Things I am Thankful for

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, I find myself pondering on the things I am thankful for:
1. The gospel of Jesus Christ in my life
2. The knowledge I have that I am a Child of God
3. My family, all of them.
4. My home (even torn apart, I love it)
5. Sunshine
6. The colors of fall
7. My new yellow living room/dining room
8. My jobs at For Your Kitchen and Costco
9. Sunsets
10. Bear Lake

I will be adding more of these as the week progresses!

The Accident

Last Friday was not a good day for Dave. He needed to go and run some errands in the morning so he got in his truck and headed down our street and I do mean down, we live on a hill. He realized at the bottom of our block that he did not have any brakes (and I do mean he didn't have ANY!). I'm sure it was a very long slow motion experience for him as he careened down the next two blocks picking up speed. At the end of our street is the elementary school so you either have to turn or run into it. He tried his hardest to turn right but with a truck that big it was impossible to make the turn completely and he ended up on the lawn of the school and took out the huge flagpole! First of all, we are sooo greatful that the children were not out for recess, secondly, we're grateful for that ole' flagpole and thirdly, we're grateful that Dave only sustained a cut lip and bruises.
So, that's our excitement. The truck is toast and will require quite a bit of work and the flagpole will too.

My Grandma

As you all know, it's been an extremely busy summer what with the remodeling, weddings, college etc...we also managed to throw into the mix my grandma's death and funeral. I don't mean to sound frivilous but we have joked about it being the summer of two weddings and a funeral. As it turns out, we actually had three weddings and two funerals...my mom and dad's wedding (as previously mentioned) and also my former step dad's funeral (which is today). But I digress...
Hazel LaVelle Parks Behrmann was an amazing woman. She was an expert at so many things, among them were gardening (one of our most favorite memories was to go up to grandma's house in Deweyville and dig for potatoes). Her flower gardens were well known to many, in fact as a side note, the people who bought grandma's house about 4 years ago came to her funeral and brought a lovely bouquet from grandma's garden. That was so touching. Grandma loved to sew and did it well, she was an immaculate housekeeper to the point that it was a little stressful taking our little kids there for fear they would mess something up. She loved to paint with oils and created some beautiful pieces of art. She was an amazing decorator. Her house did not look like an old ladies house. Grandma loved to create traditions and memories for the great grand kids. Among the most favorite were the easter parties at her house. They had about an acre I think and we hid dozens of plastic eggs all over the yard. When grandpa was still alive, he used to tell us about the eggs he found later in the summer. We always had a wonderful Christmas party complete with Christmas china, gifts etc..but our most favorite part was the white elephant gift exchange where we tried like crazy to think of some far out and crazy gift for grandpa to open. He was always such a good sport about picking the gift the grandkids pointed out for him even though he knew it would make him the butt of the joke. For instance, the blonde hair dye, super hugemongous bra which he promptly put on and stuck chocolate oranges in and many others. Good times!
Grandma also had some faults. She could be cranky, picky, cold, ornery and very particular, but she was my grandma and I loved her nonetheless. Grandma missed grandpa who had passed away in 1997. She was afraid to die, very afraid. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who allowed her to pass from this earth life as quickly as a blink of an eye. We believe she didn't know what hit her it was so fast. What a way to go. And now, she is with grandpa, this I know without a doubt and it makes me so happy to know that they are together once again and will be forever. I will miss her but I'm so grateful for the legacy and talents that she left us all.

I've included some pictures. I love the picture of grandma, mom and aunt sandy in grandma's kitchen. The rest are from the gravesite. My family, my aunts family, my uncles family and a picture of myself and my siblings minus Wendy who was unable to come from Iowa since she had just been here a few weeks before for Holli's wedding. It wasn't the same without her.

Our Beatiful Bride

Erin and Jared's photographer put some of their pictures up on his blog so I thought I'd share them with you. They were married on Sept. 8, 2008 on a beautiful fall day. The weather was perfect, in fact, everything was perfect! We had everything at Gardner Village at the Gathering Place. What a wonderful place to have a wedding!

