C'mon over!

We will be entering the MTC in two days. From here on out, Ron and I will be blogging on our mission blog Ourmissionispossible.blogspot.com Please come over and see how our mission life begins in the MTC and how it progresses for the next 18 months. I can't believe it's finally here!

And we're off!

On Wednesday Ron and I were set apart by our Stake President, Gary Gessel. He gave each of us a beautiful blessing and wise counsel. Yesterday we left early in the morning for Utah. Tonight we had a family party in PleasantView at Heather and Dan's house. It's always fun to get together with my siblings.

And also with all the kids, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Almost to the starting gate...

This is really what it's all about.

 

 

These are the family members that were with us this weekend.

Also here on Sunday were Larry & Lorrie, and Julie & Dave and their two

little ones. (am I missing anyone?)

This past weekend was a whirlwind... no, more like a tornado of family and food and lot's of fun. 

 

Erin practicing with Peter and Christopher, their musical number for Sacrament meeting.

They added just the right spirit I was hoping for, for our meeting. It was beautiful!

 

Ron and I have so much to be thankful for. We honestly couldn't have pulled this family weekend off without the help of so many of our friends.
Let's just go down the list, in no particular order:
The Shaw's, the Gessel's, the Hartzel's and the Coleman's housed many of our family member's with accommodations that could give the Waldorf Astoria a run for its money.
My dear friend Becki came down to Chamber's Property to take our family pictures on the most beautiful, yet freezy breezy October day.

7 of our 8 kids, our 18 grandchildren and Grandma & Grandpa Talbot

 

 



Our neighbors were so generous. We borrowed folding chairs, a portable crib, a table, a bunt pan, a crock pot, 'fridge space and garbage can space. Every time I turned around I needed something and they graciously came to my rescue!
We were able to keep everyone fed, and it was really fun to see everyone visiting and happy. Chris brought his special friend, Ellen, and it was great getting to know her.

Ellen and Chris

 



They left on Sunday in order to get back to BYU.
The rest of us spent Monday in Seattle going to the Locks, Troll Bridge, and Pikes Market.

William sitting on the troll

 

The Salmon Ladder at the Locks

 

DeeDee & Mark were invaluable this weekend!

 



Then everyone left for the airport and we came home. Sorta.
We were invited to dinner and FHE at Bob and Heather Call's home. It was a lovely ending to a great weekend. Then we came home and crashed.
We are blessed, that is for sure.

Hilarious!

Gracie in Coleman's Halloween glasses

Baptism / Blessing day!

 

 

 Handsome Tyler.   

This is the most photogenic boy I've ever seen. 

Our oldest grandson, Tyler was baptized today. His dad did a really great job preforming the baptism and his confirmation. Look how happy Tyler looks! Lot's of aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins were there. Ella and Coleman were so happy to be there on Tyler's special day!

Also, Blake was blessed right after Tyler's confirmation, also by his daddy Ben. It's not appropriate to take pictures in the chapel, but we weren't in the chapel for Blakes blessing, so I snapped this picture. It's kinda fuzzy, but I thought it was just a cute picture of Ben holding up Blake afterward. It was a special day, and a fun weekend with everyone staying at Erin's.

Quick trip to Utah

We landed in SLC and went to the Draper Temple to do a session. It was the first time for both Ron and myself to go there. It's beautiful. Then we made our way down to Erin and Ben's in Lehi. Tomorrow is Tyler's baptism and Blake's blessing.

Nature's Halloween decor

How's this for a cool Halloween picture? This is hanging off the CBU (central box unit) around the corner from my house. As much as I hate spiders and everything concerning them, I couldn't help but see the beauty in this as I went to pick up my mail. It's been foggy misty here today and there were tiny jewel-like drops of dew hanging off this web that made it sparkle.

A little baby holdin' time

We got to see and hold baby Lincoln yesterday at the hospital. There's nothing like holding a baby fresh from heaven. While we were there, Lincoln had his  routine hearing test. This little guy passed with flying colors!

He's here!

