Christmas Visit - Portland Aquarium - December 27, 2014

I followed them to the Portland Aquarium and then drove home myself as they left for Grants Pass and home after we went to the Aquarium.  Here are my adorable grandchildren in the boat - Benson, Weston, Dalton and Allison.

Allison and Benson looking.

Allison touching a starfish.

I think Dalton just wanted in the water.

Looking

Allison playing in the playground structures.

We loved the parrots.  It was a little intimidating at first when they landed on my head!

Weston was so brave.

Dalton and Jenna

Casey

Allison

Another picture of Allison in the playground structures.

Dalton was so good.

Allison

Weston touching the stingray.

We bought some food to feed them.

Weston, Benson, and Dalton looking in the Koi fish pond.

Allison

Dalton touching

Weston touching

More fish

More fish

So beautiful

We had a great time at the Aquarium.  It was so to see Casey and Jenna go.  I had a fabulous week with them here.  We had so much fun.  I also benefited by all the work Casey and Jenna did around my house to fix things and to help me clean up.  It was great to have them here to make memories together.  I love them so much and appreciate them driving so far so we could spend the week together.

Christmas Visit - December 26, 2014

Casey and Jenna were planning to leave the day after Christmas but then they decided to stay and help me clean my kitchen cupboards and get rid of my clutter in the kitchen.  I threw out all my accumulated magazines and most of my papers and recipes torn out of magazines.  My kitchen looks so much better.  Then we went through the cupboards and threw out the out-dated food and made it easier for me to see what I had.  I couldn't believe how long some of that food had been in my cupboards.  I feel bad about so much that I wasted but it's really nice now to see what I have and be able to find things.  After they spent most of the day helping me, we took the kids to the Dizzy Castle.  They had a good time.  Benson didn't hesitate to go head first down this big slide.

Here's Allison on the big slide.

Dalton had fun on it too.

We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.

The kids really enjoyed their little ice cream cones.  It was a wonderful day and I'm so glad they were able to stay an extra day and help me.

Christmas Visit - Christmas Dinner - December 25, 2014

Jenna was a huge help with Christmas dinner.  She made everything with a little help from me.  We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, roasted cauliflower, cheese stuffed rolls in the shape of a Christmas tree, and sparkling apple cider.  It was so good.  For dessert we had chocolate raspberry trifle.

Randy, Susan, Bryce, Bryce's companion (Elder Jarvis), and Jeff were our guests for our Christmas dinner.

We had a good time.

Weston with his completed Lego project.

Bryce and Dalton

Eating dessert - Susan brought cheesecake and ice cream with her famous hot fudge.

Allison and Jenna

Allison

Susan and Randy

Here's a group picture with the family - Bryce, Allison, Casey, Dalton, Jenna, Benson, Weston, me, Susan, and Randy.  We had a great Christmas together.

For Christmas Eve, Jenna made some awesome lasagna soup that was divine!  Yum!  I was so glad we had leftovers!

Christmas Visit - Christmas Day - December 25, 2014

 We opened stockings first.  Jenna is always so sweet to make a stocking for me.  She gave me a chocolate raspberry candy bar, passion fruit juice, and a rice wrap for around my neck to relax my muscles.  I'm so excited to use it.

 Dalton unwrapped this ball and maybe one other gift.  Then he was off to play and I think Allison opened the rest of his gifts for him.

 I thought my tree turned out nice this year.

 Allison was opening gifts pretty quick.  

 Benson loved his BYU hat.

 I got Allison this book.

 I got Weston this Star Wars Light-saber.

 Legos for Weston

 Jenna got a pot.

 Casey got a water backpack for hiking.

 I got Benson the hat, sword, and shield at Epcot (England).  Now he can pretend to be a knight.

 Jenna got a trifle bowl.

  Casey seemed to love his Dremel tool.

 Allison got a pink scooter.  She was happy about that.

Casey helping Weston and Benson put together their Legos.

My kids were so good to me this Christmas.

Casey did a lot of repairs for me - replaced two light fixtures in the kitchen, hung a mirror at the front door, put a new bolt on the shed so it closes better, fixed my faucet in the bathroom, cleaned out both sink drains in my bathroom, installed a new spice rack, and set up my Roku, Blu-ray player, Wii, and Direct TV connections for my TV.  He also took my overflowing trash away and took stuff to Goodwill for me.

Casey and Jenna also give me a Kindle book, a stool for my kitchen (it's already gotten a lot of use), and fabulous pictures of the family, the kids, and each child.  I loved my gifts.

Jason and Ashley got me a cookbook, a BBQ skillet, a special hair dryer, a travel jewelry bag, and an iPhone case.  I tried the hair dryer this morning and it works super!  I love it.  I'm excited to try the skillet and my new cookbook.  I usually don't take jewelry when I travel because I have lost stuff so I'm excited to use the new travel jewelry bag.  They always think of great gifts.

Nate and Misty got me a travel pillow, a food chopper, scarf holder, and a Piano Guys CD.  I cried when I read the notes Misty wrote for my gifts.  I'm so excited to use all these gifts.

Charity got me a beautiful scarf, yummy caramel popcorn from Epcot, an iPhone case, a recycle bin, and some herbal tea from Epcot.  She always knows what I love and selected some great gifts.  The popcorn was so good and I've been enjoying the pretty scarf already.

I am so blessed to have such great kids that make sure I feel loved on Christmas day.  I had a couple of friends that gave me nice gifts too.  Jeff gave me a heart shaped diamond necklace and Cheri gave me a book about temples and a cosmetic bag.  Randy and Susan gave me red pajamas and a cute Christmas sign from Deseret Book - "Wise men still seek him."  This was a great Christmas for me.