'2010' Kick-Off

It seems like our lives are like a never ending merry-go-round/roller coaster/Jerry Springer show. We seem to have never ending chaos, change and drama with all the emotional up and downs. So far just in January we've already experienced some of our typical fun starting with our furnace going kaput during a snow storm, (of course it was while Joe was out of town) paying several hundred dollars to get it up and running again along with Ashley moving out at the very first of the year. I came down with a nasty chest cold that has put me down for 2 weeks and I'm still battling the crud. Joe's mother was taken to the hospital and has been in ICU for about 2 weeks now with MRSA and an pneumonia. His cousin passed away during his sleep unexpectedly and the list goes on.....

BUT.....this post is NOT to complain! Just the the opposite!

There is a silver lining to every cloud...and a rainbow at the end of every storm....

How often do we all consider the wonderful things we take for granted? For instance, if the furnace hadn't gone out I would not have stopped to ponder how hard it must have been for those pioneers that suffered while making their way to Utah. Or feel that twinge of guilt and sorrow for the homeless that suffer nightly without the amenities we enjoy. When you lose your health if even for a brief time, you appreciate the fact of what it feels like to... feel good, feel normal and free of pain or ailments. If you loose a loved one, you appreciate how important our family (and friends) truly are to us. I've appreciated how much my daughter means me to me and our friendship now that I don't get that daily with her on her own. When Joe comes home on the weekends after traveling, I appreciate (and hopefully he does too... hee hee) just how much I have missed him and need him in my life. SO???? You ask why the sermon???

Only because January is a time of new beginnings, and with each door that is shut a window opens and we need to find the good hidden in the bad and enjoy life. No longer dwell on the horrible things that we all have going on, but look for the silver lining in each of life's lessons.

We each have so much; and we fail to pat ourselves on the back and be proud of who we are and what we do each day that affects those around us. Joe and I have had our share of bad news, bad things and bad days last year. We are focusing on a better year and what we make of it. So as this year unfolds...we will hopefully have good and fun things to report about. If they aren't so great...we will at least give you that read this blog the "silver lining" report.

Have a great 2010~ Love Joe & Steph

Seniors Gone Wild....

OK...So we are not really seniors...but we sure feel like it when we wake up sometimes. And, we both can't seem to function without our reading glasses , we both take a hand full of pills each day and an all niter means we slept the whole night without getting up to pee. HA

Does that qualify us yet? NO... NOT EVEN.... Because....

We are all of a sudden empty nester's again and so we decided we are going to live it up and live on the wild side! UH HUH...We decided since Ashley moved out we are not going to be old fogies yet. It has been very exciting around here, we have been busy..oh yeah....

We have been busy chasing through the house..... ha ha

Some times we play dress-up....Joe likes to be a poodle

Sometimes we play tag....

And we work out to keep up our energy....wink

Stephanie teaches Water Aerobics

Joe walks on the treadmill


We have been doing some celebrating though
since we have the house to ourselves....

And the romance... oh la la


AND...THEN THERE IS REALITY and

REALITY IS.....


Stephanie mostly gets romanced from Rawley
since Joe travels so much

Joe is realizing why he prefers to travel on SouthWest Airlines


A night out for us usually starts at Costco...

The way Joe sweeps Stephanie off her feet is by helping organize

the storage room and taking loads of junk to the DI.

Our romantic meals are often in the ambiance of our own kitchen

We have had this conversation before.....

(read the caption)

Our furniture or car purchases are now with the dog in mind...

Stephanie has to trick Joe so she can go to TJ Maxx or Ross....

ha ha

We have seen a lot of great movies lately....

usually at matinees and we do feel like the old geezers

at times when we see how bizarre the teenagers are now days.

Geesh...maybe we are old?

Christmas Vacation...Denning Style

We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!!
You can't put a price on having family home for the holidays... We had so much fun with our kids, our grand kids and just being kids ourselves. Despite the fact we adults caught the stomach flu a few days before Christmas and spent a few of our precious days together sharing a bed while we listening to each other wretch with illness...we did get in some sledding, seeing lights, going to family parties and watching movies and playing games. Here are a few fun Kodak moments we decided to share.

Joe and I took Mason sledding while Zach and Sara went on an all day date....

Bucca's turn....Then Munga's

Then....Zach and Sara decided they'd go one run before they left on the 'date'

Weeeee...Again, Again....

Sara and Mason trying to beat Rawley down the hill

CHRISTMAS DAY

Mason and Carter ripping into the gifts

(Zach, Sara, Mason and Carter)
Coming up the Stairs to see what Santa brought...

YES!!! I got the mermaid I asked for....

(uh, yes...he did want a mermaid along with his robot)

Carter had as much fun with the boxes as the toys, but was all smiles

RANDOM PICS

Bucca showing Carter how fun it is to exercise on the treadmill

Carter sampling the cookies we left out for Santa

He loved them...and he has NO teeth, but found out that he

can gum them just fine.

