Joy to Everyone

Joy to Everyone

Christmas Pictures...

I now remember why we didn't get very many professional pictures of my kids when they were growing up. Last night I made an appointment at Wal-Mart for christmas pictures of the kiddoes. Everything went really smooth until Kayleigh had a major meltdown! She fell asleep in the car on the way to Alamosa. has been sick and is on medication and had been in school and day care all day long. So once we got her calmed down, we really got some great pictures!

We had a great time with Rex and his friends at the BYU-Utah game on Saturday. Just like the old times, when Terry and I went as students! We sang "Rise and Shout" and yelled and stomped our feet! I'm sorry Kristin, but I'm just going to have to say this-BYU-26, Puke-23!!!!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

A Late Halloween...

Here's some pictures of our cuties in their Halloween finest. Sarah was the cutest cat around, but I didn't get a picture of that.

Halloween Doings...

Lately I have had a hankering to craft. I guess that I am somewhat a closet artist, although I have never been very good at this kind of stuff. I've been following Michelle and Brianne's blog "The Tortise and The Hare" and have found some really great stuff! Here are some pictures of my feeble attempts at crafting.

If You've Never Been... You Must Go...

Plenty of Peaches, Peaches for Me...

Does anything look better than a row of freshly canned peaches on your counter? How 'bout the sound of each jar popping to say "I'm sealed"? I love this time of year, even with the work of canning. I feel a great sense of accomplishment with every batch of whatever. They taste a whole lot better too.!!!

Family Reunion Moments...

Sure did miss everyone that couldn't make it this year. Hope to see you in 2010!!!

Concert in the Mountains...

Remember that old TV show "Petticoat Junction"? Last Saturday Terry and I, were invited to ride the Rio Grande Scenic Rail Road to the top of La Veta Pass and attend a live concert by Michael Martin Murphy. Our good friends, Nathan and Tyanya Smith were our hosts. Nathan's birthday is July 22 and he loves cowboy and bluegrass music. We arrived at the train station at 8:30 am and took off for the top of the mountains. I haven't been on a train for awhile and this refurbished steam engine was a treat. The scenery was beautiful and the music was great. Michael Martin Murphy was popular when I was in High School and he still sounds great. He rode the train with us and stopped and talked to all the passengers. The concert stage was run by solar and wind energy, making it totally "off the grid." On the way back, we saw a mother elk with a newborn calf. The calf was still wobbly, so we figured that it was only a day old.In all, it was a great day-Thanks Tyanya for inviting us!

Our Wedding Anniversary...

Today Terry and I celebrate 31 years of life together. I have been a Haynie longer than I was a Prescott! Even though we have had lots of ups and downs, we still love each other more than ever. I'm so glad that Terry didn't give up and kept asking me out when we were at the Y, and Mom made me answer his letters that summer. He still has the same goofy sense of humor. The only things that are different is more weight and less hair!(Him-hair, Me-weight). I'm so glad that I picked him!!!

Oh-What Do You Do In The Summertime?

I remember when we were little that an afternoon spent running through the sprinklers was the best thing. We wore swimsuits until they literally fell apart and just spent the days being kids. Kayleigh has been over for the last few days and thought that very same thing-swimsuit all day long, running through the sprinkler, riding her bike. We even went to the drive-in movie and saw "Up". She played on the swings and wore her pj's and thought that it was so neat! Is that what you do? So do I!!!!

Can You Believe It????

We have been having some weird things happen lately with the weather. The TV stations all say we are in a "Spring Monsoon" which usually happens in July and August. So, ok we're getting alot of rain. that is not the usual scenario her for May. Its always sunny and warm during the day and cool at night. So Tuesday, when it started to rain I thought, "No big deal, just another crappy afternoon." then things got really ugly. the hail started coming down and would not quit.Hail is a big thing here because, 1) we usually don't get any and 2) when it comes, it just beats down everybody's fields and destroys crops and anything in its way. Hail came down from at least 20 minutes. As you can see by the pictures, it looks like snow! I had to run home and check my plants and luckily, they didn't get damaged. Terry was worried about his jalapeno peppers, but they were ok too. Please let there be some warm weather here soon!

