No Labor on Labor Day,

I decided to take a 4 day weekend this past Labor Day weekend.

It was just what I needed.

On Friday I met my sisters for lunch at "Kneaders" in Bountiful.

We had a great lunch and an even better visit.

I love my sisters and I just needed a good dose of them.

On Monday I got up early and headed for Nikki's house.

She planned a hike for us at Sherwood Hills. Much to our dismay, they won't let the public hike there any more with out a fee and since we did not come prepared, we headed for Nik's back-up plan which was to walk/run the trail around the lake at Mantua. It is just 4.1 miles which is exactly the time we had before Nik had to get back to Brooke.

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

The morning breaks over Mantua.

Emma loves horses and here are two in the bushes eating breakfast.

Emma watches the fish jump? The ducks dive? The fisherman?

It was a beautiful calm Labor Day morning...

Thanks Nik and Emma for the memories on a wonderful Labor Day morning.

I was also able to go on a drive with Doug. We had a great time driving up to Kamas and then on to Park City. Doug had been to a cafe up there years ago where the owner had a wall full of bottles of Coke from all over the world. Probably 10 years ago Robin went to Prague, Czech Republic and Doug had her bring him back a bottle of Coke Cola to take up there. We were 10 years too late as the wall of Coke does not exist anymore. I guess we need to get out more. We decided to head to Park City and the Outlet stores where Doug found a new leather coat at Wilson's Leather. Then we headed back to the Valley. We were lucky to be driving the opposite direction of the crowded highways. When we left to go home on I-80 East, the other direction, I-80 West was backed up way past the Heber exit. Everyone was going home. Made me glad I live where I do. It was a relaxing day full of "no Labor". Hope you all had a great holiday as well. Next Holiday off...Thanksgiving. Can you believe it??

I hate to see the summer go....there was so little of it.

Huntin for eggs.......... and $

Annual Wilson Egg Hunt:

They are off!!!!

Each grandchild ran for the closest egg they could find:

Grandpa has lots of junk to hide stuff.

Analyn looked high and loooooow.

Emma found one by the pine tree.

Lindsey found one on old "rusty".

Christian looked in amongst the many rocks.

Luke went for the Tractor.

And Farrah...well she looked everywhere!

Miss Farrah with her collection of eggs.

I tried something different this year:

I tried to peek Mason's curiosity.

So I hid money 10$ in one gold egg, 5$ in another one.

5 ones$ in two different silver ones.

I gave Mason a half hour to find them and then let everyone else look.

Mason found the big $ one and the two silver ones.

Emma found one of the silver ones:

Guess who in this group picture was sad about not finding one of the $ eggs:

Next year I have to find a way to make things fair.

Analyn found the least eggs cause she was worried

about the little kids getting enough.

She was a great sport.

Emma shared her dollars with Lindsey, Christian and Analyn.

Life is not fair I guess......Egg-sactly.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I FEEL LOVED....DO YOU?

A Quiet Easter.........

WELL ALMOST ALL OF THE MUNCHKINS....

MISSING THE ONES WHO COULDN'T HOLD STILL....

WERE NOT INTERESTED IN BEING IN THE PICTURE....

AND WERE TOO FAR AWAY TO PLAY......

With Mac and family away at school.....

Holly and Lex and family"wheeling it".......

Robin and Nate and Campbell at the "Healy" celebration....

Nikki and Aaron and family at the "Wolthuis" celebration.....

Carly and Farrah on an Easter adventure.....

and even LouJean with a Easter invite to Jolene's....

Doug and I will be alone.........................

But don't weep for us......we had an egg bouncing good time Last Sunday.

Check it out.........

EASTER DECORATIONS

WONDERFUL BRUNCH BETWEEN CONFERENCE

LINDSEY WAS THE WINNER WITH THE MOST EGGS

EMMA AND ANALYN PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER FOR THIS ONE

LUKE HAS A NATURAL SUGAR FIND....IT IS HEREDITY

CHRISTIAN WAS MORE INTERESTED IN THE TRACTOR AND MOTORCYCLES

CAMPBELL WAS INTO BOUNCING THE EGGS NOT GATHERING

AND FOR THE FAMILY PHOTO, THIS IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS. CAMPBELL CHOSE TO BE IN THE BACKGROUND.....CUTEST BACKGROUND EVER!!!!!

AND WHERE WAS MASON YOU ASK? TOO BIG FOR EGG GATHERING HE WENT FOR THE KILL....THE EASTER BASKET GRANDPA HID...THIS IS WHERE IT WAS THIS YEAR............................

