Family Friday: Featuring My Grandson Adam

This week on Family Friday I'm featuring my first-born grandchild; Adam. Isn't he a handsome boy! The day that Adam was born was very exciting for me, I'd never been a Grandma before. I remember standing outside of the delivery room door and hearing his first cries. When I held him in my arms for the very first time, I felt so much love and joy. When Adam was an infant I had the opportunity to tend him a couple of days a week while his mommy worked and his daddy went to school, I enjoyed that time I had with Adam. Adam is now seven-years-old and is in the second grade.

When Adam was not quite three I started my tradition of "Grandma Day". The first couple of Grandma Days were just me and Adam, and then as Zach got older he joined in. We've had fun doing activities together such as: riding trax, going bowling, visiting the zoo, Temple Square, The Clark Planetarium, planting pumpkins and then selling them, lots of Happy Meals, shopping at NPS, visiting Uncle Jeff at Leger's, Cherry Hill, Build-A-Bear, and we've even had a few repeats.

Grandma Day at the zoo in 2008

Last spring Adam's first grade class wrote an opera. Seriously. It was amazing (I think it should have been featured on the news). It was about pirates, mermaids, skeletons, and whales. The scenery and costumes were wonderful and the children did such a great job portraying their characters. Adam was a skeleton, and although he wore a mask I knew exactly which skeleton he was, because....he's Adam; a talented and enthusiastic singer and actor.

Last year at our family Christmas party Adam (with the help of his brother, dad, and uncles) thoroughly entertained us with his rendition of "Feliz Navidad". He reminds me a lot of his daddy when he was a little boy.

Things to know about Adam: He is the oldest of three brothers. He is a very smart boy. He also has a good memory. He's talented in many areas. He loves to draw and color and he's good at it. He is creative. He takes care of his Mom (Mom's like that). He's good at the WII. He's funny. He is very, very polite; he always says please and thank-you. He watches over his brothers. He makes sure that he warns his Grandma when a scary part is coming up in a movie. He is tender hearted. He plays soccer. He is a good grandson. We are all so grateful that Adam is in our family and we love him very much.

Adam's family: Andy, Zachary, William, Adam, and Kristin

We Also Sing 2009

I am more than halfway through rehearsals of my second season in the choir We Also Sing, under the direction of Merrilee Webb. We will perform two concerts on Saturday November 28, at 5:30 and 7:30 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. You can click here for free ticket information. Our concert this year is all Christmas music and it will be amazing; the following song written by David Foster and performed by Josh Grobin is one of my favorites. I have highlighted a few of the lines that are particularly meaningful to me. Which lines jumped out at you?

Thankful

Some days we forget to look around us.
Some days we can't see the joy that surrounds us.
So caught up inside ourselves, we take when we should give.
So for tonight we pray for what we can be.
And every day we hope for what we can't see.
It's up to us to be the change.
And even though we can do more, there's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves, there's so much sorrow.
It's way to late to say, I'll cry tomorrow.
Each of us must find our truth; it's so long overdue.
So for tonight we pray for what we can be.
And every day we hope for what we can't see.
It's up to us to be the change.
And even though we can do more, there's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences, there is a place we're all connected.
Each of us can find each other's light.
So for tonight we pray for what we can be.
And on this day we hope for what we can't see.
It's up to us to be the change.
And even though the world needs so much more, there's so much to be thankful for.

Family Friday: Featuring My Great-Niece Hannah

This week on Family Friday I'm featuring the newest member of our family, in fact, she is so new....I haven't even met her yet (hopefully soon). This is my great-niece Hannah. I became an aunt for the first time when Hannah's Mom was born, and when Hannah was born (almost 3 months ago) I became a great-aunt for the first time. Isn't she a cutie!! I'm looking forward to meeting her and giving her a squeeze. I love her already!!

