Memories From Our Third Annual Shirley Family Vacation!

O my, it has been such a long time since I have done a post I'm not sure I remember how. I can't believe the summer is just about past.

A few years ago our family decided that instead of buying each other birthday gifts, we would save the money and put it towards a family vacation. We feel blessed that we have been able to do this for 3 years now. We are sad that Cam, Mary's husband, has not been able to join us for the last 2 years as each time he had just started a new job and hasn't had any vacation. We appreciate that he has allowed Mary to leave him hard at work to join us.

This year we spent a few days at our cabin at Bear Lake and then headed for Island Park which is about 1/2 hour south of Yellowstone. I can't tell you how much fun Kerry and I had being with our 4 children, their spouses, and our 7 grandchildren for those few days. Marlon also brought his girlfriend Daniella. It was so hard when it all came to an end and everyone had to go back to the "real world" of work and other responsibilities. Below are pictures of just a few of the many wonderful memories that we hold dear to our hearts.

For me, Bear Lake is one of my favorite places to be, especially when the kids are all there. Some enjoy the experience more than others. Mary, Hudson, Keri Beth and Marlie were having a great time.

Dave just doesn't seem to enjoy the beach as much as others. On this particular day, he was a good sport however and came along just to be with us. He's the only person I know that gets sunburnt sitting in the shade!

Marlie checking things out. She's just not sure if she's ready to get wet.

I couldn't decided if this was a smile or tears. Keri Beth said it's a smile.

Mason is so cute with Hudson and the two of them had great fun playing together no matter where were. Here they were enjoying the water at Bear Lake.

This is one of my favorites of Mary and Hudson!

Grandpa is always such a good sport to go swimming with the kids.

Last year Addie hated the water, this year it is hard to keep her out of it!

Is this a cute face or what!

I think Drew decided she's more for sunbathing.

She wasn't too much for swimming in the lake.

Tim, Addie, Kim and Drew at Bear Lake. By the time this picture was taken Addie was ready to go home. I think she had literally worn herself out playing in the water.

Keri Beth and David had been to Bear World before and suggested that we stop there on our way to Island Park. We were a bit nervous when the bear began to sniff out the food in the cooler on Dave's flat bed trailer.

Tim and Addie enjoying the train ride at Bear World.

This was the beautiful cabin we stayed at in Island Park. It was just perfect for our family. Plenty of room and right on a lake. Couldn't have asked for anything more!

This was the view that we woke up to every morning.

And this is the view at sunset. As you can see we had a fire pit in the back and enjoyed an evening of roasting marshmallows.

We had to take a poll to see who liked thin or thick pancakes. I think thin won.

Kerry and I just thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with our grandchildren.

Grandpa Kerry and Hudson having some bonding time!

The grandkids all love their "poppa".

Mary with Hudson, Kim with Drew, Daniella and Marlon just "hanging out".

The kids, along with the adults had a great time down on the dock catching frogs and crawdads. I'm grateful they decided to set them free instead of bringing them home!

Marlon and Daniella in Yellowstone. Don't they make a cute couple!

David, Keri Beth, with their children, Marlie, Mason, Madison at Island Park all sporting their new Yellowstone sweatshirts!

I never knew it could be so hard to get 7 children to all look at the camera and smile at the same time. I wish I had a picture of Keri Beth's attempts to pull of this picture. She was a riot! At any rate, these are our beautiful grandchildren that we just enjoyed every moment with.

On the way home we stopped by Mesa Falls which as you can see is absolutely beautiful.

Thanks everyone for arranging your schedules so that we could all spend some time together. We are already looking forward to next year.....date and location to be announced. We love each of you so much!

Love, Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa (Poppa)

How We Spend Our Days!

Yesterday was my grandson Hudson's 1st birthday. As I went to bed last night I was thinking about how fast that year went by and I pondered what I had done with my life during the past 365 days. I reflected upon the fact that I will never be able to go back and relive those days and wondered if I am a better person now than I was a year ago. I pray that I am.

This time we call life is so precious and how grateful I am to spend it with my wonderful family and friends. Someone recently gave me a sign that reads "How we spend our days is how we spend our lives." How grateful I am for my life and the wonderful memories that I have.

For all of you that I know and love, thank you for the influence you have been for good in my life. For those of you that I don't know, thank you for the influence for good that you have been in the lives of those you know and love. We live in challenging times but I know that together we can make this world a better place to be. Hope you each have a good day!

Happy Anniversary To My Sweetheart!

