Alexi and Nate

 My adorable niece, Alexi was married today to Nathan Baldwin.  It was a chilly day but wonderful.  Alexi is beautiful...inside and out.  I love this cute girl.  She radiates goodness and her spirit beams from her.  I'm so happy for Alexi and Nate, they have a great life ahead of them.

I had only met Nate once and so I watched him today and I liked what I saw.  I believe he knows that he is blessed to have this cute girl as his wife.  He was tender and got a bit teary a few times.  I like him!

I had the honor and privilege to share a few thoughts at the luncheon that they had.  Alexi called me the other day and asked me if I would.  As soon as she asked me I started crying because I felt so honored.  I did a little better today while sharing some thoughts but did get a little teary when I told Alexi how much our family adored her and was so happy for her. I felt very blessed to have the opportunity to share my thoughts about Alexi.  She only had her cute sister Shay and me share a few things...so ya...I feel special.

I love Tonya and Marks family and their cute grands and the ones that have married into to the Coy family.  It's so rewarding to see our kids grow up to be awesome adults.    We're excited for Alexi and Nate....fun times are headed their way.

Celebrating Larry

Larry likes having the kids over for his birthday and cooking them dinner.  I think it's a wonderful way to celebrate his birthday.  This year I decided to decorate a little and make our house look like a party.  I haven't put away Christmas yet and so I just added to it.  I bought balloons and Jared and Kimleighel helped blow them up and I put them all around the room.  I thought it looked festive and fun with all that color. I didn't use much of the crepe paper I bought because I thought it was enough with the balloons and table covers.  When I asked Larry how he liked all the balloons it was so funny because he hadn't noticed them.  REALLY?  The guy is able to focus on what he's doing and block out things really well.  hahaha made me laugh out loud!

Larry had bought hamburger and made some big patties for everyone to enjoy.  The guys got full on just one and I couldn't even finish half of one.  They were good.  One of the things Larry wanted was a Birthday cake so he could have the grands help him blow out the candles.  I made a cake and put 57 candles on it....I placed them to look like "57" or else it might have looked like a bon fire. haha The grands were excited to help him blow out all his candles and our home smelled pretty smokey for a few minutes afterwards.  Larry's mom also brought Larry a cake but it was a round cake and I'm not sure all the candles would have fit. (joking)  

We loved having our kids and grands over again.  I love all the noise and action while they are here.  (maybe Larry doesn't even notice there is noise and a lot of action)  The guy makes me laugh and that is one of the reasons I fell in love with him.  Laughing is one of my favorite things to do and there is plenty of reasons to laugh being married to Larry.  He's a jokester.

I'm in love with this Birthday Boy and I hope that we get to celebrate many more birthdays together.

Larry is 57 Woo Hoo!

It's Larry's birthday today!  This guy is seriously one of the best ever born!  He is funny and makes others laugh all the time. He is a really hard worker....at his shop or on the farm the guy seldom sits still.  He is kind and always thinks of others.  He is generous and likes to help others.  He is spiritual and studies hard to know Heavenly Father and Jesus.  He likes to makes my dreams come true and has done a really good job at it.  My life is a happy one because of Him!  I'm happy that this year he was able to find a truck that he has been looking for for years.  He deserves to have some of his dreams come true as well. 

People are drawn to Larry.  I think there are many who think they are Larry's favorite because he just has a way of making others feel loved.  I have heard others say that Larry is their best friend and I know it's because of his caring heart and the interest he shows to others.  Larry is kind and wonderful and I'm glad that he is celebrating another birthday! 

Hooray for Birthdays!  Hooray for Larry!  Hooray for Eternity!

A Very Merry Christmas

Last night after the grands had gone home,  Larry, Jaydan, Kimleighel, Jared and I sat down and watched a few Christmas Movies.  We watched Christmas Card and The Grinch!  It was a fun way to end a wonderful Christmas Eve.  The kids went to bed and Larry and I assisted Santa.  Not long after we had gone to bed, Jared came down and said that Kevin and Santa needed assistance at gramps and so he went to help out.  I like assisting Santa....it makes me truly happy and I feel wonderful.

