Why Montpelier?

For those of you who aren't familiar--Montpelier is NOT only in Vermont. It is also in extreme southeast Idaho. It's a small town with similar businesses as Soda Springs. It has two (maybe three) things that Soda doesn't have that makes it inticing. It has a Wells Fargo Bank, which happens to be the bank we use, it has a King's Department Store, which I really love to go in, but most of all, it has Studebaker's Pizza. It is a little hole-in-the-wall place where you have to park around the corner and down the street to even get to it. But it has THE BEST pizza in the world--especially the crust. It's buttery, crunchy, and melts in your mouth. I find every excuse I can to go to Montpelier and never go without going to Studebaker's. The best kind of pizza is Canadian Bacon with jalapenos. We usually put pepperoni on half of it for everyone else but always put on the jalapenos. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Crocheting Hats

Since Lindsay announced that she is having a boy, she talked me into trying my hand at crocheting again. I seem to get into projects, do a few things, and then don't do any for a long time and have to reteach myself what to do. I'm totally self-taught and still have to rip a lot of stitches, but I enjoy it once I'm into it. Here are a few of the hats I've made in the past month.

Mooooore Christmas

Maci got a piggy bank that calculates how much money you put in it. She spent the rest of the day trying to get people to feed her piggy.

Emmi loves Costa Vida but could never afford to go even though she lives a couple of miles from it. She's excited to use her gift card and treat herself. In the picture, however, is a digital frame to put all of her many pictures.

Linz and Ronnie are always fun to have around. They got several gifts for their baby to be born in February. The cutest one was a little set of golf clubs. Ronnie got a kick out of the prospect of taking him golfing with him. Their little dog is named Mercedes.

Nate & Rebecca donned their Christmas pajamas. They have vowed to get in shape this year and asked for exercise stuff. The waffle iron Rebecca's holding isn't one of them.

More Christmas

Doug got a new wedding band because he gave his original to Logan when he got married and has been wearing a CTR ring for the last 4 1/2 years.

Rachelle gets a Barnes & Noble gift card every year because she loves to read so much. Also, she got a Nook this year so she was doubly excited.

This was Brendan's first Christmas since his mission. It was fun to have him here. Notice the rug on his face. We talked him into shaving it as you can see in the new family picture at the top of the blog.

Merry Christmas!!

We had a really great Christmas. All of our family was here. There are 13 of us now. We count our blessings each year that they can all come. We know the day will soon arrive when they will want to have their own little family Christmases or will be spending time with other relatives. But we relish every moment we have with them while they are here. Christmas morning was a lot of fun as we watched each gift being unwrapped. Gwen and Phoebe were fun to watch because they got so many things that they wanted to stop and play with each one. But children are what makes Christmas fun and we enjoyed them.

Here is a picture of the Christmas tree before we started unwrapping gifts.

Logan helping Phoebe with one of her gifts. I think Logan's favorite gift for himself was a complete set of every Far Side cartoon that has ever been published. What a hoot!

Gwen after opening her first gift

I'll have to put other pictures on later. For some reason I can't add any more to this one.

Too Bored

Maci and her friend, Kaelyn are equally weird and love to be spontaneous and random. Today they decided to be themselves and paint each other's faces. One would think that it would be a Halloween caper but they said "No, we want to be 'men' for Halloween." That should be interesting.

An Exciting Weekend

<

Ronnie, Lindsay, and Brendan came for a visit this weekend. They, of course, brought the granddog, Mercedes. She is a little Morkie (Maltese and Yorkie) and is about 4 pounds. Our dogs weren't sure what to think of her, but at least they didn't eat her.


That was exciting, but not as exciting as the news they brought. They told us they had a present for us in the trunk of their car. We took the keys and went out to look. There was a rock that said "Baby boy Thinnes" carved into it. My first reaction was elation that we were going to have another grandchild. Then about half-way into the house I said to Doug "Wait a minute. How do they know it's going to be a boy?" She is actually 22 weeks along and has kept it a secret all this time! We're talking about Lindsay here!!!! She doesn't keep secrets! But this one is one she really kept, even through the announcement that Logan and Rachelle are expecting again. She is due 3 months before they are. After the shock, we are all very excited to have our first grandson in February and another grandchild in May. It will be fun for the two of them to grow up together.