The Golf Road Trip

We spent last week driving to California to see the kids, even though Joe used the excuse that we had to go since he had a golf tournament he'd signed up to play in with Zach. Hmmmm... I know better. He uses every opportunity we can to take in the grand kids lol. I love it though. We decided to drive this time to bring down some items that we couldn't fit in a suitcase, Rawley for one...and to deliver Mason's birthday gifts since he is turning 3 next week. One of those gifts was a 'Dora' bike. I know..he is a boy, but he loves the show Dora and he has the DI pink bike at Munga and Bucca's house so he wanted pink. Zach nixed the flower stickers for the bike, but he consented to the Dora the Explorer. We had a great time in California despite the over 100 degree weather the whole time. Joe and Zach had a great time playing the Marine Golf Tournament and even won a few items. (They also played a course in San Diego while we were visiting. You can tell it is an addiction when you ask Mason where Daddy and Bucca are and instead of the reply, "At work" he tells you "They went golfing". Hmmm?! )

Mason on his new bike

Munga feeding Carter, trying to make silly faces to keep him from making a mess

jumping for 'joy' that he has a new bike

Carter happy to be clean after being fed

The ant intrusion that we all woke up to one morning.

Nasty little critters, but the exterminator came and no more ants-

Some one on one time with Carter - lots of laughs

The boy's in bed with us and full of energy

Zach taking in a chance to practice his swing

Sometimes you can't hold one without the other... I LOVE IT

Mason kissing a statue of a man after we bribed him to do it so he can have an ice cream. LOL
Yummy, the ice-cream was good and we got a cheesy pose by the fountain

'It's a Girl' Baby Shower for Jessie

My youngest brother Adam and his wife Jessie are expecting their first baby anytime. Little "Gabriella" or Gabbie as she is otherwise going to be known should be making her grand appearance sometime around mid September. To celebrate the upcoming event; my sister Andrea, my mother Judeen and myself decided to throw a baby shower on August 29th. (However, we can't not mention the help that we also had from Samantha making the yummy cupcakes, and Cynde helping decorate when it was also her birthday that day! Thank you both for your help And... also to Andrea for hosting the shower in your wonderful backyard!) For those of you who don't know, Jessie is very fond (OK..maybe a little obsessed) with polka-dots. So if you can't tell by the pic's we decorated with polka dots and she even received a bunch of polka dot baby items. We had fun eating lunch, playing games and watching Jessie open gifts. We even had a special guest attend...the soon to be Daddy, Adam.

OK- Seriously...Does it not look like she is hiding a watermelon

or basketball under that shirt instead of a baby?

The darling cupcake cake and cupcakes

that Samantha made. They were YUMMY!

Our special guest...Adam...aka Daddy Adam

Dragonflies

Those of you close to me have heard my story about how I have had dragonflies all around me since Josh died. I know it is a sign from our sweet son, you may say I am crazy (maybe so?) but we cannot deny those things we experience. I see them everywhere, including dragonfly merchandise at stores.

There is a legend about Dragonflies; the story is that they appear after someone close to you has just passed. The dragonfly is said to symbolize the soul of a lost loved one and that they represent that your loved one is still near you as they live on in immortality. I am not sure why or where that legend began, but I can only share what experiences I have personally had happen to me.

I was lucky enough to capture some of them on my cell phone camera, and I've had several times where they've LANDED on me! Actually flown to me and landed on my finger!!! (Even Joe was shocked when he saw it, and took a picture) This is not a coincidence...The funny thing is that they are now my new friends! This weekend I've had the chance to hold a few, experience a dozen or so flying near me and taking them in up close. (SEE PIC's BELOW AS PROOF)

Here is the story of the dragonfly that is used to explain death to young children. I had to include it as well, since I have run across it so often recently. I also included a picture of the shed I painted while Joe was out of town last week. While I was painting I seemed to have an abundance of Dragonflies surrounding me.

The Dragonfly
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions.
Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.
Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top.
When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.
So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed.
Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.
But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!
~Author Unknown~

The shed's new look. Taupe and Black instead of cream and tan

A large red dragonfly, this is one that kept watch over me a lot

It just flew to me and landed on my finger...

Joe had time to get his phone to take a pic for me!

Another close-up of my 'red' friend

One of the many other dragonflies that sat outside and watched

And yet another...

My little 'red' friend landed again on my finger and though

I had paint on me he didn't mind. He stayed on me for over 5 min.

I do have my lil' brother Adam and Joe as witness LOL

A Weekend To Remember...

Joe and I had a wonderful weekend! Zach and Sara and the boys (Mason and Carter) came to Utah for the weekend. It was so great having our kids together again. We were also able to see most of our extended family and enjoy every ones company. The weekend included going to Marc and Betty's for a wedding shower and a BBQ. An awesome massage, and a great night staying up late playing games. I'm shocked we didn't wake up Bree with our laughter. (Since she spent the night with us) The kids got to golf with their Dad and go to a late movie. A whirlwind and fun few days. Thanks for coming Zach and Sara, we sure enjoy our time together!

Our game night included eating a Harry Potter jelly bean if you lost the round. The jellybeans were flavored and you never knew if you'd get a fruit flavor or one of the disgusting jellybeans like....vomit, booger, rotten egg, skunk spray, baby wipe, moldy cheese or pencil shavings. YUK!! Trust me, I had to try most all of them thanks to my horrible luck. Yes, I was the entertainment gagging and trying to spit them out. But, I had fun regardless of the sick and nasty flavor that wouldn't go away after eating each bean when I lost. We decided that I won't be going to Vegas anytime soon since my luck sucked. Joe on the other hand won almost every round, and if he did loose...he'd get lucky and get a fruity bean instead of one of the gross ones! No fair. Maybe he should go to Vegas?!

