Monday Night

I got in my car this morning, turned the key and the battery was dead......Ricky came to the rescue and bought a new one after work. With the help of Addison and Sean, he replaced the battery. It wasn't a simple task, that's why he needed the extra help. My car is so high tech and very complex :)

Meanwhile, I showed Mabulane how to make Addison's favorite cookie, LaVena Nuzman's Humongous Oatmeal cookies. I got most of the ingredients out of the cupboards for her. Instead of grabbing the ground cloves, I took out the whole cloves. Mabulane didn't realize and put them into the flour. I wondered why there were little balls in the mix and luckily caught the mistake. We sifted them out, then added the ground stuff.

The cookies were so good, everyone had to have two! You're a good cook Mabulane!

Then the Vikings had their first game tonight with the third time out of retirement, Bret Favre. Sean had to run upstairs and put on his Vikings shirt he has had since he was 12 or 13. I think we may have to invest in a new one pretty soon or risk indecent exposure! Touchdown....

The Sabbath Day

Today was a great day! My counsellors and I were set apart as the Stake Young Women's Presidency in the Gainesville Stake. Peche', Sharyl and I. Our Secretary Kristen, was at a Single Adult Conference in Chicago.

Later in the afternoon, Sean had the priviledge of baptizing Kenney, a 12 year old young man.

Kenney and his mom, Elsa.

Elder Harding, Kenney, Elsa and Elder Amesse

I am a WINNER!

I have a favorite quilt store, and I used to be able to walk there. Then we moved to Daybreak and it was only a short drive or a long bike ride away. I walked into the store the day it opened, and the owner was so friendly, you felt like you were walking into a family member's home. I took so many friends there just because I wanted to show them what a great shop it is! Material Girls Quilt Shoppe is located in the Town Center right in front of City Hall. I went to city hall frequently to see Ricky (and sometimes Jeremy!) and would always stop in at the shop.

One day I had come out of Material Girls and was backing out of my parking space. Jeremy called me on my cell phone and asked why I was backing up and talking on my cell phone at the same time!! I looked all around me and couldn't see where he was. It turns out he happened to glance out his office window and saw me. From then on, I would always look up at his window and wonder if he was looking out. I wonder if he ever gets any work done:)

When I needed a "pick me up" I would drive to Material Girls and just touch soak in the beauty of the fabric, the quilts on the wall, the patterns, everything! Then I would leave the shop feeling so much better.

When Ricky moved to Florida in September, I spent a whole lot more time in Material Girls and a whole lot more money too!

When I designed the quilt for the South Jordan Sesquicentennial, Nadine (Material Girls Quilt Shop owner) donated all the fabric. She just told me to pick out whatever I needed. That was incredible!

Anyway, I actually won her giveaway! Wow!

http://thematerialgirlsquilts.blogspot.com/2009/08/and-winner-is.html

My Trip to Utah

Vanessa and I began our car drive to Utah, on July 20. We drove with a vengeance which I wasn't prepared for. Vanessa just wanted to save the money for an extra night at a hotel....therefore we made it in 3 days instead of 3 l/2 days. We arrived at Rebecca and Dave's home at 10 at night. We spent the night there and woke up early and landed on Lindsay's doorstep with doughnuts covered in sprinkles and chocolate milk. Lindsay was surprised, but Bridger and Kennedy don't really have a sense of time yet! They knew we were coming, and they were excited. Rebecca made a delicious red velvet cake for me. Bridger is dying to get a piece! Oh, and the candles do represent my age. :)
Lindsay made this beautiful cake for Kennedy, completely from scratch. It didn't turn out the way she wanted it to, but I think it looks fabulous and so does Kennedy! The cake is so tall, you can't even see her little face. We had two cakes at one sitting.

We planned a trip to the Jordan River temple but it was closed, so we drove to the Mt. Timpanogas temple instead.

I love this picture.

This day was a lot of fun! Rebecca and Lindsay grew up with Sarah Mikel in Florida. The same with me and Mary! Katie was visiting from Crestview, she is Sean's age and a really sweet girl. Ricky used to babysit her mother and her aunt and uncles when he was a young boy probably Katie's age! Sarah has three adorable children, Jackson, Sunny Mae and Lila Kate. She had her fourth, Griffin later that night in the parking lot of the hospital! An incredible story......you can read about Ryan's version here http://ryanandsarahblair.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-crazy-night.html

Sarah's version here http://ryanandsarahblair.blogspot.com/2009/08/heres-whole-story.html

It is a very intense and gripping story!

Well, I didn't take many pictures when I visited, I just depended on Vanessa and Lindsay's cameras. We went for great bikerides in Daybreak, shopping and lunch, delicious dinners, a cookout in the mountains, a hike in the mountains, Bucca di Beppo, a ride in Jordan's jeep to the mountains with the top down, Pioneer Day parade, Oquirrh Mountain temple open house (twice), a lot of playing with Lego and the dollhouse, and caught up with dear friends.

Then I drove back to Utah by myself! I stopped in North Platte, Nebraska, St. Louis, Missouri and Atlanta, Georgia. I was able to stop at Liberty Jail and take the historic tour since I drive right past it and have been dying to stop each time I pass it. There was no one to tell me no this time (Vanessa!!!!)

Our Family

This is our entire family, it's grown from six children---What a blessing!