Lincoln Mercer Williams came into this world at 3:22 a.m. Beautiful! This is numero dieciocho nietos for us. We are so grateful that he decided to come before we left town and that he and Angela are doing well. Around 2:00 this morning Landon came and crawled in bed with us but forgot "Puppy", so as I was retrieving Puppy from his bottom bunk, Logan poked his head over the top bunk and asked "Grandma where is my mommy?" I whispered "mommy's at the hospital having baby brother." Logan got a big grin on his face and laid back down. This morning we printed this picture of his new brother for Logan to take to school and show his class. Landon is still asleep. By the way, after about two hours of having Landon "sleep" in our bed, we put him back in his own bed. That kid is a WORK OUT! Here is an illustration of what he's like to sleep with. (bottom photo) Ha! Love it!

It's 12:05 a.m. I think we might be getting a new baby today!



G.C. on the T.V. in the A.M.

I love love love General Conference. It is a time to renew and recommit and re-energize. And with our mission being just weeks away, you can bet that Ron and I were hanging on every word spoken this morning. Great A.M. session!
Announcements made by our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, at Saturday morning session of General Conference: Two new Temples, Tucson Arizona and Peru. But I feel the "biggie" was the change in missionary age. Worthy young men can now serve at age 18. Worthy and desirous young women can now serve at age 19. This is wonderful news for young women especially. I think many young women would love to serve missions, but perhaps feel that coming home at the age of 23+ would narrow down the opportunity to get married. (Ok, that's just what goes on inside my worldly head.) As my friend on another blog said, the current Elders serving in the field are going to come back and wonder where all the girls went! Hope you enjoy the rest of Conference weekend!

Problem solved

We've been having a nasty problem with fruit flies around here. I don't know why, we don't even have fruit lying around. It was just becoming annoying to be sitting at the kitchen table talking to someone and have this nearly invisible little kamikaze bug fly in your face. Yesterday I was reading Dooley's Doodles (blog) and saw that her son made a little trap to capture these tiny pests, read  here . I decided to try it last night. It works! Thanks Kirkham Dooley, for this great solution to a pesky problem!

I like art. I like soup.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol's iconic pop art "32 Campbell's Soup Cans". I saw these cans at Target and thought they would make darling little vases or pencil holders or something...and we like tomato soup here at our house. So as we've been eating it, I take the can and rinse it out and modpodge over the label. I've never been a huge Warhol fan, and I don't really care for silk screened art. I think it is cheesy and cheap and for the most part, not too inspiring. However, I was drawn to these colorful little gems. Which just goes to prove you can find beauty in just about anything. And Campbell's Soup Company, what a great marketing idea, using the anniversary of his art to sell more soup. I bought these four cans when I already had a shelf full of soup in my pantry. Genius I tell ya! 

"What could possibly go wrong?"

I tried to watch the Presidential debates, but honestly, it just makes me crazy. Obama saying "Governor Romney says he's going to lower taxes, but he won't tell us how he's going to do it. Governor Romney says he wants to repeal ObamaCare and have states decide what's best for their own people but he won't tell us what that plan is..." Hello! Yer kinda 'the pot callin' the kettle black', aren't ya Barrack? When YOUR Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi says - speaking of the ObamaCare bill- "We won't know what's in it until it's passed"  like she's a Freshman girl going for a joyride with a Senior boy in a stolen car, just because he showed her a set of keys and told her the car was his. Mr. President I find you deceitful, and everyone of your cohorts either ignorantly just going along for the ride or just as deceitful. It's time to tell the emperor he's got no clothes!
Please enjoy this clip.  If it weren't so true, it wouldn't be so funny.
You're welcome.

Yakima kinda-adventure

We drove up to Yakima to a conference where Ron was speaking on litigation. Normally you'd think that would be a big yawner, right? Nope. Ron could make ice cubes melting sound interesting. He did a great job. On the way up...or over...whatever...they closed the highway for rock blasting. We were like the last ones to be let through before they closed the road. Yeah, we could have stopped the car and laid right down on the road if we'd wanted to. It was a little eery. Nothing but beautiful sunset behind us.

...And nothing but beautiful moonlight in front of us.

...We stopped at Mountain High Hamburgers on the way up. Their hot fudge shakes are beyond wonderful!

