Happy 50th Birthday

For my 50th Birthday I organized a service project. My goal was to assemble 50 Hygiene Kits to donate to the LDS Humanitarian Center. Family and friends donated items and money for the kits. On my birthday we gathered to put the kits together. This is how the room looked before we started.

Here we are assembling them.

Here are the finished kits.

Birthday cake and ice cream followed. I served my favorite Costco cake, yummy!

For years I have asked my children not to stress over giving me a gift for my birthday or Christmas. Instead, I have asked them to give service to others or improve a talent. Last Christmas they started a warm and fuzzy jar to mark different acts service. Their birthday gift this year was to give 50 acts of service. They wrote down their service (7 from each adult and 1 from Eliza) and sent me 50 golden warm and fuzzy pompon balls.

Janette's Graduation

I had a wonderful weekend at Janette's graduation. Here she is....Magna Cum Laude, top 5 percent of graduating class. Her degree is in accounting. I am so proud of the hard work she has put into achieving this goal.


Here is the Clark family: Rebecca, Deborah, Janette, Caleb, Alisha and Richard.


The Robinson family: Dad, Lynae, Janette, Marilyn, Allen and David.


Janette conducted the music at the Convocation of the College of Business and Communication.



Walking accross the stage to recieve the empty diploma folder. She is left of the podium.


Dad, Nate, Lynae and David.


Front: Alisha, Deborah and Rebecca. Back: Richard and Allen


We were watching for Janette in the many lines during the Processional. She walked in to the right of us and then was seated in the section in front of us. I was very moved by the remarks given by Pres. Kim B. Clark and Roger G. Christensen and the address by Elder Jay E. Jensen. BYU-Idaho has a wonderful spirit about the campus.


Here a picture of the Recssional. Janette is blocked by the women in black.


A group of us visited with Ron Kinghorn and Janet Barrus. We were able to attend a session in the beautiful Rexburg temple. Then we went out to the Teton Dam site.

Finale's Quilt

Kristine started a quilt in 2004 or maybe the beginning of 2005. The pattern is called "You Can't Have too Many Colors". She picked out the material, made the blocks, arranged the blocks and started sewing it together. Before we moved into this house I helped her finish sewing it together (I didn't want to move pieces parts). I tried a few times to encourage Kristine to finish it up. It didn't happen. I have been focusing on all the unfinished projects in the sewing room so a couple of weeks ago I enveloped, top stitched and then tied the quilt. I put it Kristine's bed to surprise her this last weekend. She loved it! I quickly took these pictures before she took it back to BYU.

Happy Birthday, Bailey

Here is the birthday girl!! Grandpa babysat Monson so Bailey and I could go shopping and to lunch while Wills was at school. Wills and Bailey went out to dinner while Grandpa and I took care of Monson. The Koozers brought over a yummy cake so we all could celebrate together. It was a nice day.

Monson's Blessing

On Sunday, February 14, we were able to gather at the Koozer's home for Monson's blessing. He is wearing the same outfit Wills wore.


Bailey is such a natural mother. Isn't this a precious picture?

Here are the Priesthood brethren that joined in the circle. Wills gave a wonderful blessing. Monson has great parents and a loving extended family.

Here are the three William Jolleys....

Four generations: Monson, Parents - Wills and Bailey, Grandparents - Jolley and Koozer, Great Grandparents - Mann

Monson

William and I had a wonderful trip to visit Monson,Wills and Bailey. He is so fun to hold and cuddle. He is a very good baby. Here are a few pictures:

Monson must really love his Grandpa Jolley. He sure slept soundly while Grandpa was holding him.

Food, food, food

Since my "episode" last summer I have made a few changes in my eating habits. I have been asked, "So, what DO you eat?" And I have been told, "There isn't any food in the house!" We do eat and there is food here. The biggest food group reduction has been dairy. Cheese has left the house (I do eat it when it is served to me at other places) and my milk is saved for putting on my cereal. We finally finished of the dozen eggs I bought last Thanksgiving. I now buy eggs in a 6-pack. The biggest increase is in fresh fruit and vegetables. We are using the food storage but we are trying to get it down to "storage for 2".

Here is the breakfast that your Dad makes for us a few times a week. It is oatmeal with cinnamon and our home dried apples and raisins. Not pictured is the banana, grapefruit or juice. I still have bran on the mornings I am in a hurry. We have eggs about once a month as noted above.


This is the meal that started this posting. As I filled my plate I thought "This would make Dr. Fuhrman happy". Dr Sarah suggested reading Dr Joel Fuhrman's book "Eat to Live" to get a new perspective. I was a bit discouraged when I read the book because many of the principles were already a part of our lifestyle. I have tried to focus on a few changes, tweeking as I like to think of the changes, that I could live with. This is baked salmon with garlic, lemon and sliced scallions; Calrose rice; green beans with crispy scallions (very yummy). I try to eat salmon at least once a week. Again the fruit isn't in the picture. It was fresh pineapple with this meal. We now try to have our main meal in the middle of the day. It works with Dad's schedule and the empty nest.


Supper is usually a salad or a little bit of leftovers. We have been having some fun things on our salads. Pictured here is romaine lettuce, baby spinach, grated carrots, sliced celery, sliced purple onion, craisins, sunflower seeds, olives, and a few croutons. My daily dose of almonds are on the side. Again, the fruit is missing from the picture. We do eat my bottle fruit along with the fresh.

The good news is, drum roll, as of last week's blood test my cholesterol is DOWN and is in NORMAL range. I will continue with the dietary changes to keep me in the normal range but hopefully I will still improve my cholesterol (normal is very broad).

Christmas

This picture accidentally got deleted so "insert" below.
We started off the Christmas activities with a cool spin around the ice rink. Eliza tried the skates on but they were very large. This was the extent of her skating for the day.

Charlie looked great on the ice.

Wills had a great time -- too bad I only got his back side on this spin.

I even tried a little turn after my knees quit shaking.

Eliza showed us how she colors in her coloring book with her big crayons.

The Koozers hosted the Christmas Eve activities. Unfortunately my camera and I didn't do very well on the inside-night shots. But here are a few blurry pictures.

Dinner was great and it was followed by a magic show.

Pam Mann shared a great presentation on the many gifts that we enjoy. Robin, Charlie and Eliza were the gift of our ancestors and pioneers.

Here are those that served missions (plus a couple of extras). The gifts of Sharing the Gospel.

Wills tried to "Trap" us. Here it is after the fact. Bailey and I tried for a little bit then Kristine just went for it and got through.

Eliza tried her best to enjoy the gift exchange but she wasn't feeling very well. She did put on her new jacket, slippers and hair accessories. I accidentally deleted the picture with Robin, Charlie and Eliza. It's at the beginning of this post.

Here are Bailey, Kristine and Wills.

Charlie got some cold cereal and opened it then left it by the tree. I was sitting in the front room and watched Eliza help herself to the Froot Loops.

Eliza was sick and just wasn't herself. Here she is trying to smile for the camera.

Great Home Teachers

Our home teachers take great care of us. They clear the snow away from the front of the house. Here is Lance taking care of the neighborhood! We sure appreciate it.