February 2014 - Snow!

 Casey sent me this adorable picture of Dalton yesterday and I just had to post it.  Wish I was there to hold and hug him!  He's 9 weeks old already!  It makes my day when I get a picture of my grandchildren or get to talk to them!

More snow for Vancouver - this is our biggest winter storm since 2008.  I love the beautiful snow and made some yummy snow ice cream last night.  My mom said we made it when I was a kid but I don't remember.  This is our third day of being snowed in.  Freezing rain is in the forecast next as the temperatures should start rising.  I walked 2.5 miles in the snow yesterday.  It was quite the workout!

Piano Guys and Breakfast - Eugene/Tualatin, Oregon

 I got to spend 18 hours with Nate, Misty and the kids this week.  It was so much fun.  I met them in Eugene at Pizza Research Institute for dinner.  It was so good.  We had a pear, pesto, red potato pizza and it was unbelievably delicious.  I would love to go there again.  

Then Misty, the girls and I went to the Piano Guys concert.  You can see that our tickets were the top of the balcony.  The usher was wonderful.  After the show started, he came and told me that he found better seats for me and Adalei since my seat was behind hers and he moved us to the floor, last row.  I was so impressed with him.  Then at intermission, he moved Misty and Brielle to come sit with us.  When I bought tickets the show was almost sold out and only single seats were available to buy so we couldn't sit together.  The usher said he thought we would enjoy the show more if we could sit together.

 We loved the concert.  It was awesome!  It was very windy and temperatures around 20 degrees so we were cold outside.  They were selling CDs at the concert and I checked amazon - the prices on amazon were less than 1/2 the price of CDs at the show.  I ordered CDs that will be delivered to them today.  The CD is also a DVD so I thought that was a great deal for approximately $10.

 Nate was in Tualatin for business so he drove the boys to a hotel there after dinner.  Then the rest of us drove there after the concert.  I had a separate room with Adalei, Brielle, and Elijah.  We had a fun time the next morning watching piano guys videos on my phone waiting for everyone else to get up.

 I think breakfast took us close to 2 hours.  The kids colored and Brielle posed for me with the chef that they gave her.  You can see Nate in the background on a business phone call.

After this long but delicious breakfast, we took the kids swimming for a few minutes and then checked out of the hotel.  We had planned to go to the Portland Aquarium but didn't have time to do so.  We're saving the tickets for next time they come.  By then it started to snow and Misty needed to get air in the tires of her van so I went with her there and then left shortly afterward to go home.  The roads were packed with traffic and icy so it was a stressful drive home.  It was a great 18 hours with Nate and his family.  I'm so grateful they invited me to spend this time with them.  It will be a long wait until April when I see them again.

This is a picture of the delicious pizza!  Yum!

Grandma Creek Visiting Grants Pass

Grandma Creek made several visits to Grants Pass in 2013 for dental appointments.  I enjoyed seeing her and we had fun visiting Nate's family.  Isaiah was really good for his great-grandmother.  She came in the spring with Carma and then came again a couple of months later.

Adalei's Baptism - September 28, 2013

 For Adalei's baptism, we had the whole family there and all the cousins sang at the baptism.  Casey and family, Jason and family, and Charity were there.  Misty's sister Sarah and her family were there along with Misty's parents also.

 Nate baptized Adalei.  She looks so happy.

 A picture of the proud grandmothers - Misty's mom, Stephanie, and me with Adalei.

 This is a group picture of everyone at the baptism.

 A picture of Adalei with her family and her three grandparents.

 A lovely picture of Adalei with her mom.

 After the baptism, we had BBQ and Casey/Nate were clipping the chickens' wings so they wouldn't fly.

 Casey hung onto that chicken.

 Ready to clip her wings.

 Weston helping.

 Paisley, Benson, Elijah, and Braxton playing in the stream in the back yard.

 Brave Weston!

 A great picture of Elijah!

 Adalei in her baptism dress at the Medford temple.

 Before the rest of the family arrived, I took Adalei, Brielle and Elijah on "dates."  We went out to eat and then I got them something.  Elijah picked a plastic pumpkin and a dog toy after we had lunch at Subway.  He was so excited - I had to take a picture.

Brielle and I went to Shari's for dinner.  Adalei and I shopped at Fred Meyer's for a princess carriage for her.

 For Adalei's birthday, I got her luggage.

 Adalei has her scriptures and her luggage.  We thought she looked like a missionary getting ready to leave home.

 Adalei's birthday cake and the sundae cupcakes that were delicious.  She was making a birthday wish in this picture. 

 Adalei with her parents.

 Adalei and her family.