Four generations of our family; each of these generations are exactly 24 years apart: Hannah with her Great-Granpa (my Dad), Hannah's Grandpa (my brother Tim), and Hannah's Mom

Here are some things I know about Hannah: She's beautiful. She has lots and lots of hair. She is a daddy's girl. She likes hearing her great-granpa sing. She is now giggling (I saw and heard her on facebook). She is loved very much by her family. She is the first grandchild. The circumstances in which her name was chosen are very special. She's a good baby. We're all so happy and grateful that Hannah is in our family and we love her.

Hannah's family: Melissa, Hannah, and Adam

My New Chair

This is my new chair. It's a youth chair, and....I LOVE IT!!! I first saw one like it at the Wood Connection about 18 months ago; I decided right then and there that I was going to have one. So here it is. I was able to pick my own color (bayberry), and any finishes that I wanted (I chose antiquing and glazing). I love The Wood Connection! And I think my chair is really cute! But I especially think it's cute when....

Miss Avery is sitting in it!!!

Family Friday: Featuring My Nephew Russell

I have just a few of my nieces and nephews left to feature on Family Friday. This week I'm featuring my nephew Russell who was born just 15 days after my daughter Ashleigh. I remember going over to visit Lilian, Cory, and Russell shortly after he came home from the hospital as a newborn; when we laid the two babies down on a blanket together, two-week-old Ashleigh turned her head and looked at Russell and smiled as if to say, "your here now."

Russell is the eldest of my sisters five boys. They are very close brothers and love each other very much. This picture, which was taken in 2006, is probably one of the last pictures that all five of the brothers were in together. Russell was just about to leave on his mission to Portland, Oregon. When Russell returned two years later, his brother Alan had just left for his mission. Four months after Russell returned home he was married in the Salt Lake Temple to his high school sweetheart; Jessica. They just celebrated their first wedding anniversary two weeks ago.

One of my most tender memories of Russell was on the day of his missionary "farewell". He gave a well prepared talk with such humility, sharing experiences that are very tender to our family. It really touched my heart. Russell was a good missionary, and a great example to his younger brothers who will follow in his footsteps.

In recent weeks I've worked at the Deli with Russell on several occasions. I've noticed that Russell is a real people person. He is friendly and outgoing with the customers and the other employees. The first day that he worked with a particular employee; an older lady, I could hear them talking together. She is from Sweden and as I listened to them talking I was amazed at how much Russell knew about Sweden. When she came into the kitchen she whispered to me, "he's delightful!"

I have discovered (as I have spent time at work and carpooling with Russell) that Russell is very intelligent. Whatever the subject may be, he knows something about it. I never cease to be amazed as I listen to him converse with a customer or a co-worker. Two of the many different topics that I've heard him talk about are movies and music. One day while driving home from work together, I asked Russell how does he know so much. He answered, "I watch special features." I think I'd better start to watch "special features" so that I can be interesting in a conversation as well.

Things to know about Russell: He is the firstborn Nielsen grandson. He attends Weber State University. He is a wonderful artist. He has a great imagination. He has written a book which he's hoping will soon be published. He is a very good writer. He makes a beautiful sandwich. He's friendly. He makes HOT chili. He's a good husband. He's a good son and brother. He has a nice singing voice. We are all grateful that Russell is in our family and we love him.

Russell and Jessica

"The Theatre, The Theatre....

....what happened to the theatre?" Remember Danny Kaye reciting that line in the movie White Christmas? I think I know what happened....all of their Moms collapsed after sewing costumes.

My oldest (Andy)and youngest (Caitlin) children are 15 years and 3 days apart. One thing that the two of them have in common is the love of musical theatre. Since last fall Caitlin has performed in three musicals at BHS and one at RMT. It has been my responsibility as a parent to provide Caitlin with a costume (remember my post last year about Les is Miserable?) for each show. So this year I did it again....made the costume a few days before the due date (please tell me I'm not the only parent that does that). A quick run down of my crazy, hectic, stress-out, last minute costumes.

8th grade Suessical The Musical; Caitlin was Thing 1. I literally finished this costume at midnight and was up at 6 am and on my way to the hospital for surgery (I knew I could stay up late and sew because I was going to get a good sleep during surgery).