The next day Joe and the kids went golfing for 2 rounds of 9 holes on 2 different courses. They had a ball (no pun intended). We later went to Mueller Park Canyon for a hot dog roast and more family fun. We had so much fun cooking hot dogs over the fire, and making S'mores and playing games. The kids all loved the water and just running around. Here are a few pics that showed how much fun we had. It was so nice to smile, laugh and feel the comfort of spending time with our family. Thanks everyone for making it such a great weekend! We love you and are grateful for such an awesome family! I only wish I had pics of the shower, BBQ and those that couldn't make the Canyon.

THE BEST KIDS EVER!!!
Our Children...minus our late son Joshua

(Zach, Ashley, Cory)

"FUN IN the CANYON"

Darcie being silly (My brother Darren's daughter)

My Sis-n-Law Jessie (My brother Adam's wife)

and her belly full of Gabriella. You look so cute Jessie!

Joe snuggling up to Carter (Zach and Sara's newest son) Ahhh!

My Mom and Dad (Bill and Judeen) Aren't they cute?!

Karen Denning (My other Mother) She is AWESOME!

My baby bro Adam and his wife Jessie

My brother Matt and his family

(Matt, Elllie, Emma, Samantha and Colin)

My brother Darren and his family

(Jill, Darren, Darcie and Ben)

Our son Zach and his family

(Zach, Sara, Mason and Carter)

My mother Judeen after getting one of the "Yucky" jelly beans

We had to play this game again with everyone

just for our free entertainment. HA... LOL

Mason (our oldest grandson) savoring a bite

of brownie that Ashley was sharing w/him.

Mason (Zach and Sara's son) enjoying the stream

and throwing rocks in the water.

Oh the adventure of the Mountains and Nature.

Mason LOVED it in the Canyon.

'30' Year Class Reunion

Wow, it is sad when you realize that you are no longer young and hip when you are attending your 30th Class Reunion of high school. (We want to think we are still somewhat cool and hip overall ) Joe and I went to high school together, however my 30th isn't until next year. (HA) It is fun to see those people you went to school with and those that you associated so much with during high school. Joe and I both went to Bountiful High School and so we both know a ton of the same friends. I still think Joe is a 'hottie' and realize that while we are aging, we don't look so bad after all! You can see why I was swept off my feet!

My "HOTTIE" husband back in the day...

He is the one that is up front and looks like Patrick Swayze! Joe and I dating in high school. We were inseparable.

So much so that we 'tied the knot' when Joe was a senior and I was a junior! Our wedding on December 20th, 1978

Munga's Update

It has been a while since I have updated our blog, and although many things have happened; I just haven't got around to posting anything. I thought it was time to quit being a slacker and at least post something... SO... Here are a few things that have been going in our life the last few weeks. I just wish I had more pics of some of the funny things that I didn't get a chance to capture. (photos below)

• We had a visit to Idaho Falls to see PresLee and KayCee for KayCee's Birthday
• We decided to do a "Make-Over" on Karen's house while she was away visiting David in Stanley Idaho. We steamed off her outdated wallpaper, tore up the carpet... painted the walls and put in wood laminate flooring, new baseboards; and updated her main bathroom.
• We went back to California to visit Zach, Sara and the kids for the 4th of July
• Richard and Camille had their baby on July 3rd. Welcome Cole Denning!
• We took Mason back to Utah with us for a special visit without Mom, Dad or Baby Carter. (Mason loves to be the center of attention and absolutely loves to go to "Bucca and Munga's House". Mason was hilarious, and darn cute while he was here! A little more naughty than usual, a ton of work, but darn cute!)
• We got robbed. Someone broke into our cars and stole my brand new GPS system. (Slime bag Thief!) It was unnerving to think that you can be so violated on top of everything else that has been going on with our family. And, they left their shoes as a souvenir which the police were very interested in. Apparently a ring of thefts has been taking place.
• Ashley got very sick, and gave us a scare with the "Swine Flu". Luckily, we don't think it was that after all, just a really bad virus.
• Joe returned Mason to California, and to enjoy some time with Zach golfing for his birthday coming up next week. (Joe take pics huh?!)

So...in a nutshell, our life is as chaotic as usual. We loved having Mason visit, THANK YOU Zach and Sara for sharing him with us to help distract us from our grieving. He gave us a run for our money, so next time we dubs Carter...lol. J/K. Here are some fun pics, hopefully you will enjoy them too...

PresLee visiting her Daddy and Brother for the first time. It was a very somber experience. It broke my heart to take this photo.

Mason kissing baby Carter "good-bye" before coming back to Utah for a visit. You can tell Carter wasn't as into the kiss good-bye..LOL

Baby Cole Denning born on July 3rd, 2009

Our project at Karen's while she was away. The floors and paint preview

Joe working hard at fitting the flooring

Mason enjoying a D.I. special big wheel we found. Sorry Zach, the only one there was pink.

Woo Hoo... Mason loved it and it was the best $4 spent besides the castles I bought

Um, yeah...he is playing with Castles, and farms etc.

We made a village and Mason loved it!

He was certainly excited to play with Munga making noises.

That is when he plays pretend with all the characters.

Mason also got a kick out of a fake eye-ball that lights up.

Yup, he is all boy despite the pink big wheel.

Or, the pink Castle....We had fun pretending that the Dragon

was after the people and they had to get rescued.