Jared got home after a few hours and then a few hours later it was time to get up to feed the cows.  The cows got an extra bale since it was Christmas....I wonder if they knew.

Everyone got up and we met in the front room to see what Santa had brought.  Santa brought some games for the family.  The kids each got a new coat and some new shirts.  Oh and Santa even brought the cereal for them.  Yeah Santa!!!  I felt good about everything and thought we were truly blessed.

 

We cleaned up after making some breakfast and took off to see what the grands woke up to.  Our first stop was gramps since a few our cute grands are sleeping there right now.  Right in his front room was a bunk bed for the girls and some darling bedding.  Kam got a cool Barbie Van that changes into a hotel or big room and Jordie got a riding toy.  The girls were happy.  They also found out that twins will be joining their family when they opened a gift with two dolphin onesies.  Woo Hoo...Kamryn was excited.  Jordyn might not be but we will have to wait and see.

Then we went to Justin's house.  His kids were cleaned up and dressed and happily playing with their new toys that Santa brought.  Mya got new lego's that she already had together, a barbie car and a scooter.  Parker also got lego's and a really cool transformer...the coolest I have ever seen.  Macie got a baby and a cute Castle with lots of people and things to go with it.  They were happy and content.  Parker took Bark...the bunny....some carrots that Santa had left.  Parker trapped Bark the bunny and boy is he big.  He can even jump over the fence to get out of the pen. However he has learned that it's nicer and warmer inside the pen and so he's stayed in the last few days.

We had to wait a few hours to go to Trichelle's because it was Ivy's year to be at her dad's for Christmas morning. We went before going to my moms.  Ivy got some new books and a Science kit.  Zaden got some books that go along with the computer games he loves to play and a really big Lego set.  The family got a remote control helicopter and they are going to go on a ski trip.  Behr has so many new jammies that instead of wearing jammies he was in a little Santa suit for Christmas.  What a cutie!  Behr got a musical play seat.  He can sit and play with things all around the seat and his feet tap on musical bars when he moves them...very cute.

We didn't make it to see what Sadie got because between their running and ours we couldn't make it work out. We all decided it was okay this year since Sadie didn't really care or know.  I had Kelsi send me a few pictures of her though and I can tell she was pretty happy with her first Christmas.

Those that could make it decided to meet at my mom's at 2:18.  Susan and a few of her kids decided to come at that time too.  Bennett is here for a visit and so him and his honey were there too.  It was fun and the house was full but mom loved it!  My mom buys all year for her great grands when she volunteers at the elementary school.  She gives them all books and fun stuff.  The little girls got babies and they all loved them.  Her grands and kids get cards and $$$ which is greatly appreciated.  My mom has always made Christmas so much fun.  She had sandwich makings for everyone and we all enjoyed visiting  and eating until everyone had to leave.  I love my mom's house and the people that frequent there.  I love my Sister and her kids and grands.  I love my brothers and their friends.  I know my dad was close by and probably really glad he was on the other side of the veil with all the noise and chaos going on.  He didn't care for all the confusion but my mom seemed to enjoy it.  My dad was missed but thought of...always thought of.  I loved it and again had thoughts of  "I LOVE CHRISTMAS" going through my mind.

On the way home we dropped off Trichelle's families gifts and then went to visit Mom and Clark. Trichelle doesn't like leaving on Christmas and has so many visitors coming and going anyway.  It's nice for her to stay home and keep things as simple as possible.  Mom and Clark appreciated our visit and we really do need to make more of an effort throughout the year to visit our parents.  Heck...I'm going to want my kids visiting me and so I'd better set a good example.

A gift that makes me smile is this cute gift the Shirley made for me.  I have seen these in pictures but not this cute.  She said when she saw it she thought of me and had to make me one.  I love that the chocolate under the glass says "Chocolate Never Faileth".  That's the truth!  I love my friends and their thoughtfulness but most of all their friendships.  I don't think I could be more blessed!

My oldest brother is Santa's Helper.  He sent this to Bennett on Christmas.  I'm happy seeing him make the children happy.  Ho Ho Ho!

