Sunrise, Sunset

I have had a project in mind for quite awhile now, and have finally completed it! It wasn't easy getting it from my head to actually happening! The inspiration for this project were the words from "Sunrise, Sunset" from the "Fiddler on the Roof". It was quite a process getting the pictures in frames that were the right size, and getting them arranged so they were straight. I am very pleased with the finish product! It is even better than it was in my head! The sunrises and sunsets are all pictures that I have taken, some of them right out my front door, some of them in places we have visited!

This is the grouping of pictures on my family room wall! I have a section for each of my four kids starting with their baby pictures, then their first 5 years, then the portrait Darlou sent when they turned 8, then their school years, then a wedding, then a current family picture. 

Cindy's section....the sunrise or sunset pictures between her section and Brian's say "Is this the little girl I carried?", and "Is this the little boy at play?".

Brian's section

The center section....Blake and I when we were young, and a current picture. The sunrise, sunset saying is "I don't remember growing older, when did they?"

Randy's section.... the sunrise, sunset words between Randy and Jared say: "Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?', and "When did he get to be so tall?"

Jared's section....since he is not married yet, I put the picture we took before he left, and a current picture he sent home.

Annual West Yellowstone Adventure

Last week we took our annual trip to West Yellowstone. There were some differences this year, though. First off, only 3 of us went on Wednesday, Blake, Randy and I left about 4:00pm and got to West Yellowstone about 6:00. Courtney came up on the shuttle on Firday morning. So compared to the last 2 years when we had 8, it was very quiet. Next, we had two brand new snow machines and one brand new pickup! They all worked really well, much improved over the old ones.

There is not much snow this year, see the small black light pole to the right of the wooden doors? Other years that has been completely covered by snow.

It was really cold on Thursday morning!

Blake and Randy went to Two Top on Thursday, this is a great view of the Tetons!

Randy thought this was cool, the way the wind blew the snow all over this tree and made a hole around the tree. It's called a ghost tree.

After Courtney got there on Friday, and after it had warmed up a little, we all took off for a day of riding.

We rode to Meadow Creek Lodge for some lunch.

Here we are, waiting for our food.

We went to Big Springs.

We did find some trees that had snow on them, but mostly they were green.

  Sure not as much snow this year.

Blake at the top of the hill.

Randy at the top.

On Saturday after Blake and Randy got done riding, we went to Gushers Pizza. There were a bunch of guys that rode their machines to get some pizza. We rode in New Big Red.

On Sunday, we went to Sacrament Meeting, then ate a great Sunday dinner, played some games and watched 17 Miracles and some other movies. It was a nice relaxing day. Monday morning, we woke up to a little new snow, too bad it was time to go home!



Pictures from Jared

I received Jared's memory card in the mail today! It was a real good Monday! He is serving as a District Leader in Columbia, MO in the Highland Ward. His companion is Elder Hansen. 

I think this picture was taken in Fulton, pretty cool wall.

Boo hoo, no mail.

Thrust in your sickle!

Very nice quilt from Nikelle.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was a little different this year, mostly because a lot of our family have moved away. Randy and Courtney came and stayed for a few days, but Randy had to work Christmas day, so we ate Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and even opened presents on Christmas Eve. My kids (especially one of my children) have begged me for years to let them open presents on Christmas Eve, and I wouldn't ever let that happen. But we really didn't have much choice this year! 

We started Christmas Eve morning off with some Monkey Bread

My parents came and opened some presents too, even though my dad really doesn't like to do that on Christmas Eve.

Blake's niece Melinda wrote a children's book about Grandpa Mark Purcell, it was a favorite among everybody!

Courtney reading the book while we all listened. It is a really nice book, written very well with some really nice pictures.

Blake was thrilled with this new tool set.

Courtney was thrilled with her new snowmachine coat! Now she and Blake are really styling because their coats match their helmets.

I wasn't worried about Christmas being ruined because we had already done most of the Christmas activities, because we had something really fun to look forward to! Of course the best part of Christmas when you have a child serving a mission is THE PHONE CALL! It was so wonderful to hear Jared's voice and carry on a conversation with him! We worked it out so that we could hear and talk to Jared on a speaker phone, then he could hear and talk to Cindy in Michigan, and Brian in Texas through skype and speakers! Randy was even able to call from work and could hear and talk to Jared through the speakers on the phones! It was a great Christmas Day!

Forgotten Holiday

I can't believe I did this! I am always upset that Thanksgiving gets overlooked in the media and stores, and now I have done just that! I just realized that I have not posted about our 2011 Thanksgiving! So, better late than never, right?


We did something a lot different this year because Randy and Courtney were the only ones around. We decided to take our thanksgiving fixings and go to a resort in Ogden, Utah, called Wolf Creek. We left on Wednesday and came home on Friday. It was a nice little get away, and we had a good time! I love Thanksgiving because it always reminds me to be more grateful for my blessings, and I am truly blessed!

Blake and Randy played some raquetball.

We cooked our meals in a tiny little kitchen.

We used the coffee table for a serving table.

Here we are, all ready to eat.

We took a drive up a steep hill, then we had to come back down the hill, I think that coming down was the hardest part!

We had a very nice little Thanksgiving vacation, we definitely made some memories! 

Elk Refuge & Salt Lake City

Last weekend, we did a bit of traveling. It started on Saturday when Blake, Randy, Courtney and I went to Jackson Hole, Wy. to the Elk Refuge. It was a fun little day trip. We took a sleigh ride out in a big open area where there were tons of bull elk.

Here we are, all bundled up.

The elk were really close to the sleigh.

Courtney with Jack and Jill, who pulled our sleigh.

Then we drove in the car to another part of the refuge to see some big horned sheep.

One of the them decided to lick the salt off the car, the others just stood in the road.

Then on Sunday, Blake and I had to take his mother and niece to the Salt Lake Airport, so we decided to make a little vacation of it and stayed the night. After taking them to the airport, we went to Temple Square. We were way impressed with all the Christmas displays and lights!

Breathtaking!

"Baby, It's cold outside"

Spectacular!