After Ron's presentation we drove into town and stopped at this little Italian cafe by the train depot, and dined 'alfresco'. It was really good, but the polar opposite of the Italian restaurant in my last post. This food was HEAVY.

As we drove over the mountains, we stopped at the gigantic fruit stand in Thorp and bought some of the most dee.lish.us. peaches! And boy was it windy!

Remember the TROLL dolls from when you were a kid? Yeah, that's my hair! Ha!

Gotta love pose-able hair!

A must Go-To, Cantinetta

Last weekend some friends of ours took us to this restaurant up in Seattle. Not your typical "Olive Garden" variety Italian food. The Hartman's son, Tim is the Sous Chef...the second in command...the under-chefling...the almost Grand PooBah! Whatever you want to call him, he is an artist. The food was DEE-Licioso! Fresh, creative, a marriage of flavors and textures that would bring the Chopped judges to tears. And every course was plated to aesthetic perfection. Seriously.

This place is in the artsy district of Wallingford. It's actually in what looks like a residential area. You drive down the street and see this incredible view of the Seattle skyline over the water, and there it is on the corner. This little old brick building that looks like it may have at one time been a neighborhood bodega. But don't let this unassuming facade fool you. We got there about 6:00-ish and it was pretty quiet. Although it's small, there were plenty of tables to choose from. We sat directly across from the chef's station ( we had to see Rick & Tracie's son at work! ) By 7:30 the place was hoppin' and there were people waiting outside for a table. Would I go there again? Definitely! Would I suggest it to others? GO!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter

me and shannon

Thirty one years ago today my sweet baby girl was born. The miracle of being a mother is you can remember each little detail of giving birth, but you forget about the physical pain. ~one would have to forget, or no one would have more than one child.~ Shannon was one of the Lord's tender mercies in my life. She came to me when Heavenly Father knew I would need to turn my attention from myself, and the deep sadness I was experiencing with the illness and inevitable passing of my own mother, to the care and attention of one so tiny and innocent. Shannon was then, and continues to be a great source of strength to me. I've watched her grow from a happy little girl to a valiant young woman who made wise choices in her youth, to a beautiful, strong, attentive wife and mother, teaching her own children to "walk uprightly before the Lord."  Could any mother ask for anything more? Happy Birthday Shannon.

This man has me, heart & soul

OK, after last night's post it's time for something a little more warm and fuzzy.
I'm finding these little notes...

 

On the front seat of my car

 I found this in my  cart when I came
out of the restroom at the craft store.
I was shopping alone. Or so I thought!
 

On my lesson manual when I sat
down for my Spanish lesson




On my bedroom door when he had gone to a meeting

You know, it may be just a little thing to him, but the thought of him even taking the time to write these little notes then posting them around for me to find... not to mention the sentiment on the note, and well, who wouldn't be crazy in love with a man like this? 


The Family Proclamation states: HUSBAND AND WIFE have a solemn responsibilty to love and care for each other...Husbands and wives...will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

Pretty powerful, right? I love the Proclamation. It's simple and direct.

 I love this quote from one of my favorite Prophets:
"I am satisfied that a happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one's companion."
~Gordon B. Hinckley.

Yes, romance isn't the most important element in a happy marriage. But take a happy marriage and add that romance and you have a blissful marriage.

WARNING: This post is not Rainbows & Butterflies

Ugh! I just came from the movie theater. We saw the movie/documentary 2016: Obama's America, by Dinesh D'Souza. It was informative, but more importantly it cleared up some issues for me that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Remember back in '08 when everyone was eagerly awaiting the "change" with "hope"? I blogged about it in 2009... read this
While I did NOT vote for the guy, I'll admit I did find him to be intoxicating with his acceptance speech at the DNC and his inaugural speech. (And weren't we all eager to show the world how far we had come from the racist generation of our parents and grandparents?) But smooth talking can only get you so far. At some point you have to have "product" to back up your sales pitch. And I'm afraid America is no longer buying what Obama is selling. watch here.  Sad. No leader, be it of our country, or otherwise, should be serving the people who voted for him/her, with any kind of personal agenda. The idea of giving America "hope" under the guise of "change", when you know the change you are talking about is not to make America better, but to fulfill some personal askewed dream from your immoral Johnny Appleseed father, is just that...a guise. And a guise by any other name is still a lie.