We had the luncheon first which was wonderful. We enjoyed a lovely buffet with about 80 of our relatives and closest friends. Afterwards, our guests were invited to browse the shops and have a good time. We just asked them to be in their seats for the wedding ceremony at 3:45 p.m. I didn't get to leave, but as our guests were returning I heard many wonderful comments about their shopping experience.

The ceremony was performed outside on the patio amidst a waterfall, pond and gorgeous garden. It began exactly on time and Bishop Starley gave Erin and Jared some excellent advise for their marriage. When it was time to "kiss the bride", Jared surprised Erin with a dip and a nice long kiss which everyone clapped for! Then it was time to get ready for the reception.

Again, our guests had some time so that they could wander around the village. Some of the kids were able to go the petting zoo and so enjoyed that. What can I say? The reception was a great big party. We were so grateful to see so many friends from Ogden come through the line. It meant so much that they would drive all the way to West Jordan on a Monday night to share this special time with Jared and Erin. There was another lovely buffet with fruit, vegetables, various desserts and I'm told, wonderful ham sandwiches. I didn't actually get to taste any of it but I'm told the ham was to die for.

After the line (which only lasted one hour), it was time to cut the cake, throw the bouquet and do some dancing! The cake was as tasty as it was beautiful. The bakery actually designed the bottom layer to look like the flowers on the bridesmaid's dresses. Carolyn Stromberg made the cake topper to look like Jared and Erin and it was a huge hit! Chrystin Costley caught the bouquet!

The dancing was so much fun. Tons of people got out there and danced to the Electric Slide, Boot Scootin' Boogie, the swing and much more! Our DJ was amazing. Erin and Jared were ready to leave at 9:00 so we all got ready outside the door to the Gathering Place with multi colored confetti and I mean a LOT of confetti! They got into their beautifully decorated car (much thanks to their siblings) and headed off to Little America.

It was a magical day and we're so grateful to have Jared in our family. It's been a whirlwind summer of weddings, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We are so happy for both of our girls and proud of them for choosing such wonderful men as husbands!

More Wedding Bells

My mother is getting married today. Now this is where the story gets interesting. She is marrying my father. Yes you read right...my father. They were divorced about 38 years ago. This story could really drag out so I'll give you the shortened version.

For a variety of reasons which don't need to be mentioned here, my father and I lost contact. We had sporadic contact through my adult years but it had been about 11 years since I had heard from him. I got on the internet one day to search for my aunt (my fathers sister). I really wanted to know how she was doing. I found a website where someone else had been looking for her in 1998! I emailed that person (there was no name linked to the email, just an email address) and lo and behold I got an email back from "dear ole' dad". Shocking to say the least. We began to email and catch up. My mom in the meantime thought it would be nice if she could email Jerry as well. I don't believe they had even talked to each other in over 30 years! So, they started corresponding by email and phone. That was in Sept. 2006. In June 2007 she paid my dad a visit for a couple of weeks in Canada where he lives. When she came back, she announced their intention to reunite. She packed her things, rented a truck and was on her way by August 2007.

They are finally gettin' hitched today on their property in British Columbia, Canada. I guess they have come full circle. My sisters and I have run through the gamut of emotions about this, but what it comes down to is that they are happy.

Let me describe their life up there. My dad built a houseboat but it was too heavy to float, so he parked it on his 160 acres and turned it into a nice little house. I do mean little. I've included some pictures taken last fall while he was finishing it up. I'm sure it looks much better today. My dad takes care of a handicapped client a couple of days a week and my mom cleans his house once a week. They don't have debt to speak of. Their life is very simple, filled with trips occasionally into town (one hour on a dirt road), gardening, walking (mom), scrapbooking, playing with model trains etc...you get the picture, it's a pretty stress free life. Which by the way sounds very good to me after this summer! LOL They have a few good friends that they socialize with.

So, today, in their beautiful flower garden (my mom is an expert gardener) they will tie the knot with a few of their very close friends.

I've included several pictures of their life in Canada. I hope you enjoy.

