Visiting a Pumpkin Patch!

Part of the fun of Fall and Halloween is picking out pumpkins to carve. We recently went to a local patch and the kids had a great time choosing, clipping, and carrying their own pumpkins.

More of Hawaii

Governor Jenkins? As part of the conference that Scott attended in Honolulu; we went to visit the State Capitol of Hawaii. Here; Scott is standing behind the desk of the Governor. The building was a very open building with the Rotonda having no roof. Symbalic of a volcano.
Walking a beautiful beach in Maui. This is where we also saw lots of kite surfers. Really cool to watch.
Plants are HUGE. and Everything is so green. rains most every day for about 5 min. at a time.
I lucked out on this shot...I guess..One more foot and my ball would have been in the water. But trying to hit it to the green was scarey...6 more inches backward and I would have been in the water! This course was by far one of the prettiest. But at $200 a piece for 18 holes...it should have been the best!

Hawaii Cruise and Conference

Last week; Scott and I got home from 10 fabulous days spent in Hawaii. We took a cruise and visited all the Islands; golfing on each one. Every morning we started out our day walking or running on the ship for exercise, while the ship was getting ready to land on a different Island each day. ( Travel was each night while we slept)

Our first Island was Maui. So many beautiful plants and flowers. And we were told that we needed to visit in the late fall or even December to get the most of the flowers! Can't imagine seeing more.
Each golf course was so unique! This one was probably the worst of the 5 we golfed on. But beautiful cause it was right on the ocean front.
In Kona; our cab driver took us to see the Temple after he learned we were "one of those practicing mormons". It had such a peaceful feeling to it. We didn't have the time to attend a session though, Had to get back to the ship before it set sail for the Island of Kaui. What a great experience. I guess thanks to the Utah State Senate for getting us there for a conference that Scott attended after our cruise ended.

Hotel Utah's 100th Anniversary Gala

Friday Night June 10th 2011 Marked the 100 years for Hotel Utah and Joseph Smith Memorial building. Scott and I were invited to a dinner Gala that evening. As it turned out we were the only senators there. Brad Dee and his wife Marsha from the House were the only ones from that body. Period dress was encouraged. Out of 800 invited....I'd say only about 24 couples dressed up. Most being the "host and hostesses" for the evening. But we thought dressing up was a blast!
Standing in front of a fabulous ice sculpture .
A better picture of the sculpture. It was truely amazing.
President Monson sitting on the main floor and beside him was the Govornor and his wife Jeanette (in the blue hat) are sitted next to him. President Monson spoke as well as Govornor Herbert and Mayor Becker of Salt Lake City. Our seats were above everyone else in the Mezzanine level. This will go down in our memory of special things that we did while Scott was in the Senate.

Memorial Weekend

Erik's family went to the cabin with Scott and I for Memorial weekend. It was pretty wet weather so two of the three days were spent inside. Cameron showed me his fabulous talent of putting together puzzles. He was finding pieces faster than I did. I was in awe at how well this almost 5 year old did.
Erik and Kelli told us that at his pre-school there was a puzzle contest and Cameron won hands down faster than any one else in the class. Sounds like to me he is taking after his dad in problem solving.
Finally on Monday morning the rain and Snow stopped long enough for some golf ball hunting. The kids enjoyed this probably more than Easter egg hunting.
sorting through their stash to find their favorite ball to take home. Notice Kate's wet pant bottoms from walkiing in the wet weeds.

A few of my favorite things

A few of the things that I have enjoyed this past month are: the grandkids waiting out the front door for new furniture to be delivered. I'm sure Sparrows Home furnishings have NEVER been greeted like this before.
My three grandsons that are now in glasses. (Non of the girls yet; just the boys.) Can't figure it out if there is logic in that yet.
My new favorite room in the house. New carpet and new furniture smells better than any candle!

Our Easter activities

coloring eggs

The hunt is on!

The bubbles didn't last long!

April Activities

Last weekend; we took an updated picture of our family. Some were a little upset that it was too casual. Check out Kate and Vader staring each other down.
Griffin (Jolene's and Devin's son just got new glasses. He was so happy to be able to see now.
Weekends are always hard for Scott.
Our most recent gift card given to Scott for a recent speaking engagement. Not sure we will be taking that one into the resteraunt to redeem. But pretty cool anyway.

New carpet!

Painting the living room. Scott was sooo involved with painting the ceiling; he stepped right into the paint tray with his one foot! Paint everywhere!
New paint on the walls, new carpet as well as new blinds on the front room window! We have a new window coming tomarrow! And then Saturday; new furniture!
I couldn't get this picture to rotate and stick; but anyway these guys are pulling off the old carpet from the stairs. (which by the way is original which makes it 34 years old!
But the new carpet is SO BEAUTIFUL! Why haven't we done this sooner?

Hanging out with the Dinosaurs

This year the kids were given the opportunity to put together a dino puzzle. If they succeeded, they were given a wooden puzzle of a dinosaur. Thanks Thanksgiving Point!

Showing all their puzzles. I wonder if Kenidee will be able to get hers back from Kaycee.
The 3-D movie was very entertaining this year. Even the little ones liked it. Free popcorn is fun.
It's a long drive; but the kids don't get tired of being amongst the dinos at Thanksgiving Point.

Another fun evening at Discovery Gateway

Tuesday night everyone (except Scott) had a fun time at Discovery Gateway. The water trough is always a hit.
Hannah shows off her rock climbing skills. Looks like she is ready for a Moab trip!
Kenidee and Kate play with the cash register in the store. Kate loved ringing up the food items that Kenidee was shopping for.
Anchormen Griffin and Brianne deliver us the local news.

Utah State University and the Legislative Wives

Utah State university came last week and gave us an amazing luncheon featuring their ARTS department. Here was our dessert. Aggie ice cream and a chocolate wave of musical notes.
The fashion department showed off their contest winner of making a dress out of office furniture. You can see the bodice is a chair back and the frame work for the dress; the legs of the chair and material from the seat of office chair. They had taken 1st place in the contest with other schools.
Add a battery pack and you have lights! It was truely fantastic!

A fun family night at the aquarium

Last night we braved the snowy weather and went to the Living Planet Aquarium for a great family night. Here Brianne and Kate get to touch a snake.

Erik is going to make sure that Kate doesn't back out of touching this huge thing!
Addison is not sure if this is what she wants to do either. But in the long run; only the youngest of the grandkids ended up being brave enough to touch the snakes. (They didn't know better)
Kate and Cameron are hoping to touch a stingray. (But their arms were just not long enough)
Kenidee, Kaden, Brianne, Griffin and James are being "electrified" by the electric eel. Thanks Living Planet for great food and a great time!

Cub Scouts and the Rain gutter Regatta

Last Thursday night; our cub scouts in my ward had the raingutter regatta. Here 3 of our boys helped fill the gutters with water.

They had a marvelous time "racing" their boats in competition with each other.
It was very hard to not use their hands to help their boat go faster.

Our entire pack (minus 2) posing with their boats.