My Christmas Toy

This is really me. I promise.

Here I am, the day after Christmas up at Benson snow park.

It turned out to be a bummer of a day. I didn't even go a whole lap before the snowmobile died. John finally coaxed it back to life. It barely made it to the trailor. Mike spent the all day Monday trying to get it fixed. I think it's good now. We will go this weekend and try it out. Good news is, I didn't get cold at all. My new snow gear all worked great. Thanks Mike.

We hope this will be a fun activity for both of us to do together.

Here's Mike's Snowbike, which worked fine by the way.

Christmas Day

Sarah got a cabbage patch doll for Christmas.

Isn't our sweet Andy darling? In this picture he looks like a cabbage patch doll but better cause he is real. He smiled and giggled at grandma over Christmas. I loved it.

Here is Andy opening his presents. This is his cute pose before he ripped his Mic-key button(feeding tube) out and had to make a trip to emergency because Sarah didn't have the tools to put it back in because he had only had it for 2 days. He got a new one yesterday.

Ali got an "Easy Bake Oven" for Christmas. She made us dessert. It was a double layer yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It was delicious. Good Job Ali!!

could they be twins born 22 months apart???

I think Porter and Adelaide were supposed to be twins
but were just born 22 months apart.

HOLY *!?# SNOW STORM !*#?

BEFORE

This was our first snow storm. It was so exciting to have snow but then it just kept

snowing

and

snowing

and

snowing

and

snowing

and then we had

freezing rain

and then

more snow

and

AFTER

Our poor birch tree is bent totally over.

My bird bath looks like a cake stand.

All in all we have

*about 12 inches of snow right now

*some cool icicles

*some trees and shrubs that probably won't recover

*and a happy dog that loves running in the snow.

SNOW DAY PARTY

We have had some great weather lately. Sunday a storm came in a dropped about 3 inches of snow. Up in Portland and in some of the higher elevations church was cancelled. (They had more snow up there) Our church was not because most of our snow came Sunday evening. So schools have been closed most of this week. Tuesday John needed to get some work done and Sarah was up at the hospital with Andy so I went up and picked up Ali and we decided to have a snow day party.

First we had a meet and greet and found out our favorite things to do and favorite people to spend our time with. Then we made snow angels. Ali giggled and giggled.

We tried to make snow people. Ali wanted to make a snow grandma and a snowgirl and a snowdog. But we couldn't get the snow to stick into balls. So, we made snowglobs. Pictured above is snowglob Ali with her snowglob puppy woofy. It's good I brought out two carrot noses because Ali ate the first one.

Then we came in the house (Because grandma was too cold) and had our Snow Day tea party. We turned on the fireplace and the Christmas lights and had candy canes, mnm's, snack mix, carrots, apples and hot chocolate. Then we talked to Tiny. Tiny is the name of our Christmas tree. Tiny is very smart. She knows words like expand, contract, consequence, and coincidence. Our tree is very entertaining. Although she is very shy. She will only talk when Ali is around. Maybe because Ali hugs her all the time.

Ali spent the night and grandpa took her home on Wednesday morning. We wanted to keep her longer but Andy came home from the hospital on Tuesday night and Sarah hadn't spent much time with her. If we didn't bring her back she was threatening to come and get her.

It was a fun day. Ali and grandma are already planning our next Snow Day Party.

FUN FACTS

I forgot to add in a few fun facts from my New York Trip.
Before Melissa went into labor we went to Duff's for dinner.
Duff's is the home of the original buffalo wings. This was Melissa's second trip to this establishment to see if the spicy wings would induce labor. They were really good.
The other tidbit I remembered is we had to try "Beef on Weck". (Very popular with the Buffalonians.) It is actually Beef on Kenniweck bread I believe(I probably spelled it wrong). Kind of like an Arby's sandwich but with better bread and more beef.
Also another fun fact, Niagara Falls is better on the Canadian side. So we brought our passports and went into Canada to see it. The falls actually fall from the US into Canada. I always pictured it the other way around. But it was pretty magnificent.

Welcome Baby Adelaide

NEWBORN ADIE

Adelaide Mae Nielsen came to our family on November 15, 2008

She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz.

FIRST HAIRBOW

Adie is grandchild number 9

Melissa is having so much fun with pink and bows.

ADELAIDE TRYING ON HER BLESSING DRESS

PORTER GIVING HER KISSES

Her brother Porter loves her so much. He loves to give kisses and hugs. When he wants a turn to hold her, he says "knees" and pats his knees. He is very soft and gentle.

THE HAPPY FAMILY ON BLESSING DAY

Porter got a new shirt and tie and Adie is wearing her blessing dress made from leftover fabric from Melissa's baptism dress. Her blessing blankie was made by Great Grandma Stevenson.

