Seasonal

"By focusing on your loved ones, enjoying or building holiday traditions and following the Savior's example of service, you can give yourself and your family true, lasting Christmas gifts." ~Someone anonomously profound, I'm sure

"The gift of Christmas isn't wrapped up in presents or parties. The gift of Christmas is Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father, the Son of God. As you follow Him, you put people first.

You spend less time in lines and more time serving others. You may spend less money on and more time with the people you love. You may lose yourself and you may find everything else that matters." ~also a quote by anonomous someone profound
These two people are the best examples I can think of for those who TrueLee lose themselves in the service of others.

Christmas season once again. I love the true meaning of this season. When I think of the humble first Christmas I am overcome with gratitude for our Heavenly Father and sweet Mary who was such a beautiful, valiant, virtuous mother of the Son of God. I can hardly wait to have family close and almost all together again for a few minutes.

I Heart Asphalt

My coordinated friend T always says, "Tuck and roll." Apparently I believe in "Fall and Sprawl."

Bless my little heart! Apparently.

55 and still alive

"Mom, why don't you ever post anymore?" said Alyson. My response is sorta lame, "I don't know, I guess I'm not using my time effectively anymore." Obviously, my daughters help me out with every project I undertake. An excuse I'll use is that I like to spend my time with grandkids and I don't seem to find time to get to the computer.

But those are both excuses, so today I am posting. Happy Anniversary to these two couples today! I remember the happy day for both of these couples like it was yesterday. Do you think Chris looks like he's full of just as much bull as he was that day?

What I remember about Joe & Mariann's day was that we couldn't find anything for Alyson to wear so she wore her dress made out of the tablecloth that was WAY too little for her, but Joe and Mar were a stunning couple. They still are, only more distinguished looking.

So there you go Al! I posted and I'm here to say I'm 55 and still alive. Can someone tell me about all the Senior discounts I can get now?

The industrious girl lives somewhere else now and other summer adventures

Natalie was so industrious while she lived at our house. I was continually in awe of the things that she could accomplish. She sewed cute little skirts for Amy out of scraps of nothing. Each time I came home from somewhere there would be another batch of bottles cooling. She bottled pinto beans, black beans, chicken, zucchini relish, tomatoes, probably more stuff that I can't remember, and even made dill pickles out of eggplant. Oh the industrious girl. Of course we never took a picture. She's way too modest. Not only that, but I'd come home and she'd fix me lunch or dinner, whichever time of day it was. She can figure out a menu out of the pantry, and her meals are always delicious and nutritious! So I'm missing my maid and her hilarious kids!

So I went to camp and took zero pictures but I will thrill you with random other venues that I attended this summer in Utah, immediately before and after camp.

This is True's Crew that showed up for the Robison reunion in Holden, July 18th. Please don't worry about the spilled snowcones. The ants didn't take over too soon.

This is Aunt Phyllis in the white shirt. The reunion was kind of a surprize 90th birthday party for her. Aunt Estell is a year younger. My mom's sisters are such cute little ladies. If you need a prize winning quilt, they are both masters at piecing and quilting.

The Jones portion of the reunion.Me, with the two cousins I spent most of my Utah summers with. Love these girls.

This is Jamie and Russell's very cute wedding cake. I also loved Jabe and Presley's too because it was very elegant, but I'm really lame at taking pictures. Please don't hire me for anything like that.Here's Lee and True on their 56th wedding anniversary, right after Lee performed the sealing ceremony for Russell and Jamie.Here's Russell and Jamie on their zeroth anniversary with their very cute parents.Next day, new bride and groom, Jabe and Presley ~ again Lee was the sealer. Both Grandpa's were master gardeners and their yards where the receptions were held were lush, green, blooming and beautiful and made me wish I lived in Utah. Seriously people, you can really grow anything there. So these are Presley's little brothers, 6 month old twins and a five year old, I believe, plus a seven year old sister. Is that right? Anyway, what a brave mom and dad Presley has.
Sophia was happy until the "Bossy Boy" came. It was down hill from there. No amount of coaxing from Chris could fix the Bossy Boy problem.

So that's it folks. School started here today so it's supposed to be fall now, right? Tell me why it is 10:07 PM and still 93 degrees.

Our favorite grand-dog!

Look how smart our favorite grand-dog is! I swear, pretty soon he is going to go all Animal Farm on us.

Sorry for the non-posting as of late. Girls camp, reunions, and weddings have been keeping us pretty busy.

Summer Profiles

Profile Twins -
This is an awkward profile shot so we better turn things around. Here's a better shot, the only awkward one here is Kevin. Sara finally took off her SunSplash band.

light at the end of the tunnel

Happy Graduation everyone! This is a great time to reflect on enduring to the end. Sometimes it is hard to even think that there will ever be an end or even a breather to our struggles. I personally need to remember that there can be light in the whole pass through process.
Happy Day to all!

looking forward

Looking forward to Jake's graduation...so I can go to Iowa where the corn (wish my garden looked this way this year...unfortunately it doesn't thrive on neglect in AZ)and the corny are as high as an elephants' eye...Looking forward to Melissa's graduation so that she will once again climb the (career) ladder and help with my summer painting. Congratulations and thanks in advance Melissa!

Then I'm looking forward to young women's camp. Our theme this year is "Live Like You Believe." I'm so excited for it. Any ideas for camping fun, let me know here...

Clap your hands!

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!
Lots of good things happen every day. Three blessings I'm counting today are:

1-Nate has gone wireless. Yep, he can be transported without wires attached. It's a happy day.
2-It's graduation time for Jake and Melissa and we're so proud of them.
3-It looks like Melvi totally has a chance to win the first challenge in the "Burn Baby Burn" contest.

Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections. This would be the case with this friend of mine who is the most positive outlooker I've ever met. I'm trying to help her find a kind, good man to befriend and spend time with. If you would kindly funnel your great ideas through me for preapproval, it would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Clap your hands!

Eggs

Can I first say that I loved General Conference. It filled my soul and made me want to be a better person. Can I next say, Happy Birthday to Alyson. She is such an angel and blessing in my life. She is a testimony that unhappy cranky little babies can be most beautiful and good. Happy Birthday Alyson, you're a good egg.

Oakley is fascinated with eggs. He always wants to crack them for me when we are cooking. The other week we were out in the front getting the mail when he spotted an egg in the cul de sac. Here's a pictoral account of his proceedings.

"Flap your wings," he said as he flapped away. Eeww, right? Well, he hasn't died of bird flu, which I'm very grateful for. He tries to be such a good big brother. Here he is with Nate. Reese and Nate might be considered chocolate (or dinosaur) eggs in this one. Look how cute they are. Nate sure likes to be with Reese. I think he wishes that Reese would stay home more often. You know it is sometimes hard on the sibling that has to stay home and not get the outside excitement and stimulation of being so popular.

In other news, this week is the Huber Family Fair and my dad's birthday. This group is really looking forward to the events and we hope all of you will join us with your talents and displays.I'm not so secretly hoping for another round of cane fighting. Since I'm doing the awards, there may be special awards for most original performances. Bring it on.Nate is trying to teach Reese the moves for their dance. See you there.