This Friday, May 1st, Kerry and I will be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. Oh my, where have the years gone! I never dreamed when I was young that time could fly by so fast. I'm a little hesitant to blog these first few pictures, you all may laugh. But oh well, it is what it is. I just want my husband to know how much I love him and how blessed I feel to have spent the last 33 years of my life with him. I'm grateful to know that we have eternity together as this life is just way to short! Happy anniversary sweetheart and thank you for all of the wonderful, amazing experiences and memories. I love you!!!


This is obviously our wedding day. We were married at the Chapel of Roses in Pasadena, California. May 1st that year was very, very warm. I think it was about 90 degrees. After the ceremony we went to my parents where we had a reception in their back yard.

This picture was taken in Santa Barbara, California where we spent our wedding night in a cottage on the ocean.

Look how young we look!!! We took a trip to Hawaii when Keri Beth was about 9 month's old. I can't believe that I left her with my mom for 10 days. I remember missing her soooo much. I have now put going back to Hawaii on my "bucket list".

We just jumped ahead about 25 years. I don't have pictures on the computer for those years, a project for another day. This was at my brother's house outside of Tahoe. What a beautiful setting!

Our youngest daughter's wedding. Unlike our wedding day, Mary was married on a very, very, bitter cold/foggy winter day.

Everyone that knows us very well, knows that being at our cabin at Bear Lake is one of our favorite places to be. This particular day we went up to enjoy the fall colors one more time.

Thanks to our son Marlon being in the Paralympics, we have been blessed to have traveled to some amazing places. The memories of Athen's will always be engraven on my heart. I wish we could go back and do it all over again, it was so unbelievable.

We were able to travel to Beijing last year to the Paralympics and had an experience of a lifetime. We never imagined having so much fun. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we have never laughed so much.

Recently we helped move our daughter Mary to Louisiana and had another wonderful time. We are now grandparents and thoroughly enjoying that chapter of our lives. Well that brings us up to current times. I pray that the next 33 years can be as great as the last 33. I'll only be 90 years old!

Cherished Memories With Those We Love!

Today is the anniversary of my mother's death 7 years ago. On some days it is still hard to believe she is gone. There is no way to prepare yourself for the loss you feel when loosing your mother. I find myself so often praying for the chance just to spend a few minutes with her, to tell her one more time that I love her. I know that she is close by, but it's just not the same as being able to pick up the phone and talk in person. We never know when we are going to loose a loved one, so to anyone reading this, please remember to cherish the moments you have together and say I love you often. To my husband, children, grandchildren, and all my family, I love you each so much! Thanks for taking the time out of your busy lives to share special moments together. We have accumulated literally thousands of pictures and it would take days to go through them all. I have had to quickly pick out a few to share. Hope they bring special memories to your heart as they did mine.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF "GRAMMY".

Grammy didn't have any siblings and so Poppa's sister Audrey and her husband Hal are our only Aunt and Uncle. I'm grateful that Dale, Wayne, Cheryl, and I along with our cousin Karen and her family were able to get together. It had been years! Cheryl and I had been blessed to be able to travel with Grammy and Poppa back to Arkansas to attend Karen's daughter's wedding several years prior. I'm so grateful that Grammy always went the "second mile" to make memories.

I love this picture of Wayne, Daddy, and Dale at Dale's wedding. They all look so handsome! Grammy would have loved the beautiful setting and the festivities.

I believe this is a picture of Tim and Kim shortly after they were married, or maybe even before they were married. They were married the year that Grammy died. We definitely missed her there.

Cheryl and I getting to spend some time together with our granddaughters. Grammy missed out on so many fun times with her great-grandchildren. She always looked forward to being present as each one was born and it's just not the same without her there on those sacred moments.

Having Wayne, Kathleen, and their family visit one winter shortly after Christmas is one of my fondest memories. We were literally snowed in and had a blast! Grammy would have loved watching as the guys got all the vehicles stuck in the snow. She would have been right there with her video camera. Tommy, Michael, and Sean enjoyed getting to know their second cousins, Maddi, Mason, and McKayla.

It will be hard to top the memories that Marlon, Mary, Kerry and myself made together in Athens. The entire time we were there I just kept thinking how much fun Grammy would have had. I could just see her in Olympic stadium cheering Marlon on. She would have loved this day cruise that we went on.

Uncle Tim and Mason getting acquainted. Grammy loved family parties and I still miss her every time we get together. How grateful I am that she instilled in us a love for family gatherings.

