Lots to Catch Up

Wow...time flies. We so enjoyed Marshall and Elise's wedding in the Houston temple. It was a day to remember. Some of the family had some weather hold-ups getting down there, but we all made it and things flowed smoothly. Elise's family were gracious and took such good care of us. Marshall looked very handsome and Elise was beautiful. The temple was such a memorable experience. I was overwhelmed with joy as our family entered the sealing room and loved the feeling of being connected as eternal families. It seemed significant this day as Russ's father performed the sealing. We were blessed to have my mom and dad there, Russ's mom and dad, Ken and Shirla Snow, Hillary and Jim Lowe, Charlotte and Brad Hogg, and several of Elise's family and friends and Marshall's friend Adam. David and his family and Daniel and all of the grandkids were waiting to join us after the ceremony. The reception was very elegant and many people expressed their love for Elise's family. We all returned safely and got ready for Christmas. This year was a bit quieter with just Russ and Daniel and I. Daniel reminded us that he will only have one more Christmas with us before he leaves on a mission!!! I really had not thought of this. Later on Christmas day we had David and Charlotte's family over for our traditional eggs benedict breakfast. It was delicious and we had fun exchanging gifts. Next we caught up with Hillary's family the day after Christmas as they stayed in Houston until Christmas day. Then we scurried to ready ourselves for the Idaho wedding celebration/open house. Everyone arrived safely and we had a great time. Some fun surprises, Russ's brother and his wife Pam came with their son that is Marshall's age, Travis and his new wife Malea. They are expecitng thier first baby this summer. They had tried to come to Houston, but the Salt Lake City airport shut down just after we left with bad weather. We had a great visit with them and so appreciate all the love and support of all of our family members. The open house was wonderful, beautiful and exceeded my expectations. Marshall's mission president from Cambodia showed up to surprise him! President and Sister Towers drove up from Salt Lake City. That was a great surprise to meet them. Now we are waiting for some pictures and have moved into the new year and the adventures that await in 2009.

So Many Choices - So Many Opinions

Marshall is gettting married in a few weeks...and wants to serve apple pie at the open house. So I began to gather pies in the valley and we had a pie tasting extravaganza. We compared ten apple pies. What fun it was to sample and then sample some more! I know there are more varieties out there, but I came to the realization that I still needed to fit into my mother of the groom dress. We sampled from Boise, Caldwell, Kuna, Nampa and Melba. They were culinary delights. Some were pretty, some were tasty, some were sweet and some were tart. We...I mean the whole family wanted to weigh in...decided that we couldn't agree which pie was the best. Everyone had a different favorite. Russ loved having the pies around, Daniel is sick of apple pie, I dropped one on the kitchen floor...Hillary is never going to make home-made apple pie for Jim because he picked the frozen one from Wal-mart and Charlotte liked the carmel apple pie. I found a delightful lady named Fredda in Kuna who runs PIE FACE who makes a wonderful apple struesal pie and many other wonderful varieties that we will have to sample when I am off my diet!!! We will be serving brownies... but Marshall doesn't care because he just wants to get married.

Happy Birthday Friend

Today is my sister in law's birthday. Happy Birthday Shirla! This was taken 5/08 in Mesa, Arizona...wish we would have had a few more days. We have shared many great experiences together on our ride through life married to these brothers. Here's to many more years and adventures. Love ya!

Just the Beginning

Last night my friend Beth helped me learn how to set up my blog. I am excited to learn how to use this resource to capture and share important things in my life. I have wanted to keep a journal for many years so here we go...thanks Beth for sharing this idea with me!