Walk-about

Our ward had another "walk-about" on Saturday.  We got there early and I took just a couple of pictures.  More people came then what showed in the pics.  They are fun to go to and Spence grumbles and says he doesn't want to go and then after we leave he asks why don't we host one next time.?  They are really fun.

 At Brent's home for Root Beer floats.

 It's fix 'em yourself time and everyone has one or two or three.

The last stop for us is at Marilyn's and we have a piece of carrot cake.

We also went to Tara's and had some cheese and dip, chips and brownies.  They had a couple of baby goats in the pen.  It was fun.

Muskrat Love

Today Spence and I decided to take our new van for a little spin.  First we went to RCWilley's and picked up a clock.  We had received a gift card from them in the mail.  So it was free.  The we drove out to Vivian Park in Provo Canyon.  Spence took his rod and reel and I got to watch.  The weather was wonderful and there was a nice cool breeze.  While he was fishing we saw this cute little guy:

Spencer said he was a muskrat.  Remember that old song, Muskrat Love.  I could never figure that one out, but he is really cute..so can I adopt him and bring him home??? I have a bathtub.  I can fill it up...
Maybe not. Oh well.

 The Heber Creeper was there when we arrived and getting return to return to Heber.

 Spencer tried and tried but he caught nothing...so since there was no fish, we would have to stop for food on the way home...oh dear.

It was a beautiful, sunny, clear day.  Not a cloud in the sky.

There were cabins for sale.  Should we get one??? I think I like it here--alot !!

It is a nice place to take your family...

 Come on in, the water's fine--If you are a fish, that is...

No, fish, time to go and our little van awaits us. It looks as though it is smiling.  It is a "she" by the way.  A real grammamobile.  With all the trimmings...

 A drive through South Fork Road ( I know all the road names now because of the GPS) has a beautiful viewpoint of Mt. Timpanogos.  Utah is beautiful and the S. Fork Road had gorgeous scenery, lots of recreation areas, picnic areas and was so fun to see. 

Bridal Veil Falls was a pretty sight to see, also.

But as I mentioned, we caught zero fish  (I hate fish...so who cares) but we were hungry and so...

 Chicken Teriyaki at Yamato's for me  and Beef Teriyaki and gyoza for Spence.  No one left hungry.  It was just a nice day.

Tonight is the "walk about".  I think I will take my camera!

The Orgo Queen "That be me!"

OK, so my daughter Jamie, has become the "coupon queen" and me, I admit it, have become the "Orgo queen", or at least "princess". My mom is probably the queen and my dad the king, so that knocks me down in rank just a bit. I have had a hard time with health in the last maybe 3-4 years and as such have tried just about everything to get back some better days. That includes buying foods untreated with hormones, pesticides and gmo's. OK, I am not a fanatic yet, but somewhat close...

Here are just a few of the things I buy orgo:

So what is in this picture: Orgo ice cream. Very delicious and expensive! But I only feel guilty about the calories, not the ingredients Orgo blueberries, red pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, brownie and cake mix, pot pie, garlic, mushrooms, chicken, beef, lunch meat, orgo with no nitrates. Notice the zucchini, that is from my garden. We don't use any pesticides ever and so of course, very orgo. We have been getting some tomatoes, zucchinis, cukes and lots and lots of lettuce, basil, parsley, an unidentifiable onion family member...(?) kohlrabi, and hopefully soon some other things will be ready. I have been buying orgo as much as possible and especially berries, as you can't "scrub" them clean enough to get all the bad stuff. My grocery bill is higher, but hopefully the med bills will be lower. That sounds like a great trade-off to me. So there you have it!

Tyson! This One's For YOU!

This year Tyson helped grandpa plant the garden and what a good job he did and helped grandpa's aching back!  It's looking good and we are already reaping the rewards!

And The Rockets Red Glare!

The 4th of July was unreal this year in Utah with the looser fireworks laws now in effect.  As a result there was a display in every corner of the valley and probably every corner in Highland, itself.  It was loud, pretty and they couldn't have been better if we were at a park watching a fireworks show.  Our neighbors, the Adams also had a big display.  I used my old camera and my photos were all not very good.  The one below got a ground picture, but it just wouldn't capture the high in the sky ones!  And those were by far the best.  I thought it was exciting!

The Bermuda Cubicle

Well, after 2 weeks off for vacation and 2 days back since, I finally caught up with everything at work.  But I have to say that my office at home and at work looked a little like the Bermuda Cubicle for a while.  Things are getting better and I feel back to normal.  So, it goes to show you, that old ladies can still keep up even though it can get hectic.

I'm in Heaven!

OK, so the temps here are not so like Heaven, more like the "other" place, but I love to visit when I am so close.  We had our date shakes, got some dates and a few souvenirs for the kids and now they know what it is like where grandma grew up.  It was 113 as we stand above in the hot sizzling sun!