AS YOU CAN IMAGINE THERE ARE ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIDING PLACES AT THE WILSON'S YARD AND GARDEN. [RIGHT]

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A "HOPPY" EASTER.....

Valentine's Day revisited..........................

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY !!!!

This is how our Valentines Day went...........

Early morning wake-up call/snowing/driving/delivering.

Valentine Cards Carly helped me make for the Grandkids.

Lunch at "Iggy's" with Doug, his mom LouJean,

and Robin, Campbell, and Nate.

Food was good, company better.

The sun came through the clouds....Yum!!

Movie at the discount theater...

who ever heard of a $2 movie??

"Forever Strong"....the movie...

If you missed it, buy the video..it is a "keeper".

Walked into the snowy night, groceries at "Stop and Shop"...

remember we have Grandma with us....S&S is the family store.

The night ended with thoughts of all the reasons why I love Doug....

But wait, there is more:

Wilson Sugar cookies made with love.....

[anyone who has ever made sugar cookies knows what I mean]

Cards and gifts for and from my Valentine

Heart Stickies arranged and rearranged by grandchildren on the window..

And let's not forget the monkey....

Remember the monkey in the basket that I won at work?

Well I gave it to Doug along with some other things I had purchased for him.

This little monkey was more than met the eye....I finally figured out the connection of the Monkey to the "Romance Basket, and you will too.....listen to the Monkey as it Sings.....Take a look and a listen.....!!!!

"Can't get enough of your love baby" by Barry White"

That's a Wrap!!! Hope your day was as great as ours !!!!

It was the most "WONDERFUL DAY" of the year....

New Years Eve Day!!!!!!!!!!!

It started out with a 6:00 Am Session at The Temple...it was Wednesday after all!!

Next was a frosty 8 degree run down Stringtown road. I had to dodge the ice a little on the road, but not too bad. When I got back I took these pictures. Check out the beautiful frosty trees.

Doug and I took a trip to town to run errands, where I made some fun purchases.

Check it out!! Love these boots. Doug bought them for my Birthday.....well one must start early to celebrate one's birthday and milk it for all it's worth especially when you have been alive as long as me!!

Next I dyed my mother-in-laws hair and made a "Pineapple Pie". I know it may not sound good, but it is wonderful. Here is a picture [half gone sorry] and here is the recipe:

John's Pineapple Pie

2 1/2 cups un drained crushed Pineapple in juice not syrup

2 T corn starch

1/2/cup sugar

1/4 ts salt

Mix all ingredients and cook on stove until the milky color almost disappears and the filling thickens somewhat.

Add:

1 T lemon juice

1 T Butter

Stir into mixture.

Pour into unbaked pie shell and put top crust on. Cut out a little pineapple out of the dough that is left over cause it looks cute. Brush slightly with egg white. Put the pineapple "cut out" dough in the center and cut top of pie with scissors [little slits] on top of crust. Sprinkle lightly with sugar on top. Bake in oven 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

THE END

[I bake it with those crust edges you can buy so the edges don't burn.]

When evening came we went to dinner with my friend Brenda and her husband Scott Carnahan. We got to the digs at 4:30 PM and left about 7:00 PM. This is where we went:

" Harley and Bucks"

This what we ate:

And this is what we did....great conversation, great friends, a great time.................

The bottom line is......Doug was in bed by 8:30 PM, I was in bed by 10:30......and I awoke only at mid-night as I could hear Fireworks in the distance.......................................................

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

White Christmas Dreams come true..............

This Makes Me Happy!!!!!

Made in Eden...........

THANKSGIVING.................IT'S NOT ABOUT THE FOOD.

This is the first year that Doug and I have been "home alone" for Thanksgiving. Mac and Priscila have always been here even when everyone else is at their in-laws. But as you know, Mac and Priscila are "home alone" as well.....in New Jersey. So Doug and I decided that we would try something "new" and go out for dinner. We chose the "Little America" brunch. We used to go there for Sunday brunch when we stayed over there so we had visions of "crepes" and "Waffles" and other delish breakfast foods along with the "Thanksgiving" food as well. NOT!!! It was strictly a

"Thanksgiving Feast" .

It's not that the food wasn't great......... Turkey, Ham, Pork, Duck, Prime Rib, Salmon, Halibut, all the Shrimp you could eat. Stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, vegetables, 4 kinds of salads, fruit galore, bread galore [everything from croissants to sweet rolls]. More desserts than you could eat. [Pumpkin pie, Apple pie, Chocolate cake, while cake, carrot cake, ice cream, mousse in two different flavors, ice cream, chocolate covered strawberries, and cookies and truffles....you name it and they had it.

