The Holiday Season Begins~

The Holidays Begin...We headed off for California for a fun filled week of seeing the grand kids, Zach and Sara only to discover....

What better way to start your holiday season than with a initiation of the porcelain throne? Not exactly what we had in mind, when we flew to California to spend a week with the California crew hoping to bask in the sunshine and do some shopping, golfing, pedicures, etc., etc.. (the list went something like that).  However, that porcelain throne became our best friend that week.  Each and every one of us!

Joe and I had been there 1 day when Sara and Mason came down with the "GOMBOO". Then, the next day it was Zach and Carter, followed by Stephanie. Funny thing is that Joe decided he was going to get out of dodge to avoid it; so he left and got a hotel. BUT, that same night the Gomboo visited him! He paid to use a 'public throne' so to speak. We all had a good laugh at that. IRONIC ISN'T IT?  hee hee

After a few days of feeling like you are a corpse, WaLAAA it is suddenly Thanksgiving!  And, being that we have a son that is seriously considering becoming a Chef; we opted to try out his speciality since Ashley and Paul were doing the Draper side this year, and Cory was unsure of his plans.  And, let me tell you that Zach can COOK!  We had a very nice dinner and though it was a small gathering, we enjoyed the day.....

Chef Zach doing 'his thing'

The hHoliday table just before we carnivorously devoured all his hard work

Mason and Munga (Steph)
Mason said we should all do a picture
with a funny face, so we did!

Sara doing the pose Mason requested

Joe doing what he does best... lol

Zach and his 'horse' shake lips

And, then there was Carter...
We couldn't tear him away from Toy Story 3.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS TO RIGBY IDAHO WE GO.... to see our darling granddaughter PresLee.  We left for Idaho early this morning, after getting home last night from California.  We had to complete our Thanksgiving weekend grand kid fix!  :)  We have missed PresLee so much, and it was such a delight to spend a whole day with her! She has grown so much, and we can't believe how smart PresLee is (she can recite the ABC's, spell her name, sing a dozen songs, name off almost any animal you can think of, etc. etc) and she is full of giggles, likes to tease and has so many of her father's expressions and mannerisms that is was a little deja-vu in a good way of course!! We miss our son Josh so much, and she is such a little female version of him it just melts our hearts.

PresLee after opening a gift of foam blocks we brought up

Examining the blocks

She said she had a 'hat'.... too cute!

She discovered how much fun our dog Rawley is

Deciding she wanted to kiss him

C'mon Rawleeeeeeeeee as she would say

Gotcha!

PresLee would sit on the dog, and snuggle him over and over

making a creation aka mess?

AND.....the best part is the live action we captured since you cannot see how darling the kids are until you see them in action....

We are so, so, so thankful for our family- each other, our kids, grand kids, spouses of kids, parents, in-laws, siblings, grandparents, and all those that we wish were still with us. 

Now, it is time to get out the Christmas decor, and put up the tree...sigh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!!

Today is the day....your official 50th year on this earth.  I love you very much and hope you have a wonderful day Joe!  For his birthday honor I am sharing 50 things about Joe you may not know or care to know ...   :)

