Girls' Night and a Slumber Party!

I had a girls night slumber party at my house. Audrey, Danielle and I started the night off with mud treatment facials. Our faces were really soft and looked great afterward. Below, you can see how involved Carma was with our activities. The girls made cards and Carma caught up on her sleep as she didn't sleep much the night before at Randy's. (Carma is my only sister in case you are wondering who she is.)

Danielle just loved holding little Elijah and he seemed happy to have her holding him too!

Audrey and Adalei read quite a few books....

Brielle was loving the one-on-one attention....

Carma, Misty and I ran to the store and when we returned Audrey had Brielle sleeping for her nap. They looked so cute that I just had to take a picture....

Adalei and Danielle cuddled up for the slumber party and had a fun time together.

Cinderella, Sweet Tomatoes, and No Work When Carma Came to Visit!

I took the day off work to spend with Nate and family and Carma and my nieces. Nate and Misty had the great idea to go see the Cinderella play. It was a great play and we enjoyed it very much. Here's a picture of Danielle, Adalei, and Audrey eating snacks brought by Carma (nuts, chocolate chips, raisins).

After the play we all went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch! I love the food at Sweet Tomatoes and I had enough coupons for all of us so we saved some money too!

Audrey and Adalei above.......

Danielle with the cute little ice cream cone!

Yummy Blackberry Cobbler

When Carma and family came to visit from Michigan, we all went blackberry picking along the street near my house. We had a great time and were rewarded with yummy blackberry cobbler afterward. (The blackberries grow wild in the Northwest.)

Elijah was especially enjoying eating berries as Nate picked.

Derek had a great idea which was supported by his uncle Randy to pick up high!






























You can see that Brielle was eating as fast as she was picking!























Everyone was picking quite earnestly!








Misty was holding the container where we all dumped our berries. When it was full, we knew it was time to make the cobbler.








I made several cobblers and we all really enjoyed it. I served some with whipped cream and some with homemade ice cream. This recipe is one that came from my Grandma Crawford and is a family favorite! It was so good!

The recipe for Berry Marble Cobbler......

1/2 c. sugar
1 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 T. oil
1/2 c. milk

Mix above ingredients and spread in buttered pan. Scatter 2 - 3 cups of berries or fruit on top. Sprinkle 1/2 c. sugar on top of fruit. Pour 3/4 c. juice or water over all.

Bake 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until knife comes out of dough part clean.

Yummy with ice cream!

Surprise for Dr. Tanner!

We had a surprise congratulations party for Nate on his last day of work in Vancouver and to wish him well for his new endeavors in Grants Pass.

Jenna helped us with a theme for the party and then Misty leveraged off of Jenna's great ideas to complete the party plans. Misty came up with the cute analogy for the wishes shown in the poster. (I made the poster.) The best fillings are gold so that's why the new practice in Grants Pass is a "gold" one.

Attendees at the party included Randy and family, Carma and family, Nate's family and me!

Misty came up with the fun idea to hang dental things from the lamp..... She was so clever! Isn't the little stuffed "tooth" cute by the poster?

For food, we had lasagna (Nate's favorite), french bread, salad (thanks to Randy), jello (thanks to Carma) and the two ice cream cakes. (Charity's ice cream cake is better so next time I think I'll use her recipe!)

Happy Birthday to Misty!

This is Misty's special birthday for the "3"s. I sent her 3 gifts and a card. Before they moved to Grants Pass, we went to dinner at Chevy's. Misty and Nate passed on the birthday dessert but Misty did get to wear the sombrero and have the waiters sing happy birthday to her.

Family Picture 2010

Thanks to Jason we have another family picture. My best gift every year from my children is taking a family picture. I love to have an updated picture at home and work to see and show others my wonderful family! Thanks to all of you for posing and creating this picture that reminds me of our wonderful family reunion in June in Newport on the Oregon coast.

From left to right: Jason, Spencer, Ashley, Misty, Elijah, Nate, Brielle, Paisley, Adalei, me, Weston, Charity, Casey, Benson, and Jenna!

I have the best family and they bring me joy beyond measure. I am so blessed and cherish my time with them.

Missing Nate, Misty, Adalei, Brielle, and Elijah!

Nate, Misty, Adalie, Brielle, and Elijah moved away earlier this week. I cried. It was so hard to see them go. I miss them already. I think Nate and Misty have been married 7 years and Nate has lived here 8 years so I've had a wonderful opportunity to be a part of their lives for a long time.