December is Here

I can't believe that November went by in a blink

I spent most of November in Buffalo New York.

It was very cold and it snowed several days but never stuck for very long.

I played with Porter and snuggled Adie, and shopped with Melissa and did some cooking and cleaning. But it mainly felt like playing.

Melissa and Eric's house is really nice. They have done some nice upgrades to it.

We got to go see Eric's dental School and all his tools and teeth and toys.

When Mike came, we went out and saw Niagra Falls. It was pretty awe inspiring, and very cold.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Melissa and Eric and the Nielsen family.

Friday we got up early and did some black friday shopping. Mike was our driver. He went in to Target but then dropped Melissa and I off at the Mall and picked us up later.

We went and saw "Twilight" in New York. Sarah said not to take Dad because he would ruin it for me. But he was very good. He didn't ruin it at all. Actually Mike really wants to be a vampire now.

Later that day we went out to Palmyra, NY. I'm so glad we went. We saw Hill Camorah. We hiked to the top. As we walked around it was interesting to think that Joseph Smith walked on this Hill and maybe even Moroni.

Then we stopped and saw the Palmyra Temple. The stained glass windows are so pretty. We walked around the whole temple and took pictures. Next time we go I'd like to do a temple session

Then we went to the Smith Farm. Here Mike is standing in Joseph Smith's room in the log cabin. He's standing probably about the place were Angel Moroni was when he talked to Joseph. It's amazing to imagine all those boys in that room and none of them woke up that night while Moroni was there.

We saw the frame home and the other buildings and then walked out to the sacred grove. Although the leaves were gone and there was snow on the ground and it was darn cold, it was still amazing to think that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith right there in that grove of trees.

After that we went to the Grandin Building to see where the Book of Mormon was published. That was a pretty amazing tour.

11 Cartwheels Long

Ali wanted me to add this to my blog.

This was from our California Trip.

We were in Mom and Dad's backyard

She wanted to see how many cartwheels she

could do accross the lawn. Oh joy, to have a big

back yard.

Conference Weekend -- First Visit to Grandma's House

No words are needed to explain this precious boy

Andy and his new blankie

You have to read this before you watch the video.

Ali, as you can hear in the background is coming into the

video but you can't see her. She trips, making a loud

boom next to Andy. I think it might have startled him a bit.

Here is a picture of Andy's quilt. It's finally done.

grandmas 8

September - Andy's Home

Mike came home from Malaysia with a bad cough and cold. Almost 3 weeks later he still has it.
Ali got sick too so I spent some days up in Tigard with her because she couldn't go to see the baby when she was sick. It was very hard for her. One day she cried when I came and cried when her mom left.
Grandma's do not like this at all.
When Grandma comes there should be joy. It should be associated with fun and laughter. Not Mama leaving and crying.
We are so proud of Sarah and John. I know this has been a hard time for them yet they have been so strong and such good examples. They have bent over backwards to give both their children all they need plus more. I loved going to Sarah's shower and hearing from people in her ward how faithful she is. She goes the extra mile on her callings even when she has a good excuse not to do all of it.
Andrew finally came home. I hope things will settle down for the Love family and they can have a little bit of a breather.
Mike's going to be gone to Malaysia most of October, so I got my birthday present early. He got me a camcorder. I took video and pictures on the day Andy came home. This next week I will try and figure out how to get it on the computer.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE !!! YEAH!!!

The reality of August

Sarah spent all of August making ruts in the highway between her house and the Hospital. Amy, Grant, Theron and Lincon stayed with us, then Kelly and Ashton came. Soon after Loren came and Adam even came for a few days. They all came to give support to John and Sarah. It was a wild a crazy time. I spent a couple of days in Tigard while Amy cooked and held down the fort down here in Keizer. After everyone left, Mike also left for Malaysia. We went from 9 people to just me. It was nice to have time to help Sarah and not feel like I was neglecting Mike. He wasn't home anyway so I spent a lot of time in Tigard. Mojo had several camp outs in the backyard because I stayed overnight with Ali several times.
Andrew continued in PICU and NICU, slowly and surely healing and adjusting to life.
I started several sewing projects and nights that I was home I stayed up and sewed until I could keep my eyes opened any longer. One project was Andrew's bedding. I'll take a picture when it's quilted and add it to my blog.

Mike took the camera to Malaysia so no pictures were taken at this time.

August begins

August began with some sad news. Mike's mom passed away. But we are glad she is up with her husband Grant and two of her children and some grandchildren which have gone before her. She lived a good life and we all have good memories of her. Mike and I flew down to Arizona for the funeral. We stayed with Judy which was so much fun. It was good to see all Mike's brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and his cousins, aunts and uncles.