1. he loves UFC fighting
2. he loves Reisens candy (basically any chocolate would do)
3. he loves to run
4. he is a major Costco advocate. We own lots of stuff from Costco!
5. he loves brownies
6. he loves Dick's apple spice donuts
7. he loves inspirational speakers aka Tony Robbins=Joe
8. he hates spicy food
9. he sleeps cuddled to his dog at night, not his wife :(
10. he improves his Spanish daily by practicing with a Spanish speaker
11. he tries something new, loves it and we suffer by having it until we are sick
12. he laughs like Eddie Murphy
13. he looks like Patrick Swayze
14. he looses everything! keys, wallets; cell phones etc
15. he is an organization freak
16. he has an obsession with his grandkids, loves em' more than his kids I think
17. he hates shopping on Black Friday or anytime there is a crowd
18. he has any new exercise gadget that is out on the market
19. he is a clean car fanatic....even dusts off the car for real!
20. he will tell you to drink more water if you are around him long enough
21. he is conveniently out of town every time the dog gets sick on the floor!
22. he is the youngest of 7 original kids and has 2 half brothers = 9kids
23. he can fix anything!  If not he knows how to geri rig it!
24. he was a football star on the Bountiful Braves, wore #77
25. he can install kitchen cabinets, counters and about any other woodwork
26. he knows how to groom dogs better than the people you pay
27. he is a diamond member of Hilton and Preferred with Southwest Airlines
28. he will Karaoke in public and has been known to also pole dance publicly
29. he has a nickname of Johnny, and now better known as BUCCA
30. he loves to play golf
31. he loves to 'fart'...so now the "OLD FART" title truly fits
32. he moans and groans a lot...not from something/something...from moving
33. he has an addiction to his foam roller which also causes lots of moaning
34. he always says hi or waves to strangers...but mostly for free entertainment
35. he loves smoothies
36. he loves hot fudge sundaes
37. he gets absolutely grossed out by hair! (think hairbrush wad ha ha)
38. he stops to help people that are broke down, and would help anyone
39. he has owned over a dozen dogs
40. he has also owned over a dozen cars
41. he is the UPS man that I can blame for knocking me up
42. he has a flossing fetish
43. he is addicted to white noise at night. Can't sleep without it
44. he pins his socks- a little OCD but it works with the wash, no lost socks!
45. he has a thing for Kate Beckinsell
46. he has a thing for Angelina Jolie
47. he hates any kind of line he has to wait in
48. he is always saying, "Bite Me" or "Your Killing Me" or "*@#$*"  (lol)
49. he turned down a football scholarship to keep me close to my family
50. he is the best husband and father and friend I know!

   H-A-P-P-Y  B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y  J-O-E  !!!

SURPRISE!!!! Joe is turning 50 and so we had a party... A SURPRISE PARTY THAT IS!

Keeping a secret from Joe is always hard, because Joe hates to keep secrets himself and so he is always wanting to be "in the know" for anything that seems to be a secret.  BUT, I pulled it off!  We had a fun surprise b-day party at Joy Luck restaurant for Joe's 50th!
YUP, I said 50th!
                                                 PARTY TIME~

JOE WEARING THE CUTE INFLATABLE 50 HAT
THAT CYNDE & ANDREA FOUND WHILE OUT SHOPPING
FOR SOME FUN GAG GIFTS

ALMOST SENIOR CITIZENS



THE GANG GETTING READY TO ORDER. MY DAD BILL,
MY MOM JUDEEN, OUR DAUGTHER ASHLEY AND HER HUBBY PAUL IN THIS PIC.
 I MIGHT ADD THE FOOD WAS VERY DELICIOUS!
JOY LUCK WAS A GOOD CHOICE.



THE CRAZY B-DAY CARD I MADE FOR JOE...
YES, I REALIZE IT IS A BIT ON THE NAUGHTY SIDE!

J

AND STARTING TO REALIZE THERE WAS A THEME GOING ON

   ENTERTAINMENT TIME...STEPHANIE STYLE

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM CYNDE (MY BROTHER JASON'S WIFE) AND
ANDREA MY SISTER, WE HAD FUN W A CADENCE SONG ALL ABOUT JOE
AND GETTING OLDER... AND IT WAS MUCH MORE CALM
THAN OUR ATTEMPT TO LIPSYNC
FROM A PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE  :)

"I DON'T KNOW BUT WE'VE BEEN TOLD"..."SOMEONE HERE IS GETTING OLD"...
"HE WEARS BIFOCALS, DAY AND NIGHT"...
"BECAUSE HE IS STARTING TO LOSE HIS SIGHT"...

"IT DOESN'T MATTER ABOUT THE EXTRA WEIGHT"...
"CAUSE, WE STILL THINK THAT YOU LOOK GREAT"...

"JOE, THERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU OTTA' KNOW"...
"THINGS THAT MIGHT MAKE YOUR SPIRITS LOW"----
"THERE WILL BE DENTURES, DIAPERS AND HEMROID CREAM"....
"AND NOW YOU'LL HAVE WET FARTS, INSTEAD OF DREAMS".....

"WE KNOW DOGS AND RUNNING ARE YOUR THRILL"...
"BUT JUST REMEMBER YOU ARE NOW OVER THE HILL"...

