Critty's Birthday

Well, I'm not saying how old he turned today, but 54 years ago, Del Chris made his appearance into this world, and 54 years later, he's still looking like a million bucks! I may be a little prejudice, but hey, what are spouses for if not to build your self esteem? I know, Critty doesn't need any help in the self esteem department, but I am his #1 fan! I had to work today, but we did get to go to lunch together at Gecko's and then Shtovey took him golfing and they had the games of their lives (it was windy to their advantage) where Critty got at 77 on 18 holes. Get this--he missed a hole in one on a four par by four inches! Shtovey is his witness! After that, the whole family and the Andys went to dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ and then came back to the house for cake and ice cream and the opening of presents. It was good times! Happy Birthday, Delbert! Here's to 54 more!

The Cash Cube

Well, I told you about Andy's 30th birthday on Thursday...what I didn't tell you was that Bree had a surprise birthday party planned for him on Saturday. She invited tons of his friends and family and had the meal catered by Joe Morley's (YUM!) and even with a inclement weather location change, pulled it off. Andy's neighbor stole him away to a movie so Bree could get it all set up, and he was surprised! He came in the door and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" He looked stunned for a minute and then said, "Uh, I've got to go to the restroom...be right back!" I don't know who was more surprised...him when he walked in, or all of us wondering what to do while we waited for him to come back. Too funny. Anyway, he has always wanted to stand in a "Cash Cube" and see how much money he could grab while it was blowing around. It was on his "bucket list". So, Bree rented a cash cube and then arranged to have 6 Minute to Win It games that everyone played. If you conquered the game in 60 seconds or less, you earned a ticket worth 5 seconds in the booth. It was great...and Andy loved it! There was money flying everywhere! Everyone got a chance in the booth and people left the party with more money than when they came! When was the last time you ever heard of that? I was too busy working the cube to get any pictures at the party, but we couldn't take the booth back until tomorrow, so today we put some fake money in the booth and let the grandkids play. There were a few dollar bills, but it was fun just to watch them scramble! It was good times!

Andy turns the Big 3-0 !!

Happy Birthday, Andy man! Today was Bree's hubby, Andy McFarland's 30th birthday! He wasn't too thrilled about turning 30, but by the time we had his little family birthday party, he seemed to be okay. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I wish we would have had a picture of him "saddled up" while they sang a round of Happy Birthday to him. He's always a good sport to make a fun time even more fun...always clowning around! We came home after dinner and had delicious Costco Chocolate Decadence (I could only have a thumbful ) and gave him his gifts. He's a good man--we're glad Breezy chose him! We love you, Andy!

TV Addictions

When the fall and winter set in, we always find ourselves reconnecting with the good old television and then when spring hits, we start weening ourselves away so that we can play all summer long. Well, this year's been a little different. Our favorite TV series, 24 and Lost both ended and we felt a little panic attack of withdrawal going on--so we opted to replace our Monday night "date night" with Parkos with The Bachelorette. It's not a bad show, but we have so much fun getting together with the pals that we end up chatting all night and I can't get my seven hours of sleep in. Oh well, which is more important? Friends or points in a competitive Game On! game? Friends will win every time in my book! Until next Monday (and Ali better get rid of the stinkin' weatherman) when we tune in again...

Sloan Tia Rowe's Blessing Day

Today was our 6th grandchild's blessing day. Sloan Tia Rowe was born on Feb. 8, 2010 and was blessed by her daddy, grandpa, uncles and friends in the Rowe's Draper ward. She was such a good baby. The guys said that she just looked up at them all when they put her in the circle. She never made a peep and Vinny gave her a good blessing. Tierney fixed a great luncheon after the blessing and we all had a great time! Sloan looked beautiful in her little ivory white satin dress that was ruffle after ruffle with a big bow in the back and a cute little headband. She could have been a bridesmaid in someone's wedding she looked so cute! She's a keeper!

Sunny Saturdays are Back!

Ah, summer has finally hit (at least it better be summer!) and the pool parties have started! We had all these plans to work in the yard today, and ride our motorcycles, and go shopping and with one little phone call, all that went right out the door! Bree called about 11:00 AM and asked what we were doing and if we were going swimming today. Well, given the opportunity to hang out with our kids and grandkids put everything else on hold and we all went swimming. First, Bree and Branson came over, then Andy and Jared, then Jackson, Laila and Sloan. We swam until we were fully pruned and sunburnt, and then came in the house for awhile. I'm worried aobut Jack and Laila...they came after the sunscreen rub down and we forgot to slather them up. I hope they are sleeping well and don't look like lobsters at their little sister's blessing tomorrow! Here's to more fun pool days!