Mason showing how excited he was for Santa to come

"CHEESE"

Mason couldn't resist PresLee and kept kissing her

"Kissin' Cousins"

Christmas Magic Begins With Kids!!! (Grandkids That Is)

Isn't Christmas magical because of little children? We think so, especially this year when we are missing those we no longer have. It has been a joy to have our 3 little grand children's faces to keep us smiling, laughing and of course keep us picking up after them, chasing them and just enjoying the chaos that little kids also bring to a home. KayCee came down to spend a few days while Zach and Sara are here for the Christmas holidays and it was awesome to have the family together if even for a short while. We had so much fun playing games, eating, eating, and eating...oh and going to temple square to see the lights, shopping, going to family parties and just letting the kids get acquainted.

I am sure we will have ton's of cute pics to post for Christmas too, but we couldn't resist this post since we are so proud of the next Denning generation. To think that 31 years ago yesterday (December 20th) we walked down the aisle and now we have grandkids! It's like the sign says..."All Because Two People Fell In Love"....

Carter, PresLee and Mason

Our temple square outing...All bundled up but still freezing!



Hanging in the kitchen with the kiddies...
They love their Bucca and Munga~
(And...surprise!!! We LOVE them to pieces!)


Yup, some of the chaos while visiting with the
great grandparents
Judeen, Stephanie, PresLee, Mason, and Zach (Sara in front)

Joe (Bucca) had PresLee wrapped around his finger...

Or is it the other way around?

Sharing Munga and it was fun to get a pic

of everyone on my lap

Yeah, even if Carter pulled PresLee's hair

and Mason was tickling her

Cousin' Bath Time

(bet they hate this pic in 20 years!)

Cherish The Family... Some Times They Are Here Today, and Gone Tomorrow

Just a week goes by and the next thing you know you've lived through another historical event in your own life. Saying good-bye to yet another precious family member. Gathering together with the loved ones you have here and remembering the ones that were just here last year. Our family has certainly had it's fair share of emotion in 2009, yet...we are thankful for all that we do have, and most especially for the strength that we didn't know we had inside of us to keep going. We love our family so much, those that are here, those that have left us to live in heaven and those that we wish we could see more often because of the miles between us.
This week was a bit chaotic, we lost Grandma, had the funeral the day before Thanksgiving, had Thanksgiving, went to the Black Friday sales, and had a game party at our house for the

Here are few candid family moments this past week. Not necessarily in order...but they depict some of the history we lived this last week.

Saying "Good-Bye" to Grandma Carma Helmcamp. Stephanie's Grandma by blood, and Joe's by chance. She was a wonderful lady and will be missed!!

December 3, 1920-November 22, 2009.

reunited again with Gene

Rawley, our Standard Poodle is back to his "Normal Self" after his conquering the taste test with Rat Poison. Luckily the dog won, with the help of our vet... (to the tune of $2100 I may add) Being weird and silly after our Thanksgiving Dinner we enjoyed at Grand America this year.
We opted to break tradition in lieu of emotions not having Josh, Dean and Grandma this year.

Ashley's hair is so long, it kept tickling my face, so I decided to make that hair
useful and see what I'd look like as a man. LOL. Not so cute.



My brother Darren making some fun of his own, by showing off his talents lifting his eyebrows...Dr. Spock? Or perhaps he inherited the talent from Grandma Carma? She used to do that when she was mad at ya. lol. Watch our Darcie and Ben....Dad has that look!

Joe and Ashley letting the food settle. The food was awesome at 'Grand America' I must say!

Stephanie and Ashley...Hmmmm? I guess we do look more alike than I realized

Our cute little family now that Ashley's brothers are on their own. Just leaves her to hang with her Mom and Dad...But, what a cute Kodak moment this was!

Bill and Judeen Hughes (Steph's parents) on Thanksgiving.

It was a fun family day even if the price of dinner was much higher than McDonald's. LOL.

Awwww... Isn't that the cutest couple ever?

(Stephanie and Patrick Swayze, oops I mean Joe)

A look at the dining table we had reserved. There was Bill, Judeen, Emma, Ashley, Ellie, Samantha, Matt and Colin in this pic.

(We had Mom, Dad, Matt's Family, Darren's Family and Joe, Steph and Ashley at dinner)

This is our "Neener Neener" face that we got to go to Maddox and you didn't!

A little sister comparison eating our chocolate covered mint sticks at Maddox

(Steph)

And....Andrea (my sis) Crazy how much we look alike now!! LOL.

All Stephanie's siblings together! And....dressed up!

in order of appearance and birth order-

Stephanie, Matt, Jason, Darren, Andrea & Adam