Families are forever
Since our four oldest children are married, this is our existing family. Vanessa is 19 and has just moved back to Utah to go to UVU in Orem. Vanessa is taking general classes right now and she hopes to become an obstetric nurse. Her first day is today! Sean is 16 and a junior at MTI, specializing in Engineering.

This is us with our two adorable grandchildren. Bridger is 4 and very imaginative. Kennedy is 2 and a little princess. To find out more about them, see Lindsay's blog.

http://lindsaynielson.blogspot.com

All the girls in our family. From three to six, in eight years!

The boys, they have doubled as well....

Bridger' pose is so cute I had to post it!

Rebecca, our oldest child and daughter, married David Campbell a little over a year ago. While they were visiting us, Dave was offered the job as police officer for Salt Lake City. Rebecca works for Blue Cross Blue Shield. Vanessa is living with them right now, they just bought their first home. Rebecca, Lindsay and Jordan all live a mile apart from each other which is a mile away from where we lived as well.

Lindsay, Jeremy and Bridger and Kennedy. They just moved into their new home last spring and Jeremy is able to bike to and from work everyday providing the weather cooperates. Jeremy is a civil engineer for the city of South Jordan and is finishing up his last semester for his Master's degree. Lindsay stays home with the children and is a loving and caring mother, which is one of the most difficult yet most rewarding job ever! She designs web blogs and creates quilts and decorates their home in her spare time...

Jordan and Kim have been married for over two years now. Jordan is an animal control officer for the city of West Jordan and is currently working on his post for police training. Kim works for SOS staffing and is very efficient at her job. She is working on he first quilt. They are the parents of two Rhein Weimer dogs, Cheyenne and Raleigh.

Addison and Mabulane have only been married since February, the same anniversary as Jordan and Kim! Mabulane moved here from Lesotho, Africa, and just recently got her driver's permit. Addison has a job at parks and rec for the county and is looking for something more stable with benefits. He wants to pursue his education in Public Administration.

Well, that's our family, a brief description.......we are so proud of our family and the wonderful and responsible adults our children have become. We are looking forward to what the years bring us.....and of course all the grandchildren and spouses we have yet to know!

July 4 in Ocala

Kennedy loved the pool, she wasn't able to swim at the moment, because it was dinner time. I wonder what she is thinking about. Later, bit by bit, she slowly crept into the water via the stairs. It happened over a long period of time (15 minutes?) but her outfit was eventually soaked!

This is the life! Sitting by the pool eating mac and cheese with Daddy.

I don't really know what Jordan was thinking, but I'm thinking he reminds me of Fabio!

This is my sister in law Patty. She is from Georgia, still has her accent and is so much fun to be with. She loves to cook just like I do and we have shared many a recipe.

Ricky planned this dinner, it was quite the feast for about 16 people. Surf and turf.

Look Kennedy, this is Makenzie. She is a real live grown princess. Or maybe she is one of Cinderella's stepsisters, because the shoe doesn't seem to fit! Just kidding....she is a princess.

Evidence that we had a lot of feet at our house!

Bridger could hardly stand the anticipating of lighting the fireworks. You can see it in his body posture and the intensity of his eyes.

"Wow, I get to hold it myself! I wonder if the firemen will come. Is this what it's really like to see fire? This is hotter than I thought.....I want to be a fireman when I grow up."

I got the pictures mixed up, but at first Kennedy was really scared....then when she saw that she wouldn't get burned, she really enjoyed it. In fact, she was hypnotized ......

The girls in our family. Lindsay, Mabulane, Rebecca, Kimalee, Vanessa, me and Kennedy.

Vanessa and I.

Vanessa and Addison

Lindsay, Rebecca and Vanessa, my talented and blue eyed daughters

Greg, Ricky's brother, and his wife Patty.

One of their sons, Ryan. One of his many fortes is lighting fireworks:)

The Hardy Family: Makenzie, Scott, Kelly (Ricky's sister) and Skyler who has his mission call to the Denmark Copenhagen mission in September.

The fireworks were loud!

This ends July 4 in hot, humid Florida. Anyone ready for the beach?

Sean's First Day of School

It all started last night when Dad gave Sean a priesthood blessing to start out the school year.

Sean was up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. He goes to church for early morning Seminary class at 6:30. They are studying the Book of Mormon this year.

Sean is a Junior in High School, I can hardly believe it. My baby...... Just kidding, I thought that every year with each child. The difference is that with Sean it is the last esperience for me in everything.

This year, Sean is going to a new school. MTI, and he is specializing in Industrial Engineering. There are only 600 and something kids at the school, and each of the specializations has a specific color polo shirt to wear. They all have to wear pants and closed toe shoes. http://www.marion.k12.fl.us/schools/mti/

The students have a whole hour for lunch and today, Sean came home. The Culinary Institue makes lunch everyday for the students but Sean didn't check out the menu........I don't think they offer peanut butter sandwiches, or grilled cheese.....

Sean is off to school again, in his new truck. Pretty cool transportation, Sean! He was so excited that he forgot his backpack at home, will have to drop it off in the back of his truck shortly.

The classes are small, about 20 students each. Sean is taking Chemistry, Industrial Engineering, Honors English, Honors American History and pre Calculus. He will have the opportunity to earn at least 15 college credits by the time he graduates high school. The students at MTI still graduate from their home school. His is Vanguard High School.

Have a great year Sean and don't drive recklessly!