Celebrating our birthday together as twins doesn't happen very often. This particular year we were all at Dales. We enjoyed Dale and Margaret's wonderful hospitality. I don't ever celebrate my birthday without being grateful to my wonderful mother who gave birth to me and my sister.

My family hates it when I make them all squeeze around the table for Thanksgiving. However, I'm sure they will agree that they love the memories once the event is over. My children also give me a hard time for always making so much food. I can't help it, it's a trait that was passed on to me by Grammy and my grandmother!

Uncle Cam, Husdson, Marlie and Mason all wanting to cuddle on the couch together. How Grammy would have loved all the kids and I can just picture her sitting on the couch reading to them.

Mason loves spending time with his daddy. He sometimes cries when his daddy leaves as he is going to miss him. I laugh when I think of what it would have been like having Mason and Dave taking Grammy on a "Ranger" ride!

We were blessed to be able to have dinner with Marlon at the Olympic Training Center last summer during our visit to San Diego. As you can see Marlon is loved. Oh how Grammy would have cherished every moment if she had been able to visit the Training Center. I can just hear her telling all of her friends about the experience she would have had.

We always love it when Poppa and Shirley come to visit. We know it's a long drive from So. California to our home in Utah, but what fun times we have. Hoping they will make it back up this summer. We are so grateful that Poppa found someone to fill the void in our lives since Grammy's death. Shirley has been such a blessing.

When Mary was here visiting during February, we took the opportunity to ride the Front Runner train from Ogden to Salt Lake. This is Mary and McKayla "posing" for a picture. Grammy would have thought this was great fun. Oh how I wish Grammy could have gotten to know all of her great-grandchildren. I'm grateful that Tim invited Kim to come with us on vacation shortly before Grammy died. I only wish Grammy could have known their darling daughters, Addie and Drew.

Keri Beth, Dave, Marlie, Maddi, McKayla, and Mason at the cabin recently. I'm so glad that the family is able to make so many fun memories together there, but I'm so sad that Grammy never got to visit there. She would have loved the view. However, I know that she's been there with us in spirit, in fact, I think she's the one that lead us to the cabin to begin with. Thanks mom, it's perfect!

I know how much Grammy loved her family and pray that we can live our lives so that she will be proud of us.

2009 Easter Memories

It has been a fun filled Easter week/Spring break. Marlon, Daniella, and Dalene came to visit. "Uncle Marlon" always seems to be the center of attention when he is around. We took the opportunity to celebrate his birthday which is next week.

I'm still a kid at heart when it comes to dying Easter eggs. I look forward to this activity every year. We have 2 egg hunts, one for the adults and one for the kids. The adults look forward to it as much as the kids as they get "dollars" in their eggs, while the kids get quarters. It has become everyone's favorite tradition! (Can't imagine why!)

I just had to blogg these pictures of Dave and Drew. Isn't she adorable!

Ryann and Rafa showed up with a Pinata which was really fun. Dalene and Mason had fun making hats with the broken off pieces.

Spring Has Spring!

I am always sooooooo ready for spring. After experiencing nice warm weather in Louisiana, we arrived home to snow! By this time of year I just want to be warm! With the sun shinning today I ventured outside today to see if I could see any signs that spring was on it's way to our house. Spring blossoms are always a sign of "hope" to me, and that is a word that is so important in a time of much uncertainty. As you can see not only did I find signs of spring in the yard but I found Marlie in the house looking for some spring flowers of her own!

Louisiana Memories

Who would have ever dreamed that we would be helping to move our daughter, Mary and her family to Louisiana! We flew to St. Louis where Mary picked us up and then Kerry, Mary, Hudson and myself headed to Louisiana to meet up with Cam and the moving van. We ended up having an absolutely amazing time and enjoyed every moment we spent together.

We loved the opportunity to see the beautiful hotel where Cam spends most of his working hours. Cam and Mary arranged for us to spend a couple of nights there. What a fun time we had!

We were able to meet up with Dr. Nikki who I worked with here in Utah. She moved back home to the same area in Louisian where Mary is now living. What a small world we live in! We had an unforgetable time eating Craw fish for the first time, swimming with Hudson, and enjoying a beautiful Louisian sunset.

Before flying out of the Houston airport, we visited the Houston Temple and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful grounds. I can't wait to go back to visit Louisiana again. We look forward to the next time we can visit. Thanks Mary and Cam for your wonderful southern hospitality.