This is the one costume that I had finished a week before the deadline. Caitlin played Babette in Beauty And The Beast in the 9th grade. This was not a costume to be avoided 'til the last minute, there were more than 10 pattern pieces just to the jacket (I did enjoy getting a new sewing machine).


Les was Miserable but I survived making this entire costume in one day (and I was cheerful when I finished). This was Caitlin's sophomore year.


And this year....West Side Story. I made this dress in just a few hours one evening last week (I added a gusset just hours before opening night). Caitlin is Graziella; a Jet girl and an amazing dancer. You can still see West Side Story the rest of this week and next Monday at BHS. Caitlin has tickets.


In all of Andy's years in musical theatre at BHS (I must do a post on his theatre days sometime) I don't recall ever making one costume (thanks son). But you know what they say in the theatre...."the show must go on..." and so must the Moms, because after all, it really is....FUN!!!

Mount Nebo Loop

Several weeks ago I mentioned to Mike that I would love to take a Saturday drive in the mountains. Mike took matters into his own hands and planned a great day for us, which included our friends Steve and Becky. It was conference weekend, so after stopping at our favorite Leger's Deli to get some sack lunches, we embarked on our journey and listened to conference as we drove.


It was actually very cold in the mountains. At one point the road was covered with snow. We stopped to eat lunch and then took a short hike for a scenic view of Mount Nebo.


I guess I never actually took a picture of Mount Nebo....but this other stuff was really cool too.




I loved the scenery (and the trees are nice too ;-).


We had a great day!! Thanks for coming with us Steve and Becky!!! Thanks for being the organizer Mikee!!!

Family Friday: Featuring My Granddaughter Avery

Women have the need of other women in their lives. Whether it be mothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, friends, daughters....we need each other. I am so grateful for the women in my life; young and....not so young. I had three brothers before my sister was born, three sons before I had a daughter, and four grandsons before the birth of my first granddaughter last November. It is my #1 granddaughter Avery who I am featuring today. Isn't she beautiful!!!!

Miss Avery has been a joy and a blessing to our family since her arrival. She is such a petite little doll. She has the tiniest little mouth (it is so cute) that becomes the biggest smile that's guaranteed to melt your heart. This picture was taken in Disneyland last summer. That is how happy she looked all day.

Avery is a good little eater. She eats good nutritious meals and enjoys them. One night while I tended her I was eating my dinner as I was feeding Avery hers. She seemed interested in the stew I was eating, so I got an extra baby spoon out and gave her a taste of mine. She liked it and wanted to try more. She knew the difference between the two meals, she was so cute to watch as I knew she wanted more of what Grandma was eating. As you can see from the picture she also enjoyed the ice-cream her daddy was eating on another night.

Avery loves her Mommy and Daddy. She always likes to know that her Mommy is nearby. She is at such a fun age. The other night at Daddy and Grandpa's ballgame I sat down next to her and when she saw me she smiled, a few minutes later she leaned towards me and even put her arms out in my direction. What more could a Grandma want?

I love this picture of Avery and Annabelle, her Grandpa and Grandma Law's dog

Some fun things to know about Miss Avery: She has recently mastered the art of showing us her "bad cough". She is learning some baby sign language (she's so smart). She's been to Disneyland. She's been to the beach house. She went on a whale watching boat in California. She's had a couple of trips to Mesquite. She's been to Tuacahn. She's flown to Kentucky twice to visit her family there. She's always dressed so cute. She's even been on TV!! She is a precious baby girl. We all love our Avery and are sooooo grateful that she's in our family.

Avery's family: Jeff, Miss Avery, and Melissa

What Are They Thinking!?!

I am pretty observant about the circumstances of the food that I'm eating; who prepared it, where it was prepared, are hands washed....you get the idea. I work part-time as a manager in a food establishment and I am always watching my fellow employees and making sure that things are done correctly, and the fact that I recently took the food handlers test has made me even more observant and insistent that things are done right.

