My fun day with Dax and Kin

Shana already blogged about this but I just had to do so myself too.
Dax spent the night with us last Sunday. While he was here we read books and he played with Papa and Kori and Troy. I could tell he was getting tired so I put him in our big king size bed. He loves to snuggle so I got real close and put my arm around him. He was laying on a stuffed catapillar thing for his pillow but he didn't want my head to touch it. After a little while I was sorta uncomfortable trying to snuggle but have my head off his catapillar so I moved a little bit. Well, he didn't like that. He grabbed my arm and put it over him again but told me I couldn't put my head where his was. Oh, he's a character. Well, the little stinker finally fell asleep. I love looking at children when they're sleeping so I stared at him for quite some time. Wondering what he was dreaming about. I always wonder if they're going to always love coming to our home and spending time with Papa and Grandma. I sure hope so.
The next morning we got up and I told him I would make him anything he wanted and he chose pancakes and eggs. Knowing how much he loves chocolate, I asked him if he would like chocolate chip pancakes. He had a huge grin on his face from ear to ear. (he's like grandma and is a chocoholic). He got to sprinkle the chocolate chips on each one. He loved them!!!
We spent the morning shopping and buying him some clothes and shopping for the other grandkids. He would hold something up and tell me how cute it was and that Makinley would love it. He's quite the shopper as Shana has already mentioned. He had to hold my hand everywhere we went too and I just love that.
It was time to go pick up Makinley from pre-school so we waited in the back yard for her. She knew I was coming to pick her up and I guess she was pretty excited because her teacher told me that's all she talked about. When she saw me she came running and yelling "Grandma, Grandma, I have missed you so much." My heart melted. (I had just seen her the day before but she still missed me!!)
We headed off to Wendys for lunch. They're quite the pair. But an elderly lady came up to Makinley and told her what a beautiful little girl she was then turned to Daxton and said how handsome he was. Makinley then put her hands on her hips and said "And he's a good man too." I just about died. The lady in return said "I bet he is." We laughed so hard. The things that come out of childrens mouths!! I spent the rest of the day and every day since thinking of that and laughing and sharing it with others who also laughed. He is a good man that's for sure.
I loved spending my day with them and seeing them interract with each other. I want to share many more days like that. My heart is so filled with love for my grandchildren. I can not wait for our 5th one to arrive. I"m biting at the bit to find out what Troy and Kori are having because I want to start buying things for them. On Oct. 12th we'll find out the news.
Thanks to Daxton and Makinley for making my day so much fun!!!! I love you!!

Our Trip to Sun Valley Idaho

Rog and I at Red Fish Lake This is the pond in front of our Lodge at Sun Valley
We're dreaming about bringing our family here some time and staying in this campground.
This is our hotel called Sun Valley Lodge
This lady is one of about 5 artists that were capturing the beauty of Red Fish on canvas
I'm on a walk around the pathways at our hotel. All the ponds had swans in them.



Roger and I were so fortunate to have been able to get away this week. His work had a work conference in Sun Valley Idaho so the vacation getaway was on the city.
We left on Tues. morning and got home today Saturday. We stayed at the beautiful Sun Valley Lodge. The weather was quite chilly when we got there. Only 48 degrees. I had to put my hooded sweatshirt on to keep warm.
While Rog spent 4-5 hours a day in meetings I exercised in the weight room and another day I walked on the trail near the hotel. It was a brisk walk since it was kinda chilly. But the hour I spent outside was beautiful.
Our hotel was so pretty. The pond in front had swans and little babies. Our window overlooked a huge year round ice skating rink. The leaves were starting to turn colors so it just made it more colorful.
When he wasn't in meetings we did a little shopping and one day we drove up to Red Fish Lake which is absolutely beautiful. We rode our bikes around part of the lake while we were there. There were several artists sitting in various spots around the lake creating beautiful oil paintings. The mountain range was awesome to look at.
Red Fish Lake is only an hour north of Sun Valley and well worth the drive. Some day we'd like to take the trailer there and camp. It's so hard to see all of these places without our kids. The pictures don't do it justice that's for sure.
We found a really good Mexican restaurant about 16 miles south of Sun Valley and we drove to that twice while we were there. It was that good. My brother Jim had recommended it and it was well worth the drive too.
We had such a nice time but I'm always anxious to get home. That many days away from my home and family is a little hard for me. Roger said we need to get used to it because that's what we're going to be doing when we retire. (oh no!! what am I going to do?)
Anyway, here are a few pictures of our trip.
P.S. ...a big THANKS to Kori and Troy for watching our 5 dogs!!! I don't know what we would have done without them!!!

