December 2011

The first event of December was Maci's birthday. She turned 17. Can you believe she is my baby? Anyway, she wanted a pumpkin roll for her cake and she got a pair of pajama pants and a trip to see Voice Male. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Then on December 23, we all went to Idaho Falls where Nathan and Rebecca had gathered the family to bless their baby, Hyrum. Nathan did a great job with the blessing and then we had a wonderful meal of Cafe Rio food.

Then we all rushed back to Soda Springs the next morning to get ready for Christmas.  All of the kids were able to be here for at least a day.  Brendan and Witney came Christmas night but the rest were here for Christmas morning.   Basically, the living room exploded when it was unwrapping time. But it was a great time.

Greysen ready for church

Gwen ready for church

Grey loves his new dinosaur toy

Witney in her new hat

The group and the mess

Isaac and Greysen

Phoebe is so hard to get a picture of. She never sits still.

Isaac the cutie

Emmi and Isaac

Hyurm is always so happy.

Thanksgiving 2011

First of all, I know the photo of our family looks like it hasn't changed, but take another look. The setting is the same but a few new faces have been added.  We have 3 new grandsons (Greysen, Isaac, and Hyrum) who are added to the picture and a new future daughter-in-law (Witney). Our family continues to grow and we love each one as they join us.

I took a few random shots with my camera and managed to get almost everybody someplace. I missed Nathan and Gwen, both of whom spent lots of time downstairs watching either cartoons or sports, I'll let you decide who was watching what.

We had a great time while everyone was together. Thanksgiving Day was so nice as everyone pitched in to help cook and clean up. I have to say I enjoyed the day more than ever before. I just love my family.

Our three little Christmas presents

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as happy as ours.

Hyrum's Here

I had the great opportunity to go to Boise to welcome our new grandson to the world.  He was born on October 8.  He is so cute and has a head full of red hair. He is such a good baby and I enjoyed every minute with him.  He weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces and was 22 inches long. His name is Hyrum Wayne Owen.

I'm adorable

Punk rocker

Hyrum in his candy corn hat

Red curly top

Hyrum in his pumpkin hat

Can't believe he's a dad

Mom loves him

Proud Aunt Maci

Grandma's boy

Bored with Gramma

Maci's Free

I'm very slow at posting this and I couldn't find a picture of Maci before braces (she'll get one when she has her orthodontist appointment next month) but in the meantime, I will post a braces picture and an unbraced picture. Her teeth look so amazing. She actually got them off while I was away from home when Isaac was born so I didn't get pictures of the big event.

On the last week of school, Maci was invited to attend the honors assembly.  She got an award in almost every class she took. She is not only a beautiful girl, she's smart too. I'm very proud of her.

Fun with the Grandkids

Isaac Douglas Owen was born on May 14th and I got to go to stay with Logan and Rachelle and help with the kids. It was so much fun. Before Rachelle got home from the hospital, the girls had fun picking flowers in the back yard.

Then Lindsay had to go back to work the same day Rachelle was coming home from the hospital and her sister-in-law, who was going to watch Greysen had sick kids, so I got to watch Greysen for a few days along with the rest of the grandkids, so for the first time, I had all of my grandkids together.

Gwen, Greysen, Isaac, Phoebe

The 2 grandsons, Greysen & Isaac

Isaac

Greysen

I found a poem in a family history book we have called "Many More Martin Memories" that was a favorite of my Aunt Neva that I thought applied well here.

GRANDMOTHERS

They say that all Grandmothers
are inclined to brag a bit,
and that there is some truth in this,
I frankly must admit.

For since I've reached the Grandma stage, 

and all my friends have too,

I'm simply floored by all the bragging

These Grandmothers do.

To hear them rave, you'd think for sure

That this old human race

Was fast becoming super men

at a  tremendous pace!

Yet, when I see these boys and girls-

Their Grandma's pride and joy--

Each one seems to be

Quite an ordinary girl or boy.

Of course, I humor them along

and say I think they're fine-

But you can see the difference

If you've ever noticed mine.

My own are so much cuter, smarter, 

Handsomer than theirs,

I can afford to humor them

When they put on such airs!

I'm really glad that I don't brag

Like other Grandmas do

I've so much more to brag about

If I just wanted to!

I do love my grandkids and they are definitely the cutest, smartest, handsomest grandkids around. (Not bragging, of course).

Spring in Soda Springs

 This afternoon. I'm pretty sick of it. Nuff said!

Modesty Out The Window

This is Rhoda's favorite sleeping position. It's almost embarrassing.

The Last Leg

The last leg of our trip was to the Grand Canyon. We went to Williams and took the Grand Canyon Railway. That was a fun experience. Before we left Williams, they had a "Wild West Show".

Then we boarded the train. On board they had entertainment for the ride. On the way there, a guitar player performed and on the way back, there was a banjo player. They were both pretty good and we enjoyed them.

 I realize that we are the record holders for Arizona natives who had never visited the Grand Canyon, but we finally made it and it was really beautiful. We were pretty cautious about getting too close to the Canyon.

 Not like these people who were a little braver.

Here are a couple of shots I thought were particularly neat.

It is so vast a colorful and we just saw a very small portion of it. We were there for about 4 hours but we didn't want to stray too far because we didn't want to miss our train ride back.  There was a train robbery on the way back, which, quite honestly, was pretty lame. The robbers got on and collected tips.

That was actually the sheriff that was coming after the robbers. Hopefully they shared their tips with him because we didn't tip him. Anyway, I enjoyed the experience. We stayed in Flagstaff that night and to Salt Lake the next day. After spending the morning with Judy, we headed home. This is what we found on our door when we arrived.

We also came home to a smaller pile of snow and a clearer lawn. But compare the lawn of the Mesa Temple in the previous post with what our lawn looks like. Please spring, hurry up!