The Rest and the Best of July

New Born Andrew John Love
It's always the best to have a new grand baby.
Andrew is #8







Big Sister Alicyn. She is wearing the scrubs that I made for her. On the back of the shirt is says BIG SISTER!!!













Blessing day for Andrew. I had to make his blessing suit kind of like a bib. Because of all the monitors and cords we just layed it over him and tucked it under. **Thanks Bekah for letting Ali borrow your pretty white petticoat.








Mike and I with baby Andy the day before his surgery.

July in Utah

Amy had a MaryKay Convention in Texas. I flew to Utah to watch the boys for the week. We had a fun time. Here is Grant dunking the basketball, Theron using all the stickers in his workbook as tatoo's and Lincon playing in the Cozy Coupe. Lincon's favorite thing is playing outside.










We went to my cousin Laura's house one day to play. Here is a picture of Laura's boys and Amy's boys. I drove home with Amy and the boys. We stopped in Idaho at Bill and Lynnelle's house. Here is a picture of Amy's boys with Bill and Lynnelle's kids and Aaron's son Jared. Baby McKensie and Jakey are not in the picture. Too little for all that wildness. Lincon didn't like me holding the other babies.

July

Ashton and Ali at the San Diego Zoo








Ali and Ashton at the Beach in San Diego

The Rest of June

The end of June, Mike and I took Ali and drove down to Huntington Beach for Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary.

It was fun to see my Mom and Dad, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, some aunts and uncles, some cousins I haven't seen in ages and Melissa and Porter, Mandy and Robert, Kelly, Loren and Ashton. Family is an awesome thing.

What happened to my summer???

It has come to my attention that the summer is over.
Although both my blog and my office calendar are still enjoying the summer.
Autumn has officially come to Oregon. The trees are changing colors and it's a little too cold to leave the windows open at night. We've had a couple rainy days and I love it.

I've decided on an update that will be more of an outline since I'm so far behind.

Kitchen renovation

Well, maybe it wasn't quite a renovation. But it took three days to get the wallpaper off. Then I had to prime, texture and paint.
Looking for fabric for the valance was difficult. But I finally went up to Portland and found some that I loved. Of course, I had to take Sarah with me because I can't do anything without her.
Anyway, Here are some pictures of my new and improved kitchen.
Oh and meanwhile, my kitchen faucet broke so I got a new one.
The bad thing... I had been complaining that I wanted a new faucet because the one I had was cracked and it looked old and discolored but it worked (it would choose to spray or stream without me choosing, usually the opposite of what I wanted it to do), but the water turned on and off. Anyway, so when it broke I felt really guilty. But I didn't brake it! Really, I didn't!

Ali's special Day

Friday June 13, 2008 was a big day for Ali.

First she had preschool graduation.

Then we went and got Baskin Robbins icecream.

Second she had her mini olympics and received her first trophy ever. She was so excited and she did a wonderful job. Her favorite part was the floor routine.

After her olympics we all went to Stanfords for dinner. We were too full to have dessert.

Memorial Day Weekend

We went out to the coast with Sarah and John and Ali for Memorial Day Weekend and stayed at a beach house.

The weather was pretty good until Monday morning when we had some rain. But we still had a great time anyway.

Ali and John flew a kite.

We played in the waves. My feet were so cold they hurt. Ali didn't seem to mind at all. We also built a sandcastles. Beware of Grandpas that might kick you in a sand ditch, face first, but not on purpose. One day Ali renamed the beach "The dead bug gallery" There were dead bugs everywhere. It was kind of creepy.

We went to the Aquarium. Ali loved it. Two amazing things happened.

First, we traveled back in time and found 9 year old Adam at the shark petting pool.

Second, we found Ali's identical twin in the shark tunnel.

We had s'mores one night and John's sweatshirt string went right into his marshmallow.

The raccoons were hoping we'd give them some marshmallows. They came up pretty close to the deck to check us out. Check out the backdrop.

It was a great weekend, I wish I had a beach house. But the next best thing is to have your daughter have a friend with a beach house.

Up to Idaho for Eric's Graduation from BYU-I

Eric's Graduation was really nice. We are sure he

graduated with honors but they didn't have his grades done yet.

Porter was so much fun. He is such a happy boy, especially when his

silly grandma is around. Here is our laughing war. Porter had a new shirt

that said BIG BRO on it. Melissa and Eric are having another baby in

November. It will be my first trip to NY.

Visiting Beth and Georgia

Georgia and her cousins. (Theron, Lincon,Grant, and Georgia)

Georgia with Great Grandma King. She loved the butter mints Grandma kept giving her. She would ask more please in sign language.
Smiley Georgia.
We had fun visiting Beth and Georgia. She is so darling and it's fun to see all the sign language she knows and the words she knows. What a cute girl. We miss her so much.