I LOVE WEDDINGS!

So, I feel as if I have been away for months! But, really it has been only a week! We left last Tuesday for Utah. My oldest sister's (Sandra), youngest child (Brittany) was getting married.
Ken and I have some dear friends in Farmington that we wanted to visit, so we left a few days early, so we could visit them. We also wanted to stop by and see Hunter and Brandon, our grandsons, in Richfield. We had a great time! It was freezing everyday, except on the 28th, the day of the wedding, was actually nice weather (55 degrees, a real heatwave!)
The wedding was beautiful, at the Mt.Timpanogos Temple. Ken and I attended a session before the sealing and it is a very lovely, very roomy temple!
I want to tell you a little about my sister, Sandra. She is the such a dear, kind and loving person. She and her husband Bob, have 8 children. All 8 of them are awesome and so very talented in their own different ways. I love each one of them and enjoyed them when they were younger and now, that they are all older and have families of their own, there is a lot more of them get to know and I love them all, even more! They truly are good, wonderful, people and I pay tribute to my sister for the fantastic Mother she was and is. She has blessed the lives of so many people, because of the outstanding children she raised, they are and will be a blessing in our lives and in our society...thank you, Sandra!


Here are some pictures of our trip....


Our visit with Brandon and Hunter...it was so good to see them!


Hunter loves Batman...he used some of his Easter $$ we gave him to buy this.


Our good friends, Ron and Kathy Rodda, with Ken


Kathy and Donna


We were invited to my other sister Betty's, family's birthday
celebration.....thanks, food was great and so fun to be with
all of our awesome nieces, nephews-in-laws, great nieces and
nephews...

Livvy, Jim and Hallie


Jacey with 3 of her 4 children

Here is one of the birthday honorees...Bethany
with her baby, Emmalee


Here are the other birthday kids...Henry and Jack (twins of
Jenna and Phil)


THE WEDDING DAY....
Brittany and Brett


Our great-niece, Bethany
Cameraman/ Jarond (Sandra's youngest son)

Becky (Sandra's oldest child) with husband David and their 9th child, Kelsey

Sandra and Jarond (nice camera, Jarond!)Amy (Sandra's 5th child) with her husband, Chad and their 4th child, Hannah

Too many cute girls all nieces,
Tracy (with Noble) Jenny, Melanie and Amy

Betty with 3 of her
4 daughters; Jenna, Bethany and Alyssa

Greg (Sandra's 3rd child)
his wife, Kristen, Ken and their daughter, Tatum

3 of many great-nephews;
Landon, Hudson and Jack

Betty, Sandra and Donna more great-nephews;
Tanner, Keaton and Dallin

Kevin(Sandra's 4th child)/
cameraman's assistant
Sandra and Bob with 7
of their 8 children and their new son-in-law

2 of many great-nieces;
Lindsey and Tatum
THE RECEPTION....
The Bride...Brittany...love her dress!

Brittany with her sisters,
Becky and Amy

Kevin, the DJ and Jarond
the cameraman

Cute helpers, Melanie
and Bethany


All the grand kids danced the night away...they love to dance just
like their fathers and uncles do!

Kristen, Greg and their
daughter Carly and my brother, Ivan

Some of us danced......

Jarond, Kevin and Greg, doing "Grease Lighting"....they still can do it!



Jenna, Alyssa and Bethany doing the Macarena (sp?)...cute!

And some of us didn't...
Ken and Ben


Rob, Jarond and Greg...great dancers!! They have so much fun,
but we have more fun watching them...

Parent's of the bride
(Sandra and Bob) even danced!

Brittany with her niece,
Amy and Amy's husband, Liam.


Phil, Jenna and Alyssa...
they helped run the kitchen all night...and danced a little, too!
Thanks, Sandra and Bob for always providing us with a great time and wonderful memories!
We love you and your fantastic, children!

I AM 55 TIMES THANKFUL

So, here I am 55 years old and loving every minute of it. If you would have asked me early this morning if I felt old, I would have probably complained and said, something about my hip, neck and other ailing parts of my aging body...but after having our friends over tonight for dinner I am singing a different tune...Why? Because, my friend (the wife of the couple) has lung cancer, and starts her 6th round of chemo next week. Her hair is starting to fall out and she is tired all of the time. Do you see why I am 55 and loving it? I have been given so much and why does it take a night with an ailing friend, help me to feel so very blessed? I thought... I need to recognize all my blessings, make a list and celebrate my life. I know that I have hundreds of things I have been blessed with! Being that it was just my 55th birthday, I thought I could at the least come up with 55 of my blessings. I am going to try to capture a lot of them with photos...so, this could be long, but I want to count my many blessings, name them one by one. I owe that much to my Heavenly Father and to all my loved ones (these are not in order of importance, just random).....

1. A loving, wonderful husband 2. Great marriage (37 years)

3. My Savior/the Atonement

4. Scriptures

5. Living Prophets

6. Temples (Hawaiian Temple) (Preston, England Temple)

7. Family Vacations (Newport Beach)



8. and 9. A loving daughter and son-in-law

10. and 11. A wonderful son and daughter-in-law



12. Grandson-Brigham (Disneyland 2007)

13. Grandson - Hunter (Disney Cruise 2006)

14. Granddaughter - Elle Kate (Cozumel -2006)

15. Grandson - Brandon (Woods Canyon Lake 2008)

16. Granddaughter - Tatum Lily (Girly Girls 2009)

17. Grandson - Dallin (Christmas 2008)


18. Friends - Craig and Mary Silverthorne (2008)

19. Friends - Glenn and Debbi Vavra (Kailua Beach 2006)

20. Friends- Verna and Chris Lueck (Hawaii 2006)

21. Friends- Terri and Mat Greer (Hawaii 2006)

22. Friends - Susan and Mike McDonough (Kailua Beach 2006)




23. Friends - Marv and Nancee Jessee (Oregon 2009)

24. Plays (Les Miserables -London)

25. Roomy laundry rooms

26. Walks with my grandchildren and husband

26. Craft rooms

27. A lazy, sweet dog (Zack 2009)

28. Backyard playgrounds

29. Pools in Arizona summers

30. Digital Scrapbooking

31. Music

32. Big kitchens

33. Blue Houses with a weather vane

FLOWERS:

34. In Tuscany-Italy

In Hawaii (plumerias)

35. For comfortable beds

36. Silly, giggly girls (Tatum and Elle)

37. Life-long girlfriends (Rhonda Sarager-San Francisco)

38. Girlfriend Get-aways (Debbi and Donna in Hawaii)

39. Old Movies





40. Tiffany's in NYC 41. Walks in Central Park NYC (Donna and Natalie)

42. Macy's in NYC

43. Waimea Bay -Hawaii

44. Rainbows - Maui

45. Hammocks (Maui - 2004)

46. Reading to grandchildren (Newport Beach 2007)

47. Traveling - England (2005 -Stonehenge)

48. Gandola rides in Venice (2007)

49. Beautiful sights - Fog rolling in over Golden Gate Bridge (2006)

50. Kailua Beach, Hawaii 51. With Ken

52. Disney Cruise with Family -2006


53. Newport Beach 54. Sisters (Gail and Donna)

55. FOOD:
Jordan's Mexican Food - Phoenix, AZ

See's Candies

Crepes in France (2005)

Gelato in Rome (2005)

These are some of the things that I am so thankful to have in my life! I pray that Iwill forever be thankful and grateful for all the seen and unseen blessings I have been given! I truly do have a wonderful, blessed life!