Halloween is coming

I need suggestions as to what to be for Halloween this year. Every year I dress up and I make Roger too. This is what we were last year. I know he hates it but he is a good sport and does it for me. I always dress up for work because every year they have a contest. One year I was a head on a silver platter and won the scariest costume. Another year I was a nerd and won. I love trying to come up with homemade costumes so if you can think of anything let me know. I'm doing this post early so that those of you with good ideas can give them to me and I can have a month to prepare. I figure if Shana can have her house all ready decorated for halloween then I can post this blog..hahaha..

Update on our puppies

Here is a little update on our 4 week old puppies. Porter is the biggest. Then Sally and then Rosco. Brayden and Daxton named them for us. So that's what they go by.
They're now starting to eat some puppy chow dog food. We have really enjoyed them and they're going to be wonderful campers. We took them camping with us this past week and they loved it. We put them in their little pen outside and they ran around in it enjoying the fresh air.
We have 4 more weeks of loving them up and then we'll have to send them off to their homes which will be a sad day. The grand kids adore them. That's the first thing they do is run to the basement and get them out to play with.
Like I said before, if you know anyone who would enjoy the best little family dogs just let us know. They'll be ready to go the first week of October.

The Orem City Beautification Award

First of all I want to say how proud I am of my cute little hubby. He's worked hard for many years to make our yard so beautiful. He faithfully goes out each morning during the summer to make sure things look nice, pulls weeds, makes sure the lawn is mowed perfectly. And now he's finally received the most prestigious award that you could ever receive. Even better than an Oscar or an Emmy award.
Yesterday while we were at work Troy gave us a call to let us know that someone from the Orem City Beautification Award Team had placed a sign in our yard saying that we had won the award for the week.
Roger is a little shy about having his picture taken in front with the sign for fear that the neighbors would see. So I had to catch him walking by the sign.
When I was at work Troy called me and told me that the Daily Herald had come to interview dad about the award and that they asked him a bunch of questions such as: how long we've lived here, how he selected his flowers, etc. I said, "did you tell them that I selected and planted all the flowers this year?" They had me going and going for like over an hour about this interview and told me it would be in the paper with dads picture. Well, after an hour they finally told me that the Daily Herald didn't really come out. We laughed so hard because I fell for that little white lie.
I can't tell you the number of times people have walked by and made comments to us about how beautiful our yard is. I always have to tell them that I owe it all to my hubby. Occassionally, I go out and pull some weeds and take the old rose blooms off but he's the true gardner. He takes great pride in keeping things so nice. My mom would be very proud of him since she bought our house as an investment when I was in high school. Then we bought it from her when we had been married for a year.
Congratulations honey!!!! Your hard work and efforts have paid off.

Our Family Is Back Together Now

This family picture was taken today at Shanas home. Troy and Kori came home last night from living in Florida since April and we're so happy that they're back. I hate when someone is absent when we get together. We now feel complete again. I remember when we used to all congregate over at Grandpa and Grandma Pynes home. Grandpa would always ask us why we had to leave so soon even though we'd been there for several hours. He hated to see us go. Well that's how Rog and I feel when our kids have to leave us. The times we share together mean so much. I always look around at each one and think how blessed I am to have them in our life.
We were going to have a new family picture taken this fall but now we've decided to wait since it would be out-dated in March when Kori and Troy have their baby. So come this spring we'll have something professional taken. In the meantime we just take these cute pictures with our self timer cameras.
I want my kids to know how much I love them. How proud I am of each one. The happiness they bring to our family is unmeasurable. Sometimes it gets a little rowdy with the kids screaming and running around but that's what family is all about. The more the merrier. I'm so excited to have another little one added to our family.
We celebrated Kori's 27th birthday today even though her birthday is tomorrow. Happy Birthday Kori. Two weeks ago was Jakes 26th birthday. I'm so glad that Troy and Kori are home now and can get on with their careers and get ready for their new addition.
Do I not have the best looking family around? Seriously.. : )

Our little Tinkers

Well we had 3 little tiny Tinkers today. Our Rocky and Tinker have made some cute little babies. We have 2 male and 1 female. Roger assisted in their birth this morning because I was at work.
We are now going to be tied down for the next 8 weeks!!! Yuck..but fun. So if you know anyone who wants a darling Shih Tzu then tell them to look us up. hahaha..
I have pictures of the mom and dad posted too so you can see them. These dogs grow to be about 8-12 lbs is all. Tinker is quite small and Rocky is on the bigger side. They sure make great pets though. They love being cuddled and are definitely lap dogs for sure. They love traveling in the car with us too and going camping. Oh the joys of animals huh? Actually, the next 8 weeks will be kinda fun. I know the grand kids are going to love holding them. So wish us luck!!!