2023 Blue Jeans Week 4

This was a difficult week with lots of laughter and also lots of tears.  I flew out last minute to my DeeDee's funeral (she was my 97 year old maternal grandma). Saw lots of family that I haven't seen in almost 10 years.  It was a good experience but also very hard.  I know she is in a better place with my grandpa, but it is just hard to know she isn't here anymore.  Take a look at our week...

Went to lunch before I left town with my best girl friends.  They keep me sane and bring me lots of joy!

At the viewing with 3 of my cousins.  My grandparents had 5 kids, and there are 18 grandkids total and 16 of us were there.  There are 46 great grandkids and most of them were there.   We were so close when we were little, but we haven't seen each other in almost 10 years.  Nice to catch up.

So much snow by my DeeDee's house where I stayed for a few days.  This was on one of my morning walks with the beautiful snow, mountains and sunshine trying to peak through the snow.

At the cemetery with my mom, dad and 3 of my 4 siblings and spouses and most of my kids and nephews.  Ben and Mr J were not able to come.

My kids and nephews.  Just missing Mr J and two of my brother's step daughters who were not able to attend and that is all of my parents' grandkids

Day after the funeral my Mom, Dad and I met my sister and her husband for lunch and had one of the best hamburgers I have ever had.  So yummy!

Relaxing in my DeeDee's family room with the fire on and reading one of DeeDee's sweet books and enjoying the fire and their picture over the mantel.  Probably the last time I will ever be there.  It was hard to be there when she wasn't there.  

Day after the funeral my mom and dad joined me and my Utah kids for dinner.  It was nice to be together, but we were missing Ben and Mr J.

Had a free lunch one day before I flew home, and I was able to meet up with one of Ben's sisters.  I honestly have the best in-laws.  So fun to see her and catch up for a minute before I left.

With my Utah kids after serving at the temple for our church.  Loved we could go together!

Went to a fun dessert place to get some sweets!

Mrs OC, and Mr JC took me up to Ben's parents, and they treated us to a yummy dinner, and then Ben's mom showed us photos from their recent cruise to see the Panama Canal. So amazing!  Glad I got to see them for a little before I flew out.

It was a fast and furious few days, and I am now back home and grateful for safe and uneventful air travel.  Grateful for my amazing family and the legacy we have.  Grateful for the love that binds us even when we don't see each other often.  

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and healthy and well wherever you are!!

2023 Blue Jeans Week 3

I am behind.  My amazing 97 year old DeeDee (my maternal grandmother) passed away, and I traveled to the funeral and was gone several days.  Not planned.  She was so amazing!  I want to be just like her when I grow up!  A full life and very healthy and lived at her own home by herself until the end.  My grandpa passed almost 10 years ago, and she missed him SO much!  Happy that they are now together again!  What a blessing for them!  Just hard for us left behind.  So catching up, this was 2 weeks ago.  Take a look at our week...

Donated blood for the first time this year.  Always a good thing to do!

My January cake--keeping up the tradition of making a cake a month.  This was a requested chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (one of our favorites!) for a birthday at Ben's work.  

Game night.  Ben picked the game and it was Quixx which is one of his favorites.  Also a picture of the book Ben and I are reading aloud The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.  So good!

This handsome senior of mine had a day off school and needed some new clothes, so we headed to the city for some shopping, and he treated me to lunch at his favorite place Chipotle.  Yum!

Ben's boss (sitting by me) used to come visit often and take us out to dinner, but because of COVID, we haven't seen him in a long time, and this was the first time since early 2020 that we went out to dinner with him.  Ben's former office manager and her husband joined us.  Fun evening.  

On Thursday morning of this week my amazing 97 year old DeeDee passed away.  Here she is with my mom and a quilt that was made for her from one of my mom's friends.  She was such a major influence and a big part of my life.  She was love and chocolate chip cookies and joy all in one.  I want to me just like her when I grow up.  Love you DeeDee!  We sure will miss you!!!

I decided to work on a new project each month of 2023.  January project was crochet beaded socks for some close friends that just had baby girls.  Fun to do something different!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and healthy and well wherever you are.  Have a great week!

2023 Blue Jeans Week 2

A fun week.  It was homecoming week, and Mr J was a king candidate.  Had school introductions early in the week and then the game and crowning on Friday, and Mr J was selected as the King! Pretty fun.  He was very surprised.  Dance Saturday and he got to wear the crown to the dance.  It was a fun week.  Take a look...