Loved this column and this couple!

Go here to read a refreshing story of a newlywed couple

Logan scores....A whole bunch!!

 

I love to watch little kids play sports. Tonight we watched one of our grandsons play soccer, and their team was really good! I mean, little kids playing soccer usually look like a big ol' constant group hug running around the field. But these little boys were playing actual defense and everything. Kudos to their coach (Jon)! Another thing I love about watching little kids play, is their lack of inhibitions when it comes to expressing pure joy! It's both hysterical to watch and heartwarming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

ET can't phone home

We've cancelled our home phone. We had a phone in every room of the house. Literally. But they were in sad shape and would on occassion just hang up while we were talking to someone. Which was embarrassing because it was usually like the Bishop or Abuela, or someone else you really didn't want to hang up on in the middle of a conversation. I hadn't memorized the number (which I'm sure was an easy one, I just hadn't committed it to memory) because I never had to. I have, however, memorized Ron's number. Finally. I think.

Playing catch up on the weekend

Feliz Cumpleanos to my little brother Greg! He turns 50 today!

Yesterday was our cute D.I.L. Vanessa's birthday, she turned 27, which happens to be my favorite number.



Saturday Ron and I participated in the service project our stake was involved in at Point Defiance Park.

Sue Cousins, Emily & Jeannette Hill, Debbie & Pres. Gessel, Ron & me

Here we are chopping down Yarrow on the hill across from the park entry.

Boy did we have a fun summer! We bought a National Park pass in June and we've used it 9 times! It paid for itself the third time we used it!

Today we are off on a new adventure....
To The Olympic Nat'l Park. 

My handsome hubby!

  The view of the Olympic Mountains from the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center is really an amazing sight to see.

 

My honey and me on top of the mountain

                      

Here are some of the tree's in the rainforest, all mossy.

These trees crossed the road to make an "A" frame.

This cedar tree was huge. It was six trees that grew together.

The coast was amazing with all the huge logs that have been taken out  to sea by the waves, then washed up on the shores.



It was such a fun quick trip. We are so blessed to live in an area with such beauty so close.



 We went through an artsy little town called Port Townsend.

...Sorry, I just can't help myself. Oh, and while on this street, in this very block...there was this ped. xing sign, and .....

If you need to cross a street anywhere in the world, this is probably the most safe place to cross!

Ugh!

I'm cleaning out all the old drafts of posts and I just accidentally deleted my last post (that wasn't a draft). It was about 9/11, and I don't have the emotional energy to write it again. Wah Wah Wah.

We are sitting in our bedroom watching a Mitt Romney video on Ron's computer. Suddenly we can hear the beautiful sound of two angels singing "I Like to Look For Rainbows" coming from the bedroom down the hall. It's bedtime for two little boys. Angels I tell ya. Angels.

...and so he did!

He said: "Where would you like to go?"

She said: "Take me someplace beautiful, I've never been before."

He said: "Watakushi wa chodo subarashi tokoro ga arimasu."

                                       ...and he did.

Ron took me to Kobayashi Park. I was thinking...green grass, playground equipment,,,nope. There is a cool Mid-Century Modern house on the property, probably originally belonging to the Kobayashi family. We looked thru the windows of the abandoned house, to find a tiny kitchen that looks like the last occupant had some kind of a fire. I love that era of architecture, and could imagine myself ( and a small army) gutting the place and bringing it back to it's former late fifties glory. The back of the house over-looks the joining of Chambers Creek and Leach Creek, with tall cedar trees and overgrown brush lining the foot path along the creek. It is beautiful....
except for these guys...

 

 

 

 

and these guys................

 

 

 

 

...and they were all over the place, and spiders FREAK.ME.OUT!   

 But other than that, I could totally live there...after I called the Terminex man.

P.S. After I posted this on my blog, an article came out in our local paper concerning this very house. I was wrong about the Kobayashi's being the original owners. And the home was built in the early 60's, not the late fifties.( But I was close).

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