Adalei holding eight white carnations a friend gave her at the baptism.

It was wonderful to have all my children and their families at the baptism.  I gave the talk on "baptism" at the baptism.  I was so excited to be there and be part of this special event.

(Thank you to Misty and Sarah for the pictures.  I lost all my pictures of the baptism trip when my computer crashed in November.)

Charity's New Place (Rocklin)

 I was so excited that I got to go see where Charity lives and spend the night with her.  She lives on the top floor and has a really cute apartment.  She parks her car in the garage on the right in the picture.  I love her new place.

Since Charity didn't get to come home for Christmas as planned, we celebrated Christmas on January 5th.  She got me some wonderful gifts!  A beautiful teal and white scarf, a lovely lavender knitted scarf, a cute purse holder, some darling black leopard print pajama pants that are so cozy warm, and a darling purple necklace that is great!  I love all my Christmas gifts and appreciate Charity so much for being so good to me.  Having Christmas in January was fun even though it was hard to wait that long!

Dalton's Baby Blessing - January 5, 2014

  I was excited to be in Roseville for Dalton's blessing.  It was also fun to be there to see Benson graduate from nursery.

 This was Benson's first time in opening exercises/sharing time for Primary.  He was so reverent.

 Spencer went along with Benson and had fun "graduating" with him.

 The Primary welcomed all the visitors for the day - all were cousins of Dalton.  Adalei was already in class and Spencer isn't standing up there.

 Some of the adults stayed at church while the children went to Primary.  The Sunday School gospel doctrine class was full so we filled the hallway!

 I got to hold Dalton on his blessing day!

 Dalton is really looking at me just like he knows I'm his grandmother.  I sure love him.

 I bought the skirt and headband for Paisley last year sometime.  She looks so grown up!

 Weston holding Dalton and doing a great job.

 Casey, Jenna, Dalton, Allison, Benson and Weston in their backyard.

 Jenna prepared a delicious meal with sandwiches, salads and desserts that we enjoyed after church was over.

 Some photos of Dalton

 What a handsome baby!

 He is so cute!

 Jenna is an excellent mother!

 What a lovely picture.

It was marvelous to have all my children and their families there for the baby blessing and the luncheon after.  It was a very special day!  I am so blessed.

Eleven Grandchildren

 I was in Sacramento the beginning of the month for Dalton's baby blessing.  I was able to visit with all eleven of my grandchildren and it was just wonderful.  I arrived on a Thursday evening and Jason picked me up at the airport.  The next day Ashley took me along with Paisley, Spencer, and Audrey to see one of the new shopping areas in Folsom.  We had lunch at Red Robin and I made purchases at Claire's and Charming Charlie's so it was a fun trip.

 Spencer loves to go to PinkBerry so we stopped there after lunch for frozen yogurt.  Audrey loved it.

 Spencer was so cute in this picture!

 On Saturday we went for some exercise.  I walked while the kids biked.  It was only 3 miles but felt like about 10!  Paisley can almost ride a bike by herself.

 Spencer is really fast on his little strider bike.

 I spend Monday/Tuesday after the baby blessing at Casey and Jenna's.  Weston made this adorable ornament at Kindergarten.  I loved his smile and just had to take a picture.

 Benson was playing dress up with his Ninja Turtle costume.

 Dalton was good as could be!

 Benson and Weston were playing on their skateboards

 and also doing some posing for me!

 Audrey loves dolls and purses.

 Paisley was making some jewelry.

 Spencer loves playing with his castle.

 I caught Paisley doing her makeup in the bathroom!  She's 5 going on 16!

 We had a yummy breakfast Saturday morning at IHOP.

 Spencer's pancake was chocolate and I think it was the best!

 Saturday afternoon we went to see the movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs II.  It was really cute and I enjoyed the cartoon pictures that were so creative.

 Nate and Misty arrived last Saturday night so the kids were looking tired at breakfast the next morning.  We were so happy they could come from Grants Pass for the baby blessing.  (Elijah was still sleeping so I didn't get him in this picture.)

 Spencer was so cute with his cereal when he was getting ready to eat breakfast.

 We met at Leatherby's for ice cream on Monday night for FHE.  The kids got clown sundaes to share.

 This is a banana split!  Yum!  It was huge!

 We shared two banana splits and still had ice cream left over!

 It was so good.

The kids also had fun with the arcade games getting little balls.  I think it would have been cheaper to buy the balls at a store.  It was sad to leave but I'll be back in April to see my grandchildren in Sacramento.  What a fun visit I had!

Allison was so cute as always!  My eleven grandchildren are the best!