Family Christmas Party

I'm crazy about my family.  Larry and I have such cute and wonderful kids.  I just love them all to pieces.  The little ones that are joining are family are fantastic in every way.  They melt my heart and I can't get enough of them.  They each make me smile and my heart feel so warm.  I love whenever we are all together.  It's my favorite thing in the world.  Today was so much fun and everyone was happy and kind.  We had our party on Christmas Eve at 1:00 because that's the time that finally worked for everyone.  I loved having it them and would like to continue that but because of the traditions of the other families it won't always work...but it was nice.  I bought hats for everyone because I think hats add fun to a party.  I was right!  I enjoyed seeing everyone in their hats and couldn't help but smile.

We started off by having some lunch.  We kept it simple.  Everyone brought something to help out.  Not a ton of work but it filled us.  The grands run off and play at every opportunity.  Braxton brought a snowmobile and sleigh and took whoever wanted to go for a ride.  Sadie and I were the first and it was fun but just a little chilly on the face.  Braxton is a kid made for adventure and will create it.  It really was fun and thoughtful of him.

Then we exchanged gifts.  The grands draw names each year and they love buying and giving to their cousins.  I love watching them be so excited as they give and receive.  This year the little girls were really cute and fun to watch. Macie was so animated and cute and loving.  She is at the perfect age and I loved watching her.  Little Sadie might not really understand what's going on but she sure grinned when she opened her cute doll that Macie had chosen for her.  For me this is what Christmas is ALL about!  It's the gift I like best....seeing my family happy and sharing with each other.  Making wonderful memories together.  That's makes my heart smile so big!  I love it!  Everyone was so grateful and happy with what their cousin chose for them.  They all remembered to thank each other and hugs and kisses were sometimes given.

Sometimes their faces just lit up with excitement which made mine light up also. So much cuteness on our home!  I noticed as I was looking at pictures that we had some "visitors".  The visitors were only in a few pictures but they were with us and that makes me happy as well.  Heaven is so close!

I still enjoy watching my kids exchange gifts as well.  We rotate each year so they all get each other in the rotation.  It works out great.  There were a lot of fun gifts given.  All the big kids appeared to be happy as well and still there were a few hugs given.

After the kids and grands exchanged we got to open the gifts around the tree.  I didn't put them under the tree this year. ☺  As I got gifts throughout the season I would wrap them and put them in a box in the garage.  I liked doing it that way.  Each of the grands got a new game or toy.  They also got a book written about their name.  The books were really cute and each grand as they opened it wanted to read it right then.  That made me happy.  Each story was different because they are different.  I'm glad they liked their books.  Then they each got a tea cup and plate, or mug with a mustache.  I decided that in January I will start having a tea party for the girls and a dude's day for the boys.  We will craft or whatever we want and they can bring their cups or mugs.  I hope it works out the way I see want it to.  The hardest part will be to pick a day that everyone can come.  Then of course the grands each got a box of cereal.  The tradition passed down from their parents.  I would always get my kids a box of their very own cereal so they would have one more present to open.  The kids look forward to their own cereal still and I think the grands like it too.

The big kids each got a set of Bamboo Sheets and a Yeti Mug.  The business did alright this year and so we splurged a little.  I personalized each mug with Vinyl.  I had thought about just giving the mugs out randomly and seeing if the correct mug got to the right person but ended up tagging them.  I still got Natalie and Justin's mixed up and they could tell right away.  The kids were excited and it was fun giving them something they will all love and use.

Our house was organized chaos for hours.  It made me smile at everything going on and the piles of squished up wrapping paper.  At some point one of the little's brought me a "gift" that looked like poop.  I even smelled it to make sure it wasn't.  It was play dough shaped like poop.  Jordyn came over with another poop that had corn in it.  It was funny but still kind of gagged me.  (I gag easy)

The last part of our party was playing Bingo with our new bingo game.  It was so much fun at Larry's work party that I thought it would be fun for our party.  I like Bingo.  I had gathered up new things that were around my house.  Larry had bought a few things and I had too. We had all the gifts on the pool table and when you got a Bingo you got to choose a gift.  Everyone got a least one gift and then we didn't worry about everyone getting the same amount.  I didn't hear any complaints and so I hope that was okay.  Zaden preferred helping grandpa read out the numbers more than he liked finding the numbers on a card.  It was fun and after many bingo's and a few black outs the gifts were gone and we cleaned up. Braxton gave more rides in the field and I just kept thinking....I Love Christmas!

