam liked playing with aunt Jaclyn and David....who wouldn't?

Uncle David holding Sam, with his new baby quilt that grandma Janey finally finished for him.
Its covered with little animals and insects, and Sam tried to pick them up.

Jordan took this picture of us at a Mexican restaurant in Pinetop. I think we ate all the turkey.

Grandpa Jack took this picture of Sam wearing the Santa hat in the Walmart in Showlow. I had this picture printed up cause I love his little face.

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

2008-12-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

Jack and I have been married for 31 years! All happy ones. When I was a newlywed, I mentioned to my brother- in- law Gary that it was fun being married, and he wisely said, "and it just gets better and better as the years go by." He was so correct!

This is one of our engagement pictures.

This is the picture we used on our wedding announcements.

The year was 1977...when Star Wars came out.

December, 29, 1977

Here we are, a "my space" shot with our new camera. Sadly, this is how we actually look today...