Back Blogging

I'm going to attempt to do some catching up on my blog; consequently, I'm going to be all over the place.  I said I was going to lose weight this year - TOP PRIORITY.  I also want to be more consistent in my blogging.  We're on the hunt for a new computer which will really help.  In the meantime, I'm catching up with photos I have already downloaded or that people have emailed to me.

For starters, I had another opportunity to see my cousin Susan. (Susan is really my mother's first cousin, but we're closer in age.) When I go to the Redlands Temple I try to plan a visit with her. The facility she stays in is in Yucaipa which is very close to the temple. Susan has always asked me to bring other family members to  see her.  Happily, Janna made a point to come along.  She obviously is not pictured, but is taking the photo.

The last time Susan had seen Janna she was a baby.  I went on a trip to North Carolina 20 years ago to visit my sister, Beth, and her family.  I made a point to also see Susan who was living in Beaufort, South Carolina at the time. That was the first and last time she saw Janna until our summer visit.  Susan commented on how she thought Janna looked like her girls - tall, thin, and beautiful. Wish Susan was closer in vicinity. It's been eight months since we've seen each other.  I'll probably make another trip soon.

Susan and I
Far apart, yet close in spirit.

Cassie in her element.  She helped put together a wedding for her friend Jennifer last August.

Good Friends - Jennifer and Cassie
at Jennifer's Wedding Reception

Creative Grandkids - Ammon and Dexter
with Becky looking on.

One of the other reasons I haven't blogged or got anything else done around here is because I worked steadily for a teacher who was ill.  I was happy to be of service and it was a good four months of steady work - great on the pocketbook, but it really taxed my time.  I have to say,  "I couldn't have gotten through Christmas without Becky!" She loves the holiday and I was so busy working.  She wrapped and kept track of all the gifts, so grateful for all her help.

This was taken on Becky's birthday last year - 2012.
To show how far behind I am,
she's had another birthday already this year,
The BIG Three-O (30).
In celebration, all the kids went to Disneyland this year.

Ready to go -Haley, Becky, Cassie, Tom, Sam, Bailey, Janna

January 2013 - about a month before Becky's real birthday.

Everyone said, "It was the BEST Disneyland trip, EVER!"

Sam and Cassie at Disneyland

Janna and Bryant

Over the Christmas holiday we finally had the opportunity to personally meet Bryant.  He's a good friend of Janna's.  He came to eat one evening with our family.  We had heard so much about him.  We thoroughly  enjoyed his company.  Hope to have him over again.

Cassie and Dexter
Christmas Cuteness

All the girls, on our way to the
Sierra Ward Relief Society Christmas Party.

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens."

Kahlil Gibran