Belated Birthday Party

Well, my favorite day of the year rolls around, my birthday, and I wake up at 4:00AM with food poisoning. Needless to say, my birthday on June 2nd was not a great day! We had to postpone my party until tonight. We went to Lonestar restaurant and then home for cake and ice cream.

Guess this will be my "free" meal on this new diet! It was great to all be together. Thanks everyone for the great gifts! If I wasn't so tired, I'd elaborate more. I'm telling you, this "forced blogging" could be a lot less than interesting...but at least I'm doing it!

Game On!

Well, it's been way too long since I've done any blogging and we are doing a pilot program for a new diet at work called Game On! and in this program, you compete against other teams, getting points for everything from losing weight to changing bad habits and starting new good habits. So, you have to declare your habits to your team and then DO IT every day for four weeks. So, for my good habit, I decided that I will either journal or blog every night. This is going to be harder for me than I think...especially since it is 11:30 at night and I'm blogging. Another aspect of the Game On! is that you HAVE to get 7 hours or more of sleep--or you lose points. So, I may be going in to work later than usual lately...at least until I get this whole thing balanced. I think it will be a great program once I get used to everything, but for right now, I'm struggling! But hey, I got my first day of blogging in...here's to another 30 days! Wish me luck!

She's Finally Here--Little Sloan Rowe!

I know, I am the worst at blogging lately, but hey, at least I'm at it again tonight! That's because we have cause to celebrate! Today at 3:27 PM, Tierney gave birth to a 7 lb. 7 oz., 18 1/2 inch long (we think they measured wrong) little baby girl. Her name is Sloan (middle name to be determined later) Rowe. She's definitely a keeper! She's just about two hours old in these pictures. Gotta love those grandbabies! Tierney and Sloan are both doing great and will be coming home on Wednesday! Congratulations Vinny and Tierney...and Jackson and Laila! We love you all!

He's FINALLY here!

After 40 plus weeks of waiting, Branson Andrew McFarland finally made his appearance on this earth this morning. He was born May 31st, 2009 at 1:15 AM in the morning. He weighs 7 lbs.15 oz. and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. He has tons of dark brown hair and is beautiful! Congratulations Bree and Andy!

Fun Weekend!

So, we had a great weekend again! Sky and family were in town for a family baby shower we had for Bree and a birthday party we had for Andrea. It was a real laid back weekend, but lots of fun. Here's some pictures...

Bree--who looks more like she swallowed a volleyball than that she's prenant! Laila and Cole taking the "car" for a spin, and Cole and Carson trying out the four wheelers. Good times!

Gotta Love the Easter Bunny!

We love this season! Spring and the budding of the trees and flowers. The celebration of the resurrection of our Savior, and from the grandkids point of view, the Easter Bunny! We love the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my mom's retirement center, Legacy Retirement. Those guys really do a great job...there must be literally thousands of eggs "hidden". The grandkids love it! Jackson even tried to work it out that he could spend the night at Grandma's house so he would be sure to be there on time and not miss out on any of the festivities. He had baseball practice so that didn't work out, but Mom and Dad got he and Laila there in plenty of time, and though it was a little brisk outside, they still had a great time. Here's Jack with the Easter Bunny. Laila wasn't nearly as "brave" to sit on his lap! So this other picture is of her after the hunt at our house on Sunday!

Arghhhh...Knee Surgery!