His Hands...

I want to show this to my Seminary students as the finale for this year's study of the New Testament. What do you think?

Happy Mothers Day...

I had a great Mother's Day this year. Devin and Angela went to denver and left Sarah with us. she was so much fun to be with! She is growing up so fast and wants to be everywhere and in everything. She loves the climbing wall and learned pretty quickly how to open the door to get outside. She is such a big girl!

The first Sign of Spring...

I can tell that Spring may finally be showing up here in the San Luis Valley. My Mothers Day hanging basket did not FREEZE last nite!!!

Our Week in Paradise...

Our Week in Paradise...

As you can see by the slideshow, we had a terrific time in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic! We "earned" this trip, courtesy of NAPA by working our tails off in 2008. We spent 6 days at the Moon Palace Resort, Spa and Casino. Terry played golf for 2 of the days, which he loves. I spent 4 fabulous days at the pool, reading, sleeping and just plain being lazy. My biggest decision was trying to decide when to go eat! The NAPA part of the trip was fun too-we had had three terrific parties-one on the beach, one a Dominican-themed dinner and finally a fancy dinner. We took a tour of the eastern part of the island, where we saw sugar cane fields, coffee and cocoa beans being roasted, a typical school and cigar making. We went snorkeling with sting rays and sharks too!! I would go back in a heartbeat!!!

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

Today is Sarah's 2nd birthday. We spent the afternoon with her opening presents and eating cake. She was so funny to watch with the gifts-she kept looking at them and didn't quite know what they were for until we let her open them. She figuresd it out pretty quick! she loved the big floor puzzle that Grandma Jean and Papa Jerry gave her and had to help Papa put together the table and chairs we got her. She is at such at fun age. We love her very much!!!

This 8 Things Business...

OK-so I'm finally getting around to filling out Krisitn's tag thing-a-ma-jig. Here goes:

8 Favorite TV shows: in no particular order
1. American Idol
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. Morning Joe
4. Designed to Sell
5. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
6. Without a Trace
7. Cold Case
8. Medium

8 things I did yesterday
1. Slept in late-no early morning seminary!!!
2. Went to work
3. Went to the Tanning bed
4. Had game night with the Smiths
5. Finished up some laundry
6. Kept working on cleaning out Blake's room
7. Finished all of the store's statements and got them all in the mail!!
8. Got Alex's Birthday present ready to mail

8 things I am looking forward to
1. Our trip to the Dominican Republic
2. Warm weather
3. Seminary being done for the year
4. Blake's room being finished
5. Warm Weather
6. Warm Weather
7. No more snow
8. Warm weather

8 Favorite restaurants
1. East-West Grill
2. Nino's
3. Chick-fil-A
4. Johnny Carino's
5. Johanna's Kitchen
6. Mimi's
7. Wendy's
8. Outback

8 things on my wish list
1. To lose weight
2. my kids were active in Church
3. to get my family history caught up
4. to get my garage cleaned
5. my credit cards paid off
6. I lived closer to Mom
7. to read my scriptures more faithfully
8. to be a better mom and grandma

If I tagged 8 people-you would all be tagged again-so I will end this here. If any of you would like to put your 8 things on the blogs-go ahead!!

Will Spring Ever Get Here?

You would think that after living here for 30 years that I would get used to these late spring storms that dump anywhere from 6-24 inches of snow. NO WAY!!! They always take me by surprise and I always cuss and curse them. Just when you start thinking about planting a garden, getting your flower beds ready, and wearing flip-flops, Mother Nature gives you a swift poke in the eye. Not so fast she says, I'm not done yet. Oh well-one of the good things about these storms is that it always melts pretty fast and we can get back to thinking about Spring!!

I will take you up on that...

Ok, so I saw this thing on Kristin's blog that if I post this on my blog, then she will make me something FAB-U-LOUS!!! So the first 5 people to answer this post, I will make you something fabulous, but I don't know what it is yet. So answer this, then I will get busy!!

Phantom

We Love the Phantom!!!

