Pickett Sandwiches

When my children were young, we would pile on each other and make sandwiches. The person on the bottom would be the bread. The next one would be the peanut butter. The third would be the jam.

As always, my kids are outdoing me. They have raised the sandwich to a new level. They do it standing now. I will show you what I mean.


In this case, however, we have the chickens surrounding the fence. Should it not be the other way around?

When the Cat Is Away....

On occasion while in Park City, my children would go do fun things like ski. Once they even tried snowboarding.

On one occasion, they even spent a night on the town eating sushi.

Now when they are out, I get the opportunity of being alone with my grandchildren. We have lots of fun as well! An air mattresse makes a great roof for a hideout.

A Real Fun Uncle

A new face is always interesting for young children.
It is even better when they are the best uncle ever. Daniel's quote for the trip was "Uncle Tim is so funny. "

Christmas Favorites

In the past, I have been puzzled when on occasion I have found the song "My Favorite Things" included on Christmas music CDs. Not any more! Christmas is always a favorite time of year and so is the following list:

My favorite place to go with my family for Christmas is Park City. It is not that I really like skiing that much. Don't get me wrong, I love being outside in the fresh air and exercising. The problem is the snow and cold. The real reason why it is a favorite is that everyone in my family really likes it. I want to be there with them having fun.


My favorite daughters!


My favorite son!


My favorite son-in-law! (You better be careful or you might be in the frame next year!)


My favorite grandsons!


My favorite husband!


I sure love you guys!

Grandkids For a Day

Tara and the boys came in for just a day. It took Daniel just a little while to find some boy toys. He is riding Todd's rock like a cowboy on a horse. Amazing what children will see in old people's stones.

Christmas Choirs

I just love good music. It strengthens and inspires me. It also helps me see the good in this marvelous world. One of the Christmas traditions I love the most is the music. Music celebrating God is better than any other music.

I have included below two wonderful songs, Carol of Joy and the Hallelujah Chorus, sung by Lexie's high school choir this holiday season.

Where's Waldo.... or Lexie?

Lexie participated in two dances for her high school dance recital. The theme of the program was "What Makes Us Move." I have included the videos of the two dances.

The first dance she performed in was titled "Memories." The young ladies that participated in this dance did the choreography. If the second dance had a title, it would be "The Company." It was certainly a favorite of Lexie and her companions.

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving day, we traveled with Don and Helen to Pleasantview to share the day with Terri and her family. We had such a good time that Lexie decided to stay the evening. She and her cousin Sarah were going to participate in Black Friday shopping. Rather, they ended up having a good time together but at 2:00 a.m. neither one wanted to get up to shop.

The following Saturday, the Duffin cousins got together to do baptisms for the dead. This event was planned around the fact that the Provo temple needed workers and both Todd and Matt would be officiating that day.

After the temple, we got together for lunch and games. The following are photos of the event.


Thanks Tim for the Mouse Trap game. They played and played and played.


Utah Thanksgiving football. Oh do I miss that Texas weather!


Amber and Jordon announced their engagement to us. Congratulations!

I have include just one of the many swim pictures that were taken. We certainly hope that you all come back again.

Trip to Logan

I have lived in Utah for nearly six months and I finally took the time to visit my sister and her family in Logan. It was nice to see the basement that she and her family had just finished and spend time at their home. The following day, we joined them and my mother at a local high school to support our other cousins' swim team.



Mackay, the swimmer we all came to watch while he still had hair!


These are the Logan cousins with local swimming friends and of course Lexie.

I was part of this group, the choir.


At the end, Dave and Mara took us to their family's favorite pizza place. It gave the kids a bit more time to be together. Thanks for the invitation and great weekend everyone!

A Chance to Celebrate Life

It is always nice to get with family and Abigal's blessing was not an exception. Joan jumps at any opportunity to visit with her cousins. Abigal, my grand niece was blessed by her father Eli. Below is a picture of myself with Abigal and her lovely mother Erica.

Region

This morning it was 36 degrees! There were snow flurries! It was also the cross country region meet. So with the freezing cold weather, all of these kids took off their warm clothing to run a 5K race. This is the start of the girls' JV race.


This and the following photo are of Lexie coming around the first loop. (Tim, she said she only cross the white line once!)


This photo and the one that follows is Lexie coming around the 3rd loop.





This is Lexie sprinting into the finish. She was shooting for under 24 minutes. She finished with 23:40. Way to go Lexie!


This is a photo of Lexie with her JV team. Way to go girls!

Tree Project

The porch off of my new condo faces north. It does not get a lot of sun. Hence, the grass in front of the porch does not grow and large spots are... mud. In order to improve the appearance through my windows, I took a section and planted a tree and a few shade plants. Hopefully these news plants will set good roots and look great in the spring.


