My Baby Boy

I was searching for a baby picture to include in Matthew's 8th grade yearbook.

This is the handsome young man he has become.

Just take a look at this little cutie below....

 I could just eat him up!

Testing...does this blog still work?

I have been away for way too long! Here is evidence that we did have a summer...

 

Jessica graduated from high school back in May. It's so crazy that she has moved on. I feel old. She was so ready to get on with her big plans. She's now in Utah living with her grandparents. Recently, Jessica finished her course work and clinicals for her CNA (certified nursing assistant.) Now it's time for the State test. Jess works at an assisted living center and loves it. She will begin school at BYUI in January. I really miss her!

 Goodbye Jessica!

You can't really tell, but Jessica was laughing so that she wouldn't cry. I didn't take pictures of the real crying. We were all a mess when we left her. So hard!

 Just a bunch of Stoner grandkids. So fun to see everyone at our reunion in Park City, Utah.

We enjoyed an afternoon at the visitors center at temple square in SLC. These two posed for me in the space room. The heavens and the stars are their background.

Psycho Jessica!

There's an empty seat at our table...

I love these kids. They are mine. But why do boys seem to make goofy faces in pictures? I know they will look back at this picture one day and wonder what they were thinking.

Caving

I like caving. It's an adventure. It's dark and mysterious. And then I want to get out. Seriously, I thought I was a pretty good sport. All of the kids were. This is the before picture. We were all so clean and shiny...not knowing how much mud we would find. (notice that Matthew is taller than Lauren)

We drove to Sparta,TN. The cave was called The Lost Creek. I expected the bed of the cave to be easy walking. But no, no, no. It was a rocky river bed. Big rocks. Rocks and boulders that we all had to climb over and around. It got dark pretty quick too. We sure were glad to have our cool headlamps. It was essential to be be hands free.

 Here is our friend Paige! She's such a goofball! I wish I had taken a picture with all of my kids wearing their headlamps!

We have some new fun friends. The Miller family. They are a bunch of the cutest redheads! We are so glad that they moved here from California last December.

 If you look really closely, you can see how muddy the kids are. Not all of these red heads are Miller's. The Cruze family also joined us. My camera was a little steamy inside. Darn humidity!

Let me explain the mud. As we wandered through the deep, dark cave, we came upon a tunnel. This tunnel led to what is called the "mud room." Our fearless guides, Mr. Stoner, and Bishop Cruze, thought the kids would have a great time in this particular room. I said, "NO WAY." I felt it was getting late and we needed to go. But once all of the kids new that this was the entrance to the "mud room" there was no turning back.

I reluctantly started down the tunnel with everyone. First I was stooping, then I was crawling, then I had to lay on my side and just roll down this shrinking tunnel! I was really wanting to get out of there. I was also the last one. All the kids were just screaming, laughing, and having a great time. I finally said, "This is where I stop. You all go on ahead and I'll lay here and wait for you right here!"

I have a very encouraging Bishop. He said, "Come on! You can do it. Just roll 30 more feet, then I promise you can stand up again." I trusted him and kept rolling. Wow. I'm so glad I got out of there alive and not half as muddy as the kids. The kids all found a place to slide around in the mud. It's a great memory for them!

 Aimee and Paige!

Check out Jessica's backside.

 Mr. Stoner. Fearless leader.

This is blurry. I know. But it shows Matthew at the mouth of the cave. It was big.

Muddy brothers! So fun!



Trifle

I made my first trifle! I thought it was so yummy and pretty. Thank you to my sister, Shelley, for the great recipe here.

Now I didn't just make this for myself. It was my turn to host book club, so I tried it out on my friends. I had so much left over! Most of them took some home with them. I don't know why, but I usually try something new when I have company. Fortunately, this was fun and easy to make. Try it.

I'm Back!

I know that my blog has looked like Christmas since....well....December. It's time to start posting stuff again. So I begin again by sharing what I made for dinner tonight. It was so yummy! The recipe comes from a food blog on my side bar. It's called Jamie Cooks it Up! I love this girls culinary creations. So I tried this tonight:

 Sometimes I can be a bit of a food snob. I like to make things using fresh ingredients, and I very rarely buy prepared foods of any sort. But tonight I humbly admit that I used canned, yes canned chicken in this recipe. This was a first for me. And guess what. It was really good. So here's the link. Try it out. I think you'll like it.
 https://sites.google.com/site/jamiecooksitupprintablerecipes/chicken-stuffed-cre

Christmas Happiness !