Now that Terry and I are getting older, it is hard to come up with great presents for each other for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc.. So this year we decided to give ourselves tickets to see "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Denver Center Theater. We went with some terriffic friends from our branch, Nathan and Tyanya and their kids. We had a terriffic time! Of course, we love the Phantom and have seen the play three times already, but when that chandelier pops and begins to move up to the ceiling, it gives me a chill! We are already planning our next theater experience-"Wicked" come in November!!!!

And Speaking of Beauties...

Where has this ravishing creature been for the past few months?

A New Twilight Cast Member...

After months of searching, the production team on the next "Twilight" series movie has announced that Dakota Fanning will play the part of Jane in "New Moon". However. it has been rumored that this fair-faced beauty was under serious consideration for the part. It's just too bad they didn't look in Pinedale, WY!!!

A Big Loss for Our Little Branch...

This past week our little branch has lost one of it's founders, Marie Mellott. When we moved to Del Norte 30 years ago, there was 1 active family and 1 active sister, Sister Mellott. She has been a steadfast member of the Church for over 50 years and a rock in our Branch. She was 89 years old. In Relief Society on Sunday, our RS Pres was talking about Marie and said that the torch was being passed to of all people, me. I don't consider myself anywhere near being the kind of person that can sustain a branch or ward. I guess that sometimes these jobs are given to us by default. There are lots of people in my life that I consider to be like Marie. I hope that I can be like them one day.

Just a Little Visit...

Last weekend I was in SLC with my activity day girls to attend the Draper Temple OpenHouse. They let me spend a few hours with some of the dearest people in my life. We went to Italian Village to eat, which is what we do best! I had a great time seeing all of you and I know I'll be back soon!! (Sorry Riley-you didn't make the picture.)

A State Champion...

Just a little shout-out to Kendall!! He's now a two-time State Champion in wrestling. We are so very proud of you and everything you have accomplished. we know how hard you have worked to get this. Connor-we know you can do it to!!!

A Great Weekend...

This past weekend, Terry and I had the opportunity to do something we hadn't done in a long time. Baptisms for the Dead. We have been working on the New Family Search site of the church for the past while and finally had some names we could take to the temple with us. It was a wonderful experience to take a person through the temple from start to finish. On Friday night, we did the baptism and confirmation of terry's great aunt and uncle and about 15 more names. Saturday morning started bright and early with initiatory, then endowment sessions for these same people. We then did sealings to Terry's great-grandparents of these two people and three other siblings who died in infancy. We also helped do other sealings that the temple had. It really brought to mind the reason we do these things, and reminded us both of our own covenants and the promises we made with Heavenly Father. What a Day!!!

My New Favorite Place...

Have you ever walked into somewhere-any where- and felt "WOW" Is this where I belong? We have been in denver for the past few weekends and I have come to have a new "fave" place to shop. The Container Store, located in Park Meadows, is now my new favorite. It has everything to satisfy my organizational craving. Lately, that has been hangers. They have the best wrapping paper at Christmas too. I've color coded the hangers in my closet-Blues & Greens for Terry, and Pinks and Oranges for me. I've also organized under my kitchen sink and my laundry room. I think I'll try my office next, although that will be a huge undertaking. But I'm sure that a few trips to the neatest store in town will help me out!

Lunch with the Girls...

Saturday was pretty special for Papa and Grandma. We took the girls-Kayleigh and Sarah- to Mcdonald's for lunch. Just us, no parents, no brothers. What an experience! I forgot what it is like to wrangle a 3 year old and a 20 month old. We had a great time until the TOY ROOM. Sarah had never been in there, but Kayleigh is a veteran. Sarah finally got enough courage to go inside, then she would not get out. I had to crawl in that thing and grab her, I must have been a sight. We really did enjoy our day with the girls.

Happy Birthday Kayleigh!!!

Today is Kayleigh's 3rd birthday. It's hard to beleive that our life would change so much with the birth of this precious girl. She has brought so much joy to our lives. She loves to laugh, sing, color and play with dolls. She loves clothes and shoes, just like Grandma! We love her so much!! Happy Birthday, big girl!!