Last week while traveling to St. George I stopped at a well known fast food restaurant in Beaver. I watched the workers preparing the food, running the register, and so forth....after eating I went to order a shake for Caitlin, when the young man brought it to me I noticed some foreign-orange-miniscule-object on the rim of the cup. When I pointed it out to him he dumped it out and started again, at which point I took the opportunity to kindly ask him why none of the emplyees were wearing gloves, much to the mortification of Caitlin, Chris, and Chelsea who were sitting at a table nearby. I thought it was a reasonable question?

I was eating at a popular restaurant one day when I saw an employee (from the kitchen) enter the restroom wearing an apron. A few minutes later the employee emerged from the restroom still wearing the apron and went back to the kitchen. Employees aren't supposed to wear their aprons in the restroom.

Friday morning I was shopping at my local grocery store. I went to the butcher block to purchase a rump roast. I love purchasing meat from the butcher block, I feel like I'm in Mayberry or in Sam's Butcher Shop on the "Brady Bunch". The butcher was weighing out the meat (no gloves) and talking to me, suddenly he took his baseball cap off of his head and rubbed his hand vigorously back and forth several times over his crew cut and then put his cap back on. I was shocked. If he's going to do that right in front of a customer, what's he doing when we can't see him? Fortunately he had already put plastic on my roast and he used the other hand to wrap the white paper around it. I ask you, what's a girl to do? I mean do you suggest to a butcher (who has tons of big knives) that he should not rub his head and wrap meat at the same time? Do any of you have any eating out/grocery store horror stories?

Family Friday: Featuring My Sister (by marriage) Marivic

This week on Family Friday I'm featuring another of my sibling "in-laws"; Marivic. While serving a mission in the Philippines, my brother Alan met his future wife, he recognized right away that there was something special about this young woman. While Alan was still on his mission, Marivic was called to serve a mission in another Philippine mission. After Marivic's mission was completed, Alan went back to the Philippines to court her. A few months later Marivic arrived in the United States and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on April 26, 1985.

I love this picture of Marivic as a child, it is the inspiration of the title of her blog Little Grumpy Angel. Marivic's blog attracted a lot of attention and she made a lot of new friends in the blogging world, recently Marivic started a new blog titled Thankful For The Ride which she shares with the extended family. She is a wonderful writer and so enjoyable to read, she was featured in Mormon Women last month in an article written by herself. It is well worth reading. I've learned a lot of interesting things that I didn't know about Marivic as I have read her blog, and I've seen a few pictures that have "surprised" me too (such as the one below).
Marivic (front and center) and co-workers. Is this what is commonly known in the workplace as casual Friday?

Although for most of the nearly twenty-five years that I have known Marivic she has lived outside of Utah, I always feel comfortable when I am with her. I have stayed in her home on several occasions and we have shared many vacations together. Nearly three years ago Mike and I spent several days in Southern California with Marivic and Alan. The four of us spent a day at Disneyland and a few days at the beach. One day the four of us just sat on the beach talking for hours without moving from our spot. One of the things I love about Marivic is that she is always uplifting to be around. She is a positive influence and I always feel good when I am with her. Marivic has met with opposition and heartbreak in her life; she has faced these experiences with dignity and grace. She is a great example to me.

Things you may or may not know about Marivic: She is a very talented writer and photographer. She is popular in the blog world. She's always fun to be with. She doesn't like water, but in an attempt to be a good sport she went on a ride at a water park and had to be rescued by a lifeguard. Marivic always looks good, she knows clothes and how to wear them. I always feel welcome and comfortable in her home. She collects Madame Alexander dolls. When she arrived in the US she lived in our home for several weeks until her wedding day. She has been a United States citizen for many years. She keeps herself aprised of all the current issues. She has good taste in decorating her home. She's a good wife and Mother. Marivic works as a Revenue Manager for a large hotel chain, in other words; she is very important. To the family she is known as VicVic. She is the Ate (big sister) in her family, and treats me as the Ate (respected position) in my family. She graduated from college in the Philippines. She is very smart. She's a good sport. She is an artist. She likes chocolate. She likes to read good books. She is funny. We are all grateful and blessed to have Marivic in our family, and we love her.

Marivic's family: Alan, Marivic, Tara, and AJ