I love feeling the spirit of Christ and thinking of others.  I love being with my friends and family.  I love knowing that we will be together forever!  I love that Christ was born and lived a life of example and love.  I'm thankful for His atonement so that we can all repent continuously and be pure and clean and ready to meet our Heavenly Parents.  I'm thankful for Christ's resurrection so that I too can be resurrected.  I Love Jesus.  I love this Wonderful Time of the Year that the World celebrated Him!

Birthday Dinner for Larry and Lynette

Kamryn and Jordyn got to come play tonight while their parents took Larry and I, and Rick and Lynette to dinner.  Julie and Kevin do this twice a year as a thank you for all we do for them. Rick and I have birthdays that are close to each other too.  I think it is very nice of our kids to do this and I rather enjoy our visit with them and Rich and Lynette.  I really do love my kids "other" parents.  All of them are so wonderful....another blessing for sure!  The little girls love coming and playing with their Uncles and Aunt.  My kids adore all the little's as much as Larry and I do and so they are well taken care of.  A lot of Happiness comes through the door when the little's come to visit.  I sure do love each of them so much.  They all hold a special place in my heart and are my favorite in one way or another.

When we were exiting from the freeway the strongest impression/thought came to me.  I was sure that this year for Christmas Kevin and Julie would be announcing another baby.  Well....I was close.  After we ordered and sat down they gave us each a card.  It was announcing that we will be getting TWO grands in June!  Lynette and I both had happy tears jump in our eyes!  Talk about exciting news!  Julie invited Lynette and I to be present for the birth of these little miracles.  I'm super excited!  When I saw their ultrasound I realized it's the first time I have ever seen an ultra sound with two babies.  I guess I have on face book but really didn't pay that close of attention...it's different when they are coming to you.  Julie said she will for sure be going back to work. haha It's all good though since her cute sister runs the daycare her kids go to.  She knows they are well taken care of.  Lynette and I promised to help and gramps said he'd take Jordyn.  Gramps adores Jordyn...she has added happiness to her great grandpa.

 I love their cute announcement....perfect way to announce the Big News!  Julie could find out what the sex is in another week or two.  Woo Hoo!  Two New Grands are on the Way!  Such Wonderful News right in time for Christmas!

Tuesday with Larry

I really like my afternoon dates with Larry.  I really like going to the Temple except I have a really hard time staying awake in the middle of the afternoon.  I just hope the person I am going through for is paying attention.  We usually stop and get something to eat after and today we stopped at LaFerrovia.  We were headed to Long Horn Steak House because we have a gift card and very quickly Larry changed his mind and pulled into LaFerrovia instead.  I was glad because that is really what I wanted.  We got a meal to bring home for the kids.  Part of the reason for that is so Larry could take my leftovers to work....they would have been eaten otherwise.

When we got home Braxton and Kelsi were there because Sadie had a little Christmas Concert.  I went with them to support cute little Sadie.  There were so many people there supporting their little ones that we got to stand in the back.  Sadie was cute and Braxton was funny as he commented that his baby was the only one not doing the actions. (middle with pink hat and binkie)  I was glad that I was able to go and I was also glad that it was short and sweet.

Not long after I got home from Sadie's Concert, Natalie brought her cuties to hang out.  They  make me laugh and I love them to pieces.  Natalie and Justin had some shopping to do and it was fun having the grands over.  We watched the Lorax since they brought it.  It was a cute movie.  Macie is doing so much more these days.  I think it's fun to watch babies learn because it happens right before your eyes.  Macie clicks her tongue now and can suck through a straw because her mouth is fixed and she can.  She showed me her mouth and I asked her if it felt good and she said Yes.  She is talking more too.  She is putting a few words together and she speaks pretty clearly.  I just marvel at the new things she is doing each time I see her.  The first few years are amazing with all these kids learn.  I know the learning continues but it's not quite as obvious unless you are asking the kids questions or they are asking the question to you.  Actually Parker surprised me with a few big words tonight..I've forgotten them now but I was impressed when he said them.

Such a fun day!  Down Time is Nice!