Well, I found out the hard way that just believing something would get better over time is not always right. Several months again, we were playing wallyball and I slid across the floor on my knees trying to save a hit. With kneepads, you can get a little extra speed and get to the ball faster. However, in my haste to save a point, I neglected to factor in the reality that I've gained some weight and that compressing all that weight onto my poor knees was just a little more than they could handle...and my right knee took the brunt of it. Well, even though it hurt, I tried to tell myself it would go away soon. Fallacy #1 when it comes to knees. Then, in January, we went to eat at Market Street Grill. I stepped out of the driver's seat and my left foot hit a patch of ice, sending me sailing. Unfortunately, my right leg was still in the car and got tangled between the seat and the running boards in a weird twist. Strike two on the knee. Well, I didn't need a strike three to get me into the doctor's office....the pain was convincing enough. I checked our insurance and found a knee specialist, but he had moved his office to Park City, Utah. Since that's only a half hour or so from Salt Lake City (and they have a pletheura of Factory Stores up there always worthy of perusing!) I made the trek. I really liked the doctor, Thomas Rosenberg, and after a ton of xrays and even an MRI, it was determined that I had indeed torn my meniscus. And, because I had waited so long since the initial injury, I had developed something called lateral compression with chondrosis. This meant my lateral muscle had tried to compensate for the meniscus and was pulling my knee cap over to the right. Even with the MRI it wasn't conclusive that I would have to have this surgery, so yesterday when I went in for surgery we still didn't know if I was going to have just the meniscus surgery (a two week rehab) or meniscus and lateral release (a four month rehab). Chris says the first thing I said when I was coming out of the anesthesia was, "How many things did they do to my knee?" I tried to see for myself, but my leg is so wrapped up it looks like a tree trunk! When Chris said they only had to do the meniscus, I was elated! I had had visions of my whole summer of waterskiing, wakeboarding, air chairing and kneeboarding being shot, but now I'll be able to do all that...and train for the Little Red Riding Hood bike ride in June. Yahoo! P.S. I found out later what good hands I was in...Dr. Rosenberg is the top knee surgeon in the NATION! He did Tiger Woods knees!!! Thanks, Dr. R! And thanks to all my friends and family for your prayers and well wishes. I love you all--and that's not the Percocet speaking!! P.S.S. For those of you that understand medical pictures, here's some of the inside of my knee!

Wow! What an Experience! 31 years later....

So, most of you know that there is a new LDS temple in corner canyon in Draper. It is absolutely beautiful and literally glows at night sitting up on the mountain. Well, there is an open house that is held for everyone before they dedicate the temple and it ran from the middle of January until the 14th of March. Over 680,000 people went through the open house in that time. It was the third largest attended open house out of 129 temples throughout the world. Chris and I were lucky enough to be able to volunteer to "work" the open house. It was a great experience and though my feet were killing me after standing on them for eight hours in high heels, I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything. It absolutely amazed me that so many people came through to see this wonderful landmark. After the open house, they closed the temple for a week, removed all the carpet runners and cleaned it spotlessly in preparation for the Dedication ceremonies. Well, lucky for me, one of the women in our ward that had volunteered to work the Dedication had something come up that prevented her from volunteering, so I was able to work the Dedication on Friday--for the Cornerstone ceremony and the 2nd Dedication session. I was stationed upstairs in one of the ordinance rooms next to the celestial room where the First Presidency presided. It was a very humbling experience to spend six hours in the presence of our latter day Prophet Thomas S. Monson and his apostles. I felt honored to work with the people that were invited to attend that day, as well as with those with whom I served. At one point I looked down the hall and saw T, Vinny and Jackson seated in one of the sealing rooms. Jackson was so sweet and reverent. It is so hard to sit that long, but they were some of the few that were lucky enough to see President Monson in person. Needless to say, I loved every minute of it! The temple glows inside as beautifully as it grows outside! This morning, it was our ward's turn to be at the 9th (out of 12) Dedication ceremony. We had to be on the busses at 7:00 AM and then be in the temple ready for our session at 9:00 AM. That left a lot of time to sit and ponder. It hit me during that time that 31 years ago today I was in the Oakland temple with my Mom and Dad--on their wedding anniversary--preparing myself for my temple wedding on the 31st of March! Wow! How great is that? The Oakland temple on March 22, 1978 for my first time and the Draper Temple on March 22, 2009--and this time with the Prophet! I felt very blessed and humbled today. I wish I had this feeling every day!

Danger! Do Not Succomb!

Well, as a result of a dare by my son at Christmas, and a strong push by an old friend that we ran into when we were working at the Draper Temple Open House, I finally buckled and joined Facebook! Here's how it happened: Last weekend, I went down to St. George with some friends and just had them drop me off at our house, so I had no vehicle. I rode my bike anywhere I needed to go, but soon found that was getting old. (Why didn't I remember our neighborhood having so many hills?). Anyway, I suddenly remembered that Skyleur had tried to talk me into joining Facebook when he was here and I used the excuse I never had time. Well, here I was with time on my hands, so I succombed. BIG MISTAKE! I love it just a little too much. I think I could put it in the addiction column. I'm seriously hoping that it's just a passing phase and I won't be checking it every couple of hours to see who my new friends are. The interfacing on that program is incredible! People from my childhood, school days, etceteras are finding me and we are reconnecting. It's so fun. But, I need to start restricting myself. Today Chris left for work and I was at the computer...hours later he came home and I was still at the computer. Really, I had done several other things in between, but to him it appeared that I was still in the same place for all that time. I think he may try to ground me from Facebook. Yikes! Until then, I'm loving every minute of it! Give it a try!