But.............I missed Doug's deep fried turkey, and my homemade yams made from apples, and yams, and pineapple. And I missed Holly's goo. And I missed Nikki's Apple pies, and Pineapple pie made from John's recipe, and stuffing from a Box, and Pumpkin Pies with real whipping cream [seriously they did not have whipping cream for their pumpkin pies].

But most of all....................I missed my Family cause after all That is what "Thanksgiving is all about. And next year we will be together again, and it will be crazy with all those little grandchildren running around, and chaotic with every one in the kitchen on top of each other and Football and tons of dishes, and spills on the carpet, and fingers in the whipping cream.

But...................................................................

I WILL LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. Hope yours was a good one!

Some things I am grateful for:

• My husband Doug....that he is alive.....he is amazing....and takes good care of our family.
• My children......all of them.........I learn so much from them every day. They are the reason I get up in the morning.
• My grand children........they are so loving.......they keep me young......I Love them sooooooooooo much.
• The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It keeps me grounded and reminds me who I am.
• My friends. My "Maddox Friends" [CBC's] you know who you are. Forever Friends who mean the world to me....and their husbands who will sleep on a gravel pit in Idaho.
• My hiking friends who share God's nature with me and who I hike with and talk with and share deep thoughts with [I really do have them....deep thoughts] and who I pee in the wilderness with.
• My High School friends whom I also love dearly and whom I share many memories and fun times with and remind me of earlier days when life was carefree [we thought]. It is comforting to have friends you can be yourself around and they don't judge you....they just love you....I love them.
• My job. In this day and age it is so good to have a job. I love the friends I work with and laugh with and cry with. They are pretty awesome. It is good to be there......and it is good to go home.
• Rich.......the guy who does my hair. He takes about 10 years off my life with his magic. He keeps wanting to snip snip snip..[Hair dressers are like that you know] But I am not ready yet.
• My mother in law LouJean. [Remember these are not in any particular order] She is the only mother I have here on earth. She is the most giving, hardworking, kind, compassionate, loving person I know. She is 79 years old but looks 65, and acts like she is even younger! She gardens, paints, [walls in her house] she walks everyday with friends and rides a shiny red bicycle down the road. She bakes wonderful bread. She is amazing and I love her.
• My sisters Carolyn and Rosalie. I love having them close. It is crazy when we are together. They are both "hard of hearing" and we yell a lot at each other, but only cause we love each other. I am grateful my hearing is just fine....what's that you say....ha? what?
• My brother Ray who I am glad is alive this year as well. I can thank him for buffalo meat.....a half of a buffalo.......I hope we like it....
• My home. It is unfinished and cluttered [not my fault].....I will leave that for another blog. The cupboards are old and stained and still have glass knobs on them. I still have solarium on my kitchen floor cracked and puckered. I hang blankets over the windows to keep the sun out because the wood is not finished so I can't hang blinds. The bathroom walls still have holes from when we built on 20+ years ago and we have no furnace as we heat with wood. But I would not want to live anywhere else. We live in this house and it is a comfortable place to be.........it is home.
• Good health. FOY food and well the truth is, I am thankful for sweets as well....lots and lots of sweets.....and the fact that I can still get myself out of bed and take a 2 mile run...... so I can eat sweets.

Well, that is my thankful list [in no particular order] for this year.

Four out of Seven and counting.............

I can't believe it........I've got four of my seven fake Christmas trees up. Hold on now, don't freak!! I don't decorate them until after Thanksgiving, and I have cut back from nine , so give me a break. I start early and it helps to use the weekends to get a head start. I just love the lights and the holidays. Here is a little preview:

This one is temporarily on the landing before you go upstairs but will land in the Dining room after Thanks giving. Colored lights. I decorate it with all the hodge podge of homeade decorations from when the kids were little including mirrors with their cute little faces in the middle, shrink art, pipe cleaners wreaths, and Relief Society Santa's.

Trivia: Did you know that pipe cleaners really were used to clean pipes [smoking pipes that is]. My mom used to use them to clean the tubes in her hearing aids.....and you thought they were just for crafts!

This is actually two trees. You just can't see the little one next to it. This one has white lights and I decorate it with my really cool ornaments. These are a collection of Santa's , snowmen, and birds. Every year for Holly's Birthday we go to Gardner Village for lunch [Archibalds] and I go to the Christmas shop there where they have really great glass birds that clip on the tree. They are pretty pricey, but I get two or three a year. The tree does not look like much now, but it looks really fab when it is all docorated. I will have to do a before and after.....notice the cute little shadow in these pictures? That is Farrah. We used the flash for the next photo so you could see her. She really dolls up a tree doesn't she. I think we'll keep her.........