Erin and Jared's Wedding

This will be a short blog because I want to tell more about the wedding when we get the professional photo's to put on here. But, my mom emailed me these pics tonight and I wanted to get them on here. I've been dying to see some pictures from their wedding and it's almost been two weeks! So, here are a couple. The large group one is everyone on Erin's side that attended the ceremony including family and friends. Enjoy and I'll post more later.

How I got my nickname

This is a cute story! In November of 2004 Erin, Holli and I took a trip back east to check out Southern Virginia University so Holli could decide if she should attend school there the next fall. It was cheaper to fly into Philadelphia and besides that, our friends the Nielsen's lived near Philly and we wanted to visit them. We had a couple of great days with the Nielsen's. They took us into Philly one day and Amish country the next day. The day we went to Philly, their little boy Kaiden was stuck like glue to Holli and Erin. I swear he had a crush on them. Now bear in mind that he was only about 5 years old at the time. He had to sit by them on the train, hold their hands while walking around the city etc... Later that night, his mom Janet was putting him to bed. Kaiden said, "I love Dobby's sisters". How cute was that? First of all, he couldn't pronounce my name and secondly, he thought the girls were my sisters instead of my daughters. Well, the name stuck and Erin and Holli started calling me Dobby. Holli's friends picked up on it and now many of them call me Momma Dobby. I'm trying to decide if I should have my grandkids call me Grandma Dobby or Nana.
By the way, Kaiden still calls me Dobby!

Just another Tuesday!

Well, since I've joined the world of the Domestic Goddesses, it seems like I can't keep track of what day it is. Weird how that happens. But...since I've quit work and the weddings are over, my house has been cleaner than usual. I realized that while I was working over the past 30 years, I had to let something give, and it was the housework. I was only able to maintain and even then, it wasn't so satisfactory to me. So, I'm enjoying being able to play catch up. Sadly, I will be looking for another job, preferably one that I can do from home or part time during the day while the kids are at school. I've discovered that they are doing so much better with me home. I had an interesting call yesterday from a company that puts together secret shoppers. They had a job they wanted me to do and it wasn't exactly or actually even remotely like secret shopping. They asked me to go to Sam's Club and set up a display of women's clothing to promote Breast Cancer Awareness. After researching and talking to them a little I decided, "what do I have to lose?" I couldn't go and do it until 9:30 when the store's night stocking crew came on. So I got the kids to bed and headed out. The staff at Sam's were wonderful to help me set up the display. I had to fill out some paperwork and fax it back to the company. I also have to go back three times a week for 18 days to restock and check the inventory. They will pay me $12 an hour and they expect it to be about 20-25 hours all together. It was actually kind of fun. I don't know how they got my name but I figured a little cash would come in handy right about now. Hopefully, they'll call me again once this one is done. So, if you're in Sam's and you go past the Jewelry Dept. look for a big pink display. There are some really nice hoodies, t-shirts and socks with the pink ribbon signifying breast cancer awareness.

Chelsie and Kenzie graduate!

Amongst all of the wedding frenzy, Kenzie and Chelsie graduated from Ogden High School. My mom was here from Canada and took some really great senior pics of the girls. They both decided they wanted to go to Snow College so in August in between weddings, we took them down and got them settled. They seem to be loving it and are making some new friends. Good luck girls!

Erin and Jared's Engagements

Erin and Jared had a great photographer. His name is Garrett Smith. He was up for any suggestions for their photo shoot. Erin had the idea to go to the Hogle Zoo and take some pics on the Carousel so they did. They also did some shots at the Gateway, the railyard, a cool graffiti wall etc... I love how different and unique the pictures are.
Enjoy!

Holli and Matt's Wedding

Holli and Matt were married on July 31 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. They met about 3 years ago at Freshman orientation at Southern Virginia University. Fast forward to October 2007. Holli and Matt started dating and were engaged in May. We were finally able to meet Matt in June when he and Holli came home to Utah for the summer until the wedding. We instantly loved him. Their wedding day was beautiful! The temple ceremony was so wonderful. The reception was held that evening at Ivy Lane Reception Center. It was a great big fun party! We had a fondue buffet, dancing and the newlyweds fled to their limosine with a sparkler sendoff. They enjoyed several days in Mexico and then it was back to Virginia so that Holli can finish her last year of school.