Mr J and his cute escort at the high school introductions early in the week.

What a handsome kid!

Night of the game and crowning ceremony. Mr J and his escort being introduced.  There were 6 couples.

And He won!  He and his cute friend from band won.  Exciting stuff!

Proud to be parents of the king :)

Saturday night ready to head to the dance, and he had to wear his crown.  It had lights in it which was pretty fun.  He is not a big one for school dances, but he really didn't have a choice.  It wasn't too bad he said after, so we will take that as a win.

Saturday morning we headed up to the city with these awesome young men to serve in the temple.  It was a beautiful day.

Hope you had a great week!  Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are healthy and happy and safe wherever you are!

2023 Blue Jeans Week 1

Hello 2023!  We are glad you are here!  It was a good week.  We were able to keep Miss E for an extra week which was wonderful.  Great family time.  Take a look at our week...

We like King Arthur's Baking and their recipes.  Every year they have a recipe of the year, and for 2023 it is coffee cake.  They are giving 10 different recipes, so we tried the first one this week.  Cinnamon Crisp Coffee Cake. Yummy!!!

Started the new year with a family hike.  

Found some interesting art on the hike...

When Miss E is home, we always make yummy stuff.  We got out the pasta maker and made pasta this week.  So good!  Miss E took a pasta making class in Italy last summer, so she is the pro!

On the day this girl flew out, we went up to the city early and went to the art museum.  She had a humanities class last semester, and it was fun for her to see the originals of some of the art she studied.

Had lunch in the awesome art museum cafe which has some amazing desserts!  Then dropped this girl off at the airport.  We will miss her!!!

Per tradition, we got our goals done for 2023.  Good things planned for 2023!

And end of December we celebrated our 27th anniversary, but we didn't officially celebrate it until this past week because of all the holiday stuff and timing.  These are my beautiful flowers Ben got for me.

Thanks for visiting!  Hope your 2023 started out great!  Hope you have a great week and stay healthy and happy and safe!

2022 Blue Jeans Week 52

Wrapping up the last week of 2022 with Christmas day to New Year's Eve.  It was a good week.  Very relaxing.  On Christmas Day we got to serve at a soup kitchen which was very rewarding.  We have never done that before on Christmas Day.  We enjoyed playing lots of games that we got for Christmas and went to the city to see some lights and out to eat.  Pretty low key New Year's Eve.  We were all in bed before midnight.  We are just so exciting :)  Take a look at our last week of 2022...

Christmas Day--their gifts to each other.  Mr J got cereal and Miss E got chocolate.  

Christmas Day before heading to church.  We sang in the choir and Ben spoke. It was a beautiful and very full service.  Perfect for Christmas.  Miss E sporting her new dress she got for Christmas. 

Christmas Day for lunch we helped serve at a soup kitchen.  It is the same one we always help with, but this year since Christmas was on a Sunday they decided to serve, and it was very, very busy.  Mr J and Miss E were in charge of drinks.

Ben was in charge of serving the pie.  Yummy!  It was a great experience for us to do this on Christmas Day. 

Day after Christmas Ben had off and we spent the whole day playing our new games we got.  Lots of fun!

On the Tuesday after Christmas we went to see the new Avatar movie in 3D with our friends.  We all loved it!

We actually had a white Christmas this year!  Miss E and I enjoyed walking in the snow on the trails this week.

Since we were out of town for Thanksgiving and didn't get to bring home any leftovers on the plane, we decided to do our own Thanksgiving.  On the 28th we cooked all day and made all the good things and invited some friends over to help us eat it all.  So yummy!!!

Played lots of games this week.  These two decided to play right by the front door in the sun.

Headed up to the city for some fun on Friday.  Went out to eat at the Black Bear Diner.  Yummy!

Went to the Giving Machines and donated some awesome things.  Love this!

Had tickets to a fun lights display.

The light tunnel...I think Ben is yawning. :)  It was a long day but fun!

My last cake for the year.  This is my December cake we had on New Year's Eve.  It is the birthday cake recipe from the Milk Bar bakery in NYC.  It was really yummy!

New Year's Eve!  We took this about 11:40 p.m. and then headed to bed.  We had played games, ate yummy food and watched a movie, and we were all ready to head to bed.  Happy New Year!  Here's to a great 2023!!

Thanks for being with us on our journey this year!  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's and are looking forward to 2023!  See you next week!