Christmas

 

 Christmas was a special treat with two adorable toddlers to share it with.  There is nothing like children to make the day magical.  We waited until everyone arrived before we opened the gifts. The little girls had a great time tearing off the wrapping paper and playing with their dolls.

Olivia was just observing.  She can't decide what to open first.

Addie put her new soft cuddly dress on as soon as she could.

We were so lucky to have Nick home for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.  What a treat that was.

Lindsay is such a joy to have home.  We'll miss her so much next year.  I'm still trying to convince her to go to Weber so she won't have to leave home. :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

At the Halloween Carnival

Thursday night we had our Pettegrew Halloween Party. Since it was the same night as the school carnival, I thought we'd go to that.














The girls had a great time playing the games and getting all kinds of prizes. Olivia wasn't a bit afraid of the spook alley, (Although, I have to admit, it wasn't very scary!)

California Wedding

We took a short trip to California for my cousin's wedding. The temple ceremony was beautiful.


















After the wedding there was a fantastic reception on a yacht!















What could be better than spending a few hours at the beach with sand up your nose, in your mouth, and inside your swimming suit? It was a great ending to a fun trip.

Branson

Joe and I went to Branson Missouri this week. We enjoyed our lake cruise. I now am the proud owner of a Merchant Marine license I earned from driving the ship!

The musical group "SIX" is composed of six brothers. They don't use any music, sound tracks, back-up singers, or instruments. They even make all their own instrument sounds using their voices. It was incredible, I've never heard anything like it.

Jim Stafford was a waste of time. His jokes were so bad they were making fun of them in other shows. He also had a 3-D movie that looked like my sixth graders made it. It was sad.

The Kirby and Bambi magician show was excellent. Their illusions looked so real. At the end of the show he made a helicopter appear on stage. I'd never seen anything like that. How did he do it?
Surprisingly, the Presleys' show was one of the best in Branson. They are an extremely talented family, great set, great costumes, great entertainment. I loved their show.
Of course, we had to see the Roy Rogers show again. His son, Dusty, does the show. We saw it last time we went and enjoyed it so much we had to see it again.
We discovered the original Beverly Hillbilly's car used in the television show. It was in a museum in Branson.
It was a great ending to a fun summer.

Piute Trail Trip

Joe and I had our annual Piute Trail trip this past weekend. We decided to leave Sunday after church for the cabin. Early Monday morning we got the 4 wheeler out and hit the trail.


Joe found a live diamond back rattlesnake by the side of the road and decided to have a sword fight with it using a short stick. He wanted me to get closer to take a picture, but I wanted to stay as far away from that snake as possible!

We took a side trail and ran into this beautiful rock formation called Castle Rock in Castle Rock campground. It was incredible and made a great ending for our trip.

Summer Fun

Olivia loves to swim in the pool. She gets around really well in her pool toys.

On our trip to California Addie had new sunglasses. I was surprised she kept them on during the entire trip!

The Grand Canyon

Last week Joe and I went to visit our friends in Kanab. They took us to see the Grand Canyon (which I have never seen), sets from the old west movies, and 4 wheeling on the Coral Pink sand dunes. We had such a great time. Annette and I taught together for twenty years. I was so glad we got to spend some time together.

Quick Trip to California

Aimee, Addie, and I took a quick trip to California to see Nick. We spent two days driving and two days exploring L.A. We arrived late Monday night just in time to see Nick off to work. Tuesday we went on a Movie Star tour bus. It was a little too long, but it was fun to see all the places you only see on T.V. The next day we spent at Santa Monica beach. Of course, that was my favorite part of the trip. Addie had had it with being in a car seat on the way back. She kept saying, "Oh, Mom, I'm stuck!" She was a trooper most of the trip. I love having Nick so close, next time maybe we can stay a little longer.

Recent Events

I finally moved my pictures onto another computer so it will be easier to do my blogs. Just to catch you up on some of our fun events: Lindsay received and award at her drama awards and was also a presenter. She is so excited because next year she made both Productions and Advanced theater. That means she will be in plays constantly all year long. She's looking forward to that.
We also had a great time at the Demolition Derby at the end of May. Joe and I went to the Ogden Golden Spike Arena to watch them.
The first week after school was out we took a short trip to our cabin. The weather was cloudy and rainy so we went for a drive and saw a live badger coming out of it's hole. That was something I had never seen before. We looked at each other (the Badger and Joe and I) and watched each other for about 10 minutes. We were able to take a quick photo before Mr. Badger retreated to his hole in the ground.
I'm loving my horseback riding lessons. I don't have a picture yet because it's really hard to ride a horse and take a picture of yourself when you're riding! Joe's going to have to come one day (when I'm a little more experienced) and take a picture.

Barbie at 50

Like all of us, even Barbie has gotten older. This picture says it all!

The Amazing Cleaning Machine

I just got a new Sargent Steamer. I can believe how much fun it is to clean my house. Friday afternoon comes and I get so excited to get home and fill my new steamer with water and start zapping all the dirt in my house. I have to set a time limit for cleaning or I would be doing it all day long it's so much fun. I rented it at first because I thought it was too expensive. When I took it back, I decided I couldn't live without it and bought one. Now I never have to buy any cleaning products because the steam cleans and sterilizes everything. My corners have never been so clean. I can't wait for summer so I can give every room in the house a deep cleaning.

Nick Goes to Hollywood!

We're so excited, Nick got a new job in California. He wants to live in Santa Monica. They are going to move him out on the 1st of May. He's going to have his new car, and all his things shipped from Ohio, and drive his old car home so Lindsay can use it. Joe and I are going to drive him to California in the truck so he can take his furniture. He hasn't found an apartment yet, so if anyone knows a great place to live in Santa Monica near the 405... or is it the 504? freeway, let us know.

He's so excited and we're excited to have him closer to home. California is only 12 hours away and plane tickets are not that expensive. He's looking forward to life near the beach. Way to go Nick!