Thanksgiving

Mark and I were able to celebrate Thanksgiving early this year with our Idaho kids. It was great to get them together and recognize all the changes that have taken place in our family this past year. We have been richly blessed!

We watched a miracle unfold with Ryan and Aimee having their son 2 weeks ago. It's hard to believe that one year ago, Ryan and Aimee were in the middle of the paperwork to adopt a baby. Just 12 months later, they are holding their own offspring. It is a blessing for which we will be forever grateful. We were at the hospital when Tyce was born so we were able to hold him about an hour after he was born. The birth of any baby is a wonderful experience, but the birth of this anxiously, awaited baby is a miracle!

Katrina, Adam and Camden are expecting a baby in 5 short months. Katrina is starting to show a little baby bump now. She wore a cute, pink maternity top when we had Thanksgiving dinner. Wearing pink must have been a sign to come, because they found out last week that they should expect to have a baby girl join their family in April. It will be so fun to see how Camden does with a little competition for his mom's attention. Right now, he is very attached to his mom. He is getting more and more comfortable around the rest of us but he always keeps his eyes on where his mom is. It is so fun to have our family grow in such exciting ways.

This summer, Bridget brought Travis into the family when they got married. They are currently living in Arizona so we don't get to see them. We are looking forward to seeing them for several weeks in December because they are coming to Idaho for Christmas. It will be wonderful to get to know Travis better. We really have only seen him a few times and we don't really feel like we know him or he knows us. We can't wait to see Bridget and to hear her talk about all the exciting things they are doing in Arizona.

We are really grateful for our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren. Our family is expanding rapidly and somehow we have enough love to go around to each new addition. We don't get to see our Utah children very often and we know that we are missing so much of the good things that they are doing. We are thrilled to hear from them and we are grateful for the blessings they bring into our lives.

Mark and I are grateful for our health, our jobs, and our "things". We are happy and we are doing all we can to follow the example of Jesus Christ. We try to love and serve our neighbors, have a good attitude about our trials, and we love each other. What else could we possible want? We are so richly blessed!

Grand babies!!

There can't be anything better than welcoming a new grand baby into our family! It has been fun to have Camden nearby and be able to see him grow and develop. We were all very excited when Ryan and Aimee announced that they were expecting a baby in November. We knew that had been their hope for a long time and it was finally going to happen.

Ryan and Aimee was not supposed to have their baby until almost Thanksgiving but they had their baby on Monday, Nov. 8, 2010 about 8:00 p.m. Aimee had sent a text that morning about 9:00 to tell me that she was going to the hospital to be checked because she had been experiencing labor since 3:00 that morning. She would let me know if they admitted her or sent her home.

After lunch, I text to Ryan to see what was happening and he said they had admitted Aimee so there would be a baby coming soon. I knew it would take awhile to get to the point of delivery so I chose to stay at school and check back with him when I was home for the day.

After school, Brooke was very anxious to go to the hospital but Ryan's latest update had said that Aimee wasn't ready to deliver yet. I planned an easy supper so as soon as Mark got home, we could eat and go to the hospital in Meridian. We stopped and bought Ryan something to eat because he hadn't eaten all day, so by the time we arrived at Aimee's birthing room, the baby was starting to crown. I spoke with them for a short time, delivered the hamburger to Ryan, left my camera for Lani to take pictures and went to the waiting room to wait with Mark and Brooke. About an hour later, we got a picture message from Lani that showed Aimee holding a cute little baby with lots of dark hair.

We were allowed back into the room soon and we all took turns holding cute little Tyce Samuel Nielson. He weighed 6 lbs 7.4 oz and was 19 inches long. He was wide awake and very curious. He didn't like the bright lights but he enjoyed looking around at all the new sights and sounds. When the nurse was measuring him and checking out his joints, Tyce let us know he didn't like it by crying hard. Ryan went close to the bed and started rubbing Tyce's head and he calmed right down. As I watched Ryan, I could see how proud he was to have this new responsibility. He will be a great dad!
The nurse encouraged Aimee to try nursing Tyce again. This helps both of them to get used to this new experience. We stepped behind a curtain to give them a little privacy but we could still hear them talking. The nurse was very pleased and encouraged that Tyce was picking up these new skills. Since Tyce is two weeks early, he will need to start nursing well so he can get bigger. Aimee seemed very comfortable with nursing and Tyce seemed to figure it out quickly. Aimee will be a terrific mom!

