WOW! LOOK AT US NOW!

I know in the past I have complained that I have nothing to blog about and now the news is overflowing. Ethan is a married man! AND----Nolan is engaged!!!

Ethan and Marisa had a beautiful wedding. The whole family was able to be here-so we had a wonderful experience. There is nothing better than sitting in the temple with your children and their spouses (whom I consider my children too!). It was a very emotional and personal ceremony-performed by a dear friend. Marisa's mom did an amazing job on the reception. It was truly beautiful. Sadie even said that she wanted her to do her reception when the time comes and I think that is a great idea. It was the best to be with our family and to see the grandchildren in all their wedding finery made me so proud and rang all my emotional bells. It really shook me to see Ethan wearing a wedding band but I guess that I will get used to it sooner or later.

Nolan became engaged to Caroline Smith on Christmas Eve. We are so excited for them. They have a few obstacles to overcome to even set a date. Nolan lives in Connecticut and Caroline is working in Orlando. She grew up in Boston and they met in South Carolina-so who knows where they will be married! Nolan also has a 6 month deployment coming up in April but I am sure that they will work everything out. When Nolan left Florida and came to the wedding, Caroline gave him instructions to take pictures for her. It was funny to watch Nolan taking pictures of the cake, table decorations, food and even Marisa's shoes yet when she asked No if the wedding dress was long sleeved-Nolan didn't know and this was after the wedding and reception. Good Luck you guys!

Our family is changing and growing and we love it. Oh, more good news----Alexa and Shane are expecting a little girl in April! That makes 10 girls and 3 boys-I guess we do girls better.

Thansgiving-a 'win/win' for everyone!

What is not to like about Thanksgiving. You have your family and you have lots and lots of good food. Its a 'win-win' situation. Thanksgiving gets better too because as your kids get older they do a lot of the cooking. Here are a few pictures of our great day.

Thanks Marisa for joining us. We love having you with us.

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACIE! I HOPE THAT THIS ONE IS A GOOD ONE. LOVE YOU!

Paul wanted me to include his plate to show how good he was and careful with 'portion control'. I am not sure that is what the picture shows and dessert is conspicuously absent!

ANGELS AMOUNG US

The other day, I was leaving WalMart after doing some shopping. I was parked kind of far from the store on one side but you know WalMart-it was still crowded. I stopped at the back of the car to open the trunk and put in my bags. In the middle of putting in my bags, I suddenly reached from one end of the cart to the other and grabbed my purse. There was no thought or prompting that came to me-I just did it. I looked up and saw a young man walking in my direction. I proceeded to finish my loading and get into my car. He proceeded to walk past me. It wasn't until I got into my car (and locked it!) that I was promted that he was going to take my purse. The Lord had not prompted me in what to do; He moved my body to take action. I sat in my car for awhile, saying a prayer of gratitude and realizing that as often as I pray for safety and protection-that I take it for granted. I think that when the time comes and we are made aware of the many times the Lord took care of us-we will be amazed and humbled. I am much more careful now to thoughtfully ask for safety and protection and to say 'thank you' even when I didn't see it happen right before my eyes.

OK! OK! OK!

OK!!!!!!! I know that I don't "blog " very often but guess what? It is not because I don't have anything to say----it is because I have too much to say. Admittedly, I am older than most of the blogs I read and you really don't need to hear "been there, done that and it doesn't get better". But since I do enjoy reading all the blogs and I really appreciate the way that it ties us together and gets us involved in each others lives-I WILL DO BETTER! Thanks, Tracie for giving me a kick in the pants and since I have given a few kick in the pants lately, I decided to take this one with grace and actually take the advice given.

I will start out by saying the other thing I need to do better at is picture taking. I took my camera to Utah and Idaho this last trip. We visited Ethan and Marisa, Bill and Mary and family, Scharman's family, Mom Scharman and spent almost a whole week with Mom, Chris and Lee, Richard and Verlinda, Jeff and Bonnie, Greg and Aunt Kathleen and do I have a single picture? The answer is an obvious-NO! Thank heavens, Verlinda's camera was near by to document the purging of Mom's house. I also had my camera in my purse this Sunday as we visited Lexa and Megan's wards for the Sacrament Mtg. program and then all had dinner together. Do you see any pictures?

Part of my problem could be that I have hundres of picture that have not found a place and the project seems overwhelming to me. (Thanks, Megan for giving me a push and a shove.) Progress will show when you see the next blog and if it has a picture with it.

OUR BOY IS GETTING MARRIED!

The blessings are pouring out upon us! Ethan is engaged to Marisa Speers as of yesterday. Marisa is the daughter of our Bishop and is going to BYU where she studies Special Ed. She is a wonderful person. We have come to quickly love her and the nice thing is we really like her. Paul and I have to take a little credit for this whole thing. Marisa was in Houston when Ethan first came home from his mission and we stongly encouraged him to ask her out-which he did. They are so happy together and are looking forward to a Christmas wedding. The wedding will be, of course, here in Houston, and we couldn't be happier!

DECLARING INDEPENDENCE!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! The fourth of July is all about independence-right? Well, we have declared our independence and we are no longer dependent on running water in the house! I suppose that is not really true because Paul is filling the toilets from our water barrels so they will flush (and of course, he says, "What a good experience this is for us." Good experience for the boy in the family-the 'girls' in the family don't agree.) We are also carrying around bottled water to take care of simple things like washing your hands and face. (I want to see you wash your face with bottled water-the logistics are tricky.)
We started out with a simple problem. The washer on the kitchen faucet needed to be replaced. Paul says, 'no problem', I have an extra and can take care of it. Because it was so easy to do-it didn't get done, until we were getting sprayed every time you turned on the water. Then when Paul went to change it---it broke in half. Half stayed in the faucet and half fell into his hand. What to do? What to do? Those experts at Home Depot (Paul's personal shrine!) promised it could still be fixed without replacing the whole faucet. Well, he started last night, faithfully following his guru's directions but needless to say it got complicated and another little pipe broke. But now, of course, the 'shrine' has closed its doors for the night. Sadie and I begged him to try Wal Mart, but 'they wouldn't have it' and 'it's too late' came up. Keep in mind this means we don't have running water in the house; no washing, no showers, no toilets. We make it through the night and to give Paul credit he is goes to worship at 7am and comes home with a beautiful new faucet-only it doesn't fit. Our house is so old that they don't carry our 'style' (thats how I feel too!) So what does he do-tries Wal Mart! Wallyworld comes through for us and he brings it home to put in only to find out that it is missing a vital part. He goes back to Wal Mart and is now solving the problem. I made him a deal to tell me first, so I can beat Sadie to the shower!
PS I'm rethinking the independence thing-I'd rather be dependent!
PPS I need to say how grateful I am for a husband who is always willing to repair things. He always figures it out and I know that he has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. Thank you, Hon!

Randy Retired?-Surely he's too young!

Well, it is official and it is happening faster than we would like. Janet and Randy (Paul's sister and husband) are retiring!!!! Or should I say retired! Randy's last day at the office was last Thursday and last night we went to a retirement party. They are selling their house and moving up to Utah. I know that we are family and we will always be close but now they won't be 'close by'. After all these years-25-it seems like we didn't do enough, didn't call enough, didn't see each other enough; but I don't know if that is possible. I am very happy for them-Scharman and Kevin and their families both live in Alpine (where Janet and Randy already own a home!). Randy's mom and Janet's mom both live there. And this has been the plan for a long time. I'm just a little sad for me. I will miss their closeness. Change is good--right? That doesn't mean I have to like it!