After I had finished the project, I noticed that I no longer had my cell phone! I looked all over for it and could not find it. It had to be in the mulch. I used my house phone and called myself. I eventually found the phone in the bush below. I did not plant this section. This is where I used my left over mulch.


There was one other mishap during the project. I was using the garden tool called the claw. Generally, the claw is thrust into the ground and then twisted to move the dirt. On one of those thrust, I hit my second toe. Thank goodness I had shoes on! Below is the picture of the bruise. It has been a week now. You can barely see it any more.

Homecoming 2008

I had to share the proud parents photos of our lovely daughter and her handsome date to the homecoming dance. Above is the "securing the flower photo". Below is the result.

BYU Game

On Saturday, Todd, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa John and I attended the BYU vs Wyoming football game. It was a beautiful day with just a few clouds and an occasional breeze. We left the game a few minutes early to watch the final quarter of the UofU vs Air Force game. We have become quite the football fans.

While at the game, Grandma Nancy and I purchased drinks at the concession stand Joan was working at. This is a picture of her making Todd's drink. She was working with her cross country team as part of a fund raising activity. Todd and I are going to join her for a game in the concession stands in October. What we do for our children!

Visit From Tim

This past weekend, my son Tim came to visit our family. We had such a great time. On Friday evening, Tim invited over the cousins and Lexie invited some friends. Todd and I brought the Pizza. We also had a salad made with garden tomatoes from Grandma Nancy.

On Saturday morning, Tim and I rode bikes down to Utah Lake and back. It was great. I wish I had pictures. After the bike trip, we attended Lexie's cross country meet at BYU. Again, I am without pictures!

The rest of the time, Tim was busy with other events. I did have the chance to talk again with him when I drove him to the airport early on Sunday morning. After I said good bye, I watched him from the balcony as he went through security. What a great young man. We miss you Tim!

Painting and Planting

Over the last few weeks, I have completed a few home projects. Instead of painting a whole room, I decided to add color on just one wall in three of my rooms. It brings spunk without all the work! I have included pictures of my master bath, laundry/office, and kitchen. I also planted some evergreens in some pots outside my window.

Today is my birthday. I had a great day. I enjoyed being with my family and talking with those who were to far away to see. I also finished up a house project. The leaded glass is finally hung! I am thinking that it should be hung a little lower in the window. I had purchased enough chain to center it in the entire window. Now, however, I think it should be centered in the lower window. I will buy more chain and then try the new location just to be sure.

Now that the birthday and glass have been discussed. I must tell you about the great trip I had this past month with car loads of really great teenagers. The trip was a caravan from Provo to San Antonio and back. The reason for the trip to San Antonio was Lexie and her cousin's attendance at a week of EFY.
The group that started in Utah included myself, Madeline, Lexie, Carsten, and Mckay.
Once we got to Oklahoma City, we added two more cousins, Allison and Adelay and exchanged for a larger car.
We arrived in San Antonio with enough time to stop by the temple before checking in at EFY.

Once the kids had been dropped off. I started the vacation-of-a-lifetime. I went to a hotel, unloaded my car and had nearly five days to myself. It was a wonderful treat. I studied my NIV Bible, walked for exercise, spoke to my family on the phone, studied music theory, and read nearly three books.
This picture shows the desk I sat in while studying. The chair was a little bit low and hard so I added the pillows. My bed was king size.
I kept my books on the right side of the TV and my food on the left side. It was a once-in-a-life time vacation. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If I had the chance to do it again, I would do it in a heartbeat.

The best part of the trip, however, was the return. The teenagers were so entertaining. It was like watching kids after they had been trick-or-treating. They admired their stash, shared and traded experience with each other. They are truly a great bunch of people.

Youth Conference

I went to Youth Conference this weekend and it was amazing!!!! This picture was taken after I got thrown in the lake. We were all wet! It was so so so fun!

On Jun3 28, I participated in a team that completed an olympic triathlon. My team consisted of Madeline Duffin, the swimmer, myself, the biker, and Lexie, the runner.


Madeline is on the left in the wet suit, Lexie is in the middle and McKay Duffin, my nephew who completed the entire olympic marathon by himself is on the right in his wet suit.

This is a photo of Madeline leaving the water after her 1 mile swim.


This is a picture of Lexie waiting for me to finish my 26 miles on the bike. Although she was the last runner to leave, she was not the last runner to finish.

My nephew, McKay has just finished. He is dressed in the red shirt.

This is Lexie crossing the finish line of her 10K run.

This picture is of all of us after our finishes. It was a great day. It was a fun time. We are all hoping to do it again next year.