Date Shakes, nothin' like em!  Should I open a shop?  I would be rich!

Disneyland Adventure

Yes, we just got back from Disneyland and yes, Jamie, We do need a vacation from our vacation.  I have been trying to catch up on things, pictures, mail, email, all the duties in 3 days, but I am obviously tired as I left my groceries in the trunk one hour before I remembered I didn't take them out.  I had some nice meat in there and now I am worried about that...always something.  Maybe I am getting senile.  So it would seem anyways...

Well, we spent 3 days at Disneyland, two days Spencer's sister Erin and 3 daughters were able to spend with us.  She knows the ropes better than us since she lives in Anaheim and has Disneyland passes for the family.  We spent a fortune, but didn't I know that would happen??  There was even a Lego store there and Brian, Logan and Ty did a little shoppin'.  It was fun, exhausting and I truly wonder how I kept on going.  Must have been all that walking I do everyday. 

Before we drove to Anaheim, though, my special request was to make a pit-stop in Indio and buy dates.  I like to make date shakes and you can buy date sugar in Indio and make the nummiest shakes.  The kids love them and it's "our little thing".  I am the "date-shake grandma"!  I was running out of supplies and it was time to restock.  Since it wasn't very far, I insisted to Spence we stop there.  He grumbled a lot, but finally conceded.  I would have liked to stop by some old "stomping grounds" but I didn't want to push my luck.  It was really hot, the hottest of the whole vacation time at 113.  Las Vegas was 109. 

By the way at the hotel in Las Vegas, we managed to go at a time when there was a "3 day Rave party" going on and many of the attendees of the Electric Daisy Concert were located at our hotel...they were dressed most strangely and scantily--if you can call it "dressed", really "undressed" is more like it.  It was embarrassing to open an elevator door with a grandchild and see them...We would usually pass for the next elevator.

In honor of Tyson's school play, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter pose for a shot.

A second honeymoon?

Jedi training.  That's Logan in the center facing right.  He was so excited for the "training" but then was a little unhappy with the actual "battle".  But it was fun to have him be chosen!

 

Lightning McQueen action for little Logan...

Grandma Sonja gets lots of one on one with Grayson.  He Actually didn't seem to mind.  And of course, I was lovin' every minute!

The Lego store is always a hit, both for the kids and grandma and grandpa's AMEX card....Oh well, you can never have tooooo many Legos, right?

Cars 2 was a hit with the grands...

The big princess gives the little Princess a hug.  Ariel's Grotto was a must-do for Brecklyn.  She loved it and hardly could eat, she was so excited to be there.  The food was good, the company was great and the 3 princesses had a wonderful time together.  (except for the part about paying)  Poor Jamie had to run through nearly all of Disneyland to get verification that she had paid.  But we always have to make the best of these situations, too.

Cousins, one generation removed having a great time!

The gangs all here.  This is our little Disneyland entourage for the 2 days that Erin spent with us.  This was the last day.  Some of us a little tired, to say the least.

Erin was so nice and thoughful that she got a cake for Logan and Grayson.  Our last day of Disneyland was Grayson's first birthday.

All in all, we had a great time.  Even Logan kept his sense of humor active.  He asked, "Grandma, do you know who made the Characters?"  Thinking Walt Disney and associates, I responded, " No, who made them?"  Logan said, "Jesus!"  And now you know!

Vacation 2011 -- I Actually Survived It!

Well, Friday evening we returned from our vacation with Jamie and her family.  So there were 9 of us, traveling in 2 vans, first to Las Vegas for a Nishimoto family reunion/65th anniversary celebration.  Most all the family was there, all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchilden were there.  It was fun there and I had one unfortunate incident.  I lost the smart key for our new van.  It will be a fortune to replace.  I looked everywhere.  And quite frankly, we had only been in the hotel and at the home of Spencer's parents.  There really could not have been many places that it could have gotten lost...We scoured the place, still no luck...  Well, such is life. 

Here are some of the pictures of the reunion:

Here are the original 5 children in the family.

Here is a shot of grandpa and grandma and their 14 of 15 grandchildren.

Here are the 9 great-grandchildren in the family.

My daughter, son-in-law and their sweet kids.

Grandpa and grandma with Grandpa's sister Marion.

A game of "monkey in the middle" in grandpa's house.  I worried about them breaking something while there.  But all went well...thank goodness.

 Grandpa and his little performance.

 After the food was eaten, this is how things looked.

The senior generation enjoys the festivities.

Girls just want to have fun!

and lots of it!

 Jamie and Logan looking at the book that Erin compiled with letters and

photos from all the family members.

Eating leftovers from the reunion on Sunday.