"WE HOPE THIS TUNE NOW GETS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD"....
"AND THAT YOU'LL BE SINGING IT WHILE YOU'RE LAYING IN BED"....
SOUND OFF....5-0  SOUND OFF 5-0  .....YOU'RE 50!

JOE AFTER THE PERFORMANCE, JUST NOT SURE HE LIKED IT?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

JOE TRYING TO PROVE MY CELL PHONE RING (SONG) WILL GET
STUCK IN YOUR HEAD WAY MORE THAN THE CADENCE WE JUST DID

CAMILLE, MARC, BETTY, KAREN AND COUSIN PAM
AND MY DAD ON THE FAR RIGHT ON NEXT TABLE
WE HAD A GREAT TURN OUT OF GUESTS!

NOW IT IS TIME TO OPEN THE 'GAG' GIFTS
JOE GOT AN 'OLD FART' HAT WHICH IS
APPROPRIATE DUE TO HIS INCREASED GAS THESE DAYS LOL

HE ALSO RECIEVED A SENIOR BOOK OF COUPONS A HANDBOOK
ABOUT "SEX AFTER 50"...FUNNY THING THOUGH,
BECAUSE ALL THE PAGES WERE BLANK.. lol

OH, AND A NICE GIANT PAIR OF WHITEY TIGHTIES, THAT ALREADY
 HAD A 'STAIN' BUT THE GIFT CAME WITH SOME UNDIE STAIN REMOVER
 FOR SUCH AN OCCASION.....EWWW! NOTICE PAUL IN AWE OF THE GIFT LOL

JOE  ALSO GOT SOME GREAT BI-FOCALS AND A GREAT PAIR OF SANTA SHORTS

AND SOME 'WIPES' FOR WHEN WE HAVE TO START CHANGING
HIS DIAPERS.  WHICH I AM PLEADING NEVER EVER HAPPENS!

THE SANTA SHORTS, NOW THOSE WERE 'HOT'~

AND...TA DA......
FINALLY THE SEXY SENIOR THAT JOE HAS BECOME!
MODELING THE NEW LOOK~  HOT HUH?  UMMMMM...NOT

A BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOU THAT CAME TO HELP US CELEBRATE AND FOR THOSE WERE NOT THERE, HOPEFULLY YOU HAD FUN READING ALL ABOUT IT...

St. George R&R (Run and Relax)

We are always on the "GO".  But this time it was mostly Joe on the go...  Joe ran in the Snow Canyon 1/2 Marathon in St. Geroge, UT on November 6th.  He has rediscovered his love for running after having to take a sabitical from running due to an injury.  BUT....he is baaaaaaaaaaaaack.   And, of course I am his biggest fan, so I came along for support and some R&R of my own.  Joe worked in St. George that week, so I tagged along to Read, Relax, and Retail Shop... All the "R's" we could fit in.  We did take in some scenery, and hiking and watching sports at the local Players Sports Grill (which quickly became Joe's new favorite restaurant btw).

Joe coming in for the big finish...

Geesh, he blew right past me

Ah, ha...the finish line!

Ta-Da!  I did it again.  Twice in a month! (2 half marathons that is)

Right after the race, trying to revive his energy

The logo I made for Joe's shirt (at his request) that he wore proudly

Yummy Orange Slices...

Is he kissing the ground? Examining the turf up close? Or stretching?
YUP...he was stretching, but it looked so funny I couldn't resist a pic

Snow Canyon (Joe was showing me the route)

Ran along here

WOW, amazing the world that God created huh?!

Munga, along side "Munga" my car

Cute couple posing by the Subby... Our new outback

We decided to go hiking here

C'mon Steph...hurry up (at the trail head)

Panoramic view

Cha Cha Cha...I can hike too baby...

YUP...I am a hot hiker huh? lol

The cave Joe had me climb in to take a pic.  Scary since they do have
snakes and scorpions in Southern Utah...and I realized that as I am in the cave!

He was setting up the camera and snapped my sourpuss face
not happy that I might be sharing the cave with a creature



But, we put on our happy face and got a nice pic ...
regardless when the flash went off



Headed back to the car

Joe inside a cool little cavern tunnel we had to climb thru to hike

This is a better pic of how narrow it was...

Peek A Boo

We enjoyed the hiking, the running, the retail shopping and
the relaxing and just hanging out...just the two of us!