To Grandmother's house we go...next door

Over the grass and through the gate to Grandmother's house we go. The dogs know the way to bark all the way along the short and quick walk we go-o-o-o.

It is so fun to have Grandmother Cranney right next to Mom and Dad's house. We see her quite a bit more and she seems so happy to be there. We visited on Amy's birthday and she accompanied on the piano while we sang Christmas carols and Primary songs.

Thanksgiving was a total blast

Since Dad's birthday is on November 28th and Thanksgiving was November 27th we decided to have a turkey birthday. Kara, Keven and Mom decided to get him something out of the ordinary. They organized a scavenger hunt where he had to go to neighbor's houses to get the clues and then solve the riddles to find the next location. After a long walk through the neighborhood he finally found it...a tuktuk(spelling???) or a city tricycle. It is very similar to the mode of transportation used by the Kara and Kev in Sri Lanka. It drives like a motorcycle but has three wheels and a semi enclosed body. It is fire engine red, very appropriate, and he seemed to love it. Later that evening we had a driving contest weaving through orange cones and backing up. Let's just say that Kara has a lot of experience so she took the trophy. We'll see about next year!

The food was great and the company was even better. We ate with the neighbors, Dale, Mo, Josh and Erika.

We also had a lot of fun making turkey placecards with Ella, Preston, Kara, Kate and Amy. They were pretty goofy looking made of pinecones, oranges, google eyes and pipe cleaners. Since when are turkeys cute?

Happy Halloween

Off to Never Never Land! We had a great Halloween with the kids. Why is it that when you have little kids around holidays are so much more exciting? We dressed as the characters from Peter Pan. Josh was Smee, Amy-Captain Hook, Ella-Tinkerbell, Preston-the crocodile, and Luke was Peter Pan. We loved showing our costumes off and Ella would give a narrative to each person we trick or treated to on who was who. She said, "mom, everyone is going to tell me how pretty I look." This was while I was putting on her make-up...look out world!

Christmas list

So since no one replied to my questions about christmas gifts...seriously...I've just decided how I think we should do gifts. If you have any objections let me know.

Keven and Kara give to Josh and Amy
Josh and Amy give to Jonathan
Jonathan gives to Megan
Megan gives to Kevin and Ginger
Kevin and Ginger give to Katelyn
Katelyn gives to Keven and Kara

Next year we will just rotate down to the next person.

More fun pics

Forsyth Reuion

What a great weekend we had. It started out at aunt Gwen's for a BBQ and a fun movie under the stars. Next we headed to Raging Waters for sun and fun. That night we celebrated Katelyn's 18th bday at Chuckarama. The next day we went to temple square and saw the Joseph Smith movie followed by a great meal at Tucano's. That night we danced the night away with disco and 80's music. I never knew Keven had such great moves. The last day (Sunday) we had a really special tesimony meeting under the pine trees. What an amazing group of people. Thanks for sharing yourselves with us. Cuz, we love you!

Cleaning out the font...

Brother Joe is about to get baptized, but Elder Olsen first needs to preside over the casting out of the frogs and spiders. The spider on the wall looks small, but it is 5 inches in diameter (yes, that includes the legs - are you unimpressed now?). These particular spiders are fun. They leap at you if you get in their territory (i.e. your cupboard) and when you hit them with Raid they keep coming after you, dragging themselves along the floor. Come visit me and if you can do this without screaming a little I'll buy you dinner.

Lumberjack Dave

Yesirree, in spite of the difficulties Keven and Papa had a good time playing manly-men up on Lake Superior. They ate home-grown, -cured and -cooked meals (courtesy Gloria, the farmer's wife), played with monster farm equipment, cut down swathes of oak trees (winced as they did it, but I'll bet being Godzilla Destructo was as much fun as it was when they were kids playing with blocks) and probably didn't shower enough.
Nice eye protection, Papa.

What's going on?

Well, since no one else cares about this blog I guess I will get things going again and post a few new pics. I was looking at all of your blogs last night and Megan is the only one with a new post in the last 6 or so months. That is sad. Anyway, I thought I do a rundown on what everyone is up to and if you have any new information or corrections you'd like to add please feel free.

Dad and Mom

Well, they just got back from a quick trip to North Carolina to take Kevin and Ginger another car. They had a long drive, a great visit, and a quick flight home. It sounded like a whirlwind. Dad is getting ready to leave for Hawaii (poor guy) to be trained (so he says) for something really important (I can't remember what). He leaves toward the end of March. Aloha! Mom is still superintendent of the two house renovation going on in her house and Stan's old house. It is amazing what they have done and it looks great. She works day and night and makes sure that the workmen are all taken care of. What a great boss. She is also still putting in a few hours at the hospital so she doesn't get much downtime yet she still finds time to be a fantastic grandma and friend to Maxine.

Keven and Kara

Well the two adventurers are wraping things up in Sri Lanka and if the stories are really true, they will be back in Utah to stay sometime this Spring. I'll believe it when I see them here. They have done a great job with their work especially considering the circumstances and we all are praying that they come home to stay.

Josh and Amy, Ella and Preston

Josh turned 30, Amy is 31 weeks pregnant, Ella is 31 inches tall and Preston is as busy as 3 kids put together. We're loving our house, Josh is adjusting to his job, Amy is surviving pregnancy, Ella is in heaven with her own room and Preston is getting better at talking instead of screaming. Luke should be here by the beginning of May. Keven, maybe you two can share a birthday (Sorry Meg, I'm not waiting that long) even though my due date isn't until the 13th of May.

Jonathan

Jonathan is a hard working landlord and bachelor. He is rennovating his kitchen (at least the cupboards) and is working long hours at the office. He is also making a little time for the ladies but he still is looking for that special someone. He is an incredible uncle and one of the few who will actually change a diaper.

Megan

Talk about a workaholic. This girl has like 10 jobs and still finds time to go to the gym. I think she also has a little time left over for a guy from the prison (oh yeah he just works there, Nate). She looks like a model and could probably beat any one of us up so look out.

Kevin and Ginger

If the two of you survive this month and make it out alive it will be a miracle. We are all praying for Ginger and her darling eyes. She has had some kind of eye correction surgery which probably is 100 times worse than any kind of training Kevin had to go through, not to mention a sinus surgery. What a tough chick. Kevin is being an outstanding husband especially considering most of the time he's in another state. Korean anyone? Just ask Kevin, I hear he is fluent.

Katelyn

DJ Kate is rockin Utah County at KOHS. She was on TV (the news) and she is the best DJ they've got. The news anchor even said so. She is trying to stay in school and is working hard at her internship where she is doing ride alongs with Dad and Josh at the Fire Department. She got to see some interesting calls last night with Josh. A head-on collision and an attempted suicide with a knife. It's all in a days work. What a babe!

As a side note I am emailing all of you the info on how to post a blog or make a comment and it would be really nice to hear from you SOON!

WE LOVE OUR FAMILY!!!

Adventures in Rock Canyon

So since Josh and I were going to go and do a slot canyon, I needed some emotional and technical support from my Forsyth Sisters. I somehow convinced Megan and Kara to come with Josh and me up to Rock Canyon. As Kara said "the girly girl of the family" meaning me, needed a beginners lesson in repelling. I have to admit I was terrified but since these ladies are so tough I had to try and act brave. Megan showed me how it was done with her new man "York" oohing and aahing from below. Then Josh made me go. Kara was so kind as to belay(sp?) me from the bottom so I felt safe (I guess since I didn't know that it made a difference in the tall mountain I was climbing off). Thanks to my awesome family for your support and expertise. I couldn't have done it without you.