Merry Christmas!

Showin' some love on Christmas morning...

Jessica made this for Lauren. She can't wait to hang all of her necklaces on it!

First Batch!

Here is my first attempt to bake a cookie worthy for my annual neighborhood cookie exchange next week.
This is the cookie I made tonight. Orange Zest Cookie with Orange Zest Glaze. It's a super delicious cookie recipe I got off of pinterest. Mr. Stoner recommended it. He said that his mom used to make this cookie when he was a little boy.  

Here's the problem...it just doesn't "look" very pretty. And honestly, my cookies don't even look like this picture. They look a little less desirable. (That's why I didn't post the pic I took.) The cookies I take must look beautiful,and taste amazing. I'm pretty sure this isn't the cookie I want for my party. However, my family is gobbling them up!

Here's what I'll try next:

Cookie Dough Truffle

The presentation on this one is great! But it might be a little time consuming.




York Peppermint Brownies

Who doesn't love chocolate and mint? I know these aren't "cookies," but hey, our neighborhood group uses that term loosely.


Any great ideas out there bloggy friends? I need a "winner!"

Costume Change...

What a nerd!

Spooky ghost!

Matthew the lumberjack!

Jessica's on her way through the woods to Grandmother's house.

TRON LEGACY

Happy Halloween!

Twister

What could be more fun than playing twister?

I was reluctant at first, but it really was fun.

I learned that Lauren does not play nicely:)

She pushes and tries to make everyone fall.

Jessica just laughs her head off.

The boys were very strategic.

Yep, that's me. The big 'ole bum. I have no pride.

I purposely posted this picture so that everyone can

feel better about themselves.

It's kind of like giving service.  

"Josephine"

I love to listen to Pandora Radio

(www.pandora.com) while I'm working.

It's so great! I can create my own radio stations based

 on one artist that I really like.

Here's a confession:
 one of my favorite stations is John Denver.

 I also like Glee, The Civil Wars, and Tim McGraw.

The other day I heard this song called

 "Josephine."

It's sung by an artist I had never heard of.

 Her name is Brandi Carlile. She's amazing.

I love this song, among many of her others.
 I'm such a sucker for her type of harmony.

I'm pretty sure that I have to buy some of her albums.

 Take a minute and listen and let me know if you've heard her before. I'm gonna learn this song!

Laurel Falls

Our family enjoyed a great hike in the Smokies last May. Little did we know that we would come upon a real live bear. We felt a little excited and a little anxious. Fortunately, there was a ranger  following the movement of the bear.

The "Falls" with Jess and Lauren

Colorado Mountains

Beautiful Colorado mountains! This is where I grew up. I have some of my favorite memories right here. It's a little piece of heaven. We drove Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to get here. Yay for family reunions! It was so great to see everyone.

 Jess and Ben can't wait to start fishing!

Jessica is a first time fishergirl. Grandpa gives her some step by step instruction on how to cast. Casting is my favorite part of lake fishing. I can really get it out there. It's all in the wrist.

Ben's got one! It was so very exciting to see him reel in his fish!

Mr. Stoner doesn't seem to be very excited. He's just acting casual. He was really bursting inside. 

Here it is! Ben's first catch ever. Doesn't my brother Curtis look so official fisherman in his little vest? I thought so. 

Mr. Stoner caught a rock, weeds, or something annoying like that. It's not fun to fish when all you do is get snagged on the bottom of the lake. Jessica's giving him some advice.

Circle K Ranch offers to put on a "rodeo" if there are 60 or more people in your reunion party. We qualified! Heres Matthew doing his best to go get around a barrel. It was so much fun to ride the beautiful horses.

I couldn't get these girls to take a nice "smiling" picture for me! I finally just told them all to frown...and they sure responded. This is Rachel ,Lauren, and Tara.



Matthew, Jessica, Lauren, and cousin Tara took an early morning ride. The horses were very gentle. Matthew said that his horse was stubborn and would not obey. I think that horse knew that Matthew was not the boss.