It was such a blessing to have them close for so many years. I loved being a part of their lives and watching the kids grow up. I think my relationship with Nate is even better than before because of living so close. I loved babysitting and helping them out and spending time together. They were wonderful to invite me to dinner frequently and I always loved Misty's cooking and Nate's baking. I usually saw them weekly or every other week and it was always the best part of the week for me. The kids are so adorable and I love how they call me "grammy" and then laugh. I loved doing scripture time with them and reading to them. I also really enjoyed talking to Misty about our lives and discussing business related topics with Nate. I have learned so much from them. They are excellent parents and I'm thrilled that they have been better at parenting than I was. I'm always delighted to get a phone call from one of the girls and hope that continues!

I'm not sure I have many regrets from these years together. Of course, I would have loved to have seen them more often but at the same time I wanted them to have space from me. I think we had a good balance (and I hope they do too). I do feel bad for those times I was impatient or emotional about little things. They were so patient and forgiving with me so I'm grateful for that.

I hope and pray that they will love Grant's Pass and the dental office there will be very successful. I'm optimistic that it will all work out perfectly. I hope they will be able to sell their house here quickly. I'm grateful that they are still relatively close - 1 hour plane trip or 5 hour drive. At least I can get there relatively quickly and I hope to see them often. At least every 3 or 4 months if possible. I'm already looking forward to spending Thanksgiving together and seeing their new place and the new office. Besides, I need a dental exam! I hope I can fill this void in my life and not miss them too much.

Jason has taught me to be grateful for what I have and not sad about what I don't have. I'm trying to focus on all the good years we've had together and be grateful that they aren't any further away. It is hard for a "grammy" not to live close to her kids and grandchildren. This will be like a new chapter in the book and I'm sure there will be many blessings for us all from their move. They are close to Ashland and the Harry & David factory - two places I've been wanting to visit - so I'll look forward to those visits and perhaps meeting my kids in California there since Grant's Pass is half way from here to Sacramento, California. Life is good and I am so grateful for all my many blessings.

Good bye Nate and family! I can't wait to see you again! I love you lots!

No More Grandparents

Clarence Crawford was my last living grandparent until Monday when he passed away. He was my maternal grandfather and 95 years old.

Grandpap is the one that investigated and joined the church. The missionary that gave him his first Book of Mormon is a sealer in the Portland temple so I've had the chance to talk to him and hear what he wrote in his missionary journal after meeting my grandparents. The gospel is one of the many gifts that Grandpap gave me in this life.

Every time I would see or talk to Grandpap, he would thank me for the cards and letters that I had sent him over the years. He was so appreciative and it was really nice to hear. I will miss him for that.

Weston and Benson

Weston is like a fish in water. He was so cute swimming around the pool with his "wings." Below, Benson was trying really hard to pick up the money. I was surprised he didn't even try to put it in his mouth.

Above is a picture of the house Jenna and Casey currently live in. It looks really nice especially since Casey, Jason and friends painted the interior Navajo white.

Below, is a picture of Weston and Paisley. This is where we had breakfast one morning to celebrate Casey's promotion. Before we could get in the front door of the restaurant, these two were distracted by the water fountain and wanted to play awhile.

I had a great visit to California earlier this month!

Charity's 2010 Birthday Celebration

Ashley made Charity the birthday cake of her request. It was as delicious as it looked. Ashley did a wonderful job. I was impressed. Thanks Ashley!

We had some fun games to play - pin the candle on the cupcake. Jenna was our artist and the cupcake looks great. Jenna does great with artwork. I can't remember who won this game. Was it Jenna? Charity put the first candle on the cupcake and her candle was a bit too low.

We played a relay game with good and plenty time of candy. The teams were boys against girls and the boys were the winners. You can see that Jason is ahead of Charity in this picture. The candy in the race is like putting large sprinkles on a large cupcake. (The theme of the party was cupcakes.)

The last game was the most amazing. We played a cupcake eating contest to see who could eat the cupcake first with no hands. I really appreciated all the enthusiasm for participation. The prize was $10 but was not accepted. The next two pictures show the eating in progress, followed by the winner!

(Charity wasn't willing to participate....)

Jason had a winning strategy and surprised us all how quickly he could eat a cupcake!

Charity's smile shows how happy she was with her surprise birthday party! She had lots of candles to blow out!

This is one of many birthday gifts. Casey and Jenna gave her this beautiful apron that I love. Other gifts included the forms to make a giant cupcake cake, See's candy, sandals, Tommy flip flops, etc. Jason and Ashley gave her a huge pillow to prop her up in bed. I think she had a fun time celebrating her birthday all weekend and opened gifts Friday nite, Saturday, and Sunday! It was so fun for me to be there for the birthday celebration! Happy Birthday to Charity! We sure love you!