We are all really excited to have Tyce here on earth safe and sound. He is healthy and very cute! We are looking forward to seeing him grow and develop. Babies change so fast, so it will be fun to see each stage of his development and be able to record it in pictures.

We have 2 more grand babies coming in the next few months. Brandon and Jenny are having child number 3 in March. They just found out that it is a girl. They will enjoy a girl after their two adorable boys. Katrina and Adam are having their second child in April. They don't know what the baby is yet but they should find out in the next couple of weeks. All of these new babies make life fun for Mark and I. We love our new role as grandparents.

Apples!

One of the fun things about fall is APPLES. We have so-o-o many things we can do with them and there are so-o-o many different kinds of apples. I have always loved apples but I don't always do much baking with them.

Katrina wanted to do some canning with apples so I picked a box full and sent them home with her. I still had lots of apples left so I thought I should try to make something good. I know it's hard to believe but I made an apple pie on Saturday and it was delicious! Can you imagine? Me, making a pie!

Ryan and Aimee were over to watch BSU play so we decided to grill some steaks and I thought an apple pie sounded like a good dessert. I used frozen pie crust and sliced up some golden delicious apples from our tree and let the pie cook while Boise was playing the first half of the game against San Jose'. By half time, the pie was done but it needed to sit and cool for awhile. The filling would have run everywhere if I had cut it too soon.

Since the game was a blow-out and all the second and third string players were taking over in the second half, it was a little boring to watch. We were all getting anxious to eat the pie. The aroma of the pie was enticing us to cut it right away but we were patient and waited for an hour. Finally we cut the pie, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it and enjoyed every scrumptious bite!

We will continue to enjoy nice, crisp apples from our tree. I have a box full of them. Mark loves to eat apples by dipping them in caramel sauce. I like to eat them for lunch. We enjoy having fruit salads with chopped apples. I have even made croissants with a chicken salad filling that had apples in it. I don't think there is a bad way to eat an apple.

Fall Harvesting

Fall is one of my favorites seasons. I love the beautiful trees, the cool nights, the warm days, the harvesting from the garden, the family traditions and the holidays. There are so many things to love about Fall.

Mark and I were able to go to the cabin this past weekend. The weather was beautiful and it was great to get away from the stresses of life and spend the weekend away from the phone. We were a little disappointed that the fall leaves had already "fallen". There were still a few strong, steadfast leaves hanging onto their branch but most of the leaves had dropped. We had a chance to drive around to see the fall leaves. We also saw lots of deer and we so surprised to see them so close to the main highway and in broad daylight. They are so fun to watch.
I have been "off-track" for the past two weeks and so I have had a chance to work on canning projects before frost kills the tomatoes. I made salsa and chili sauce. We had tons of peaches this year so I canned them, froze them, ate them and gave away a lot to my kids. My shelves are looking good now that they are loaded with jars of delicious food. I have also been working on a quilt for Bridget and Travis while I have been home from work. Since the summer was busy with planning a wedding, I didn't have any time to work on a wedding present for the newly-weds. It's my tradition to make a quilt for the couple. Bridget and Travis have been patient in waiting for their quilt to begin construction. I try to work a couple of hours each day on it so I don't get sick and tired of it before it is finished. I am almost ready to start putting all the blocks I have made together. Hopefully I have it finished so I can give it to them when they come to visit in December.

Before General Conference, I decided that I should work on Personal Progress experiences with Brooke and I have been able to finish several experiences in Faith. General Conference was a perfect conclusion to the experiences I have had in Faith. It seemed like every talk was explaining to me why faith was so important. I have been so thrilled to be able to grow some faith. Does growing faith mean that there will be a faith harvest? I know I have learned a lot about myself during these past 2 months so I am excited to be able to complete my faith project and move onto my next value. I have started virtue and am still working on it but I will try to work on several values at once. Wish me perserverance and patience!