So many people to love!

Steve and I don't usually go out to dinner right on Valentines Day since my birthday

is just a few days later. Instead we go out and celebrate both

occasions at the same time which if fine with me. I just make a nice meal

for the family on Valentines, but this year we all decided to go out and we

had a great time. We were so happy to have Becca home so we could

enjoy her since she has been so busy with showchoir lately. Our "at home" family is

so small right now and we really wish we could have had

everyone with us....but that just isn't possible so we

have to face reality and enjoy the two wonderful

daughters we do have home!

MY VALENTINE FOR 25+ YEARS!

I LOVE YOU!

The girls found these lovely lips in their Valentine bags this year...

PUCKER UP!

Becca has two really good guy friends who sent her on a wild goose

chase around the yard and the house and she eventually ended up finding

this cute stuffed dog on the hill in our back yard. She was babysitting two neighbor

boys who ran around with her and they had so much fun "going on

a treasure hunt"!

HAPPY BELATED VALENTINES DAY!

SO GRATEFUL!

We have so much to be grateful for! I so often feel unworthy of all of the many blessings I have, but I will be happy and thankful and try not to take the people in my life for granted. Steve and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet our new little grandson William Peter Pearson for the first time last week and that was such a TREAT! He is the most beautiful little baby I have ever seen ( I can say that because I am his grandmother)! All of his little features are just perfect and I couldn't get enough of him when I was there. One of my favorite afternoons was spent in a very comfortable rocking chair with Will on my chest...both of us dozing and enjoying the sweetness of the moment. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 24 years since Will's dad Brad was born and Steve and I were doing exactly what Brad and Michelle are doing! I remember that time so well. I was so happy to be a mother and to have a sweet little baby to take care of and to love. To see Brad and Michelle loving parenthood like we have is so rewarding! They are such good parents and don't seem to be able to get enough of their sweet baby boy.

I was able to be there for a baby shower that my sisters Laurie and Julie gave Michelle and I really enjoyed that since I am never able to be in Utah for such

celebrations. I just love to be with my family....both immediate and and extended..

Brad also blessed William on our last Sunday in Utah and that was an amazing experience. There's nothing better than to hear your son give a blessing to your grandson...a payday moment for sure! Brad and Michelle had several friends there to support them as well as family on both sides of the family. I am sure they felt loved!

It was hard to kiss and hug our little grandson goodbye...especially since we know we won't be seeing him for a few months, but we really don't have anything to complain about...we can get daily updates via text or email and we can skype with them whenever we want! Thank goodness!

National Honors Society

Becca had the honor of being inducted into the National Honors Society

on Wednesday night!

She is a very conscientious student and strives to do her best in

all she is asked to do as she serves at church or at school. I am so grateful

that she strives for excellence in her life and that she chooses to

surround herself with wonderful friends who also have

high standards. Becca loves life right now which makes

life enjoyable for us as well...who said

teenagers are hard?

Becca signing the roster for new inductees

Becca with some of her friends

Elizabeth, Becca and Madeline....great friends!

Becca will really miss these girls when they graduate

at the end of the year!

GO UTES!

This post is in honor of Steve and my daughter-in-law, Michelle who are both Runnin' Utes! Even though I am a BYU fan, I want to support the Utes today as they go up against TCU! Steve is so excited to be able to watch the game and cheer his team on and I will be cheering along with him. I hope this is a good day for the red team. There is one day a year however that we are divided... that day this year is November 27 when BYU and the U of U go head to head! BYU will definitely be the underdog team, but it won't stop me from yelling....GO COUGARS! Today however I will yell...GO UTES!

Grandma,Granny,Nana? Grandpa, Gramps, Papa?

Regardless of which name we choose to use...that's what we are! Grandparents! Early Sunday morning we got a call from Brad and Michelle who let us know they were on the way to the hospital because Michelle's water had broken. This was great news because the baby was two weeks and one day early! We had all been hopeful that little William would come early, but since he was a first baby we tried not to have our hopes up! But he wanted out and out he came around 10:30 Sunday morning. I don't usually take my cell phone to church, but I did on Sunday and was glad I did because we got play by play texts like..".She's dilated to a 10...she will start pushing in about and hour" and "she's starting to push". It was a little bit heard to concentrate on Isaiah in Sunday School and the Relief Sodiety lesson because of the anticipation! Steve even wanted to stay in Relief Society for awhile, because he can't get texts on his phone. I assured him I would come and let him know if anything happened. We didn't get the final text that he was born until after we got home from church and then there was much celebration on our part! Thank goodness for technology because just an hour or so after he entered this world we were looking at him via skype on the computer. What a blessing that is when you have family across the country. He weighed 7 lb. 4 oz. and is 20" long and has beautiful chubby cheeks! Birth is truly a miracle and I am so grateful that both Michelle and William Peter Pearson are healthy and strong!

Feeling Old!

I have always felt pretty young...I mean why wouldn't I? I have always been able to go out and run 5 miles whenever I want with virtually no pain (ok sometimes there's a little, but nothing to complain about), I have a lot of friends who are still in their 30's so when I am with them I feel like I am their age, I work with the Young Women and they keep me young and I can still sleep through the night (most of the time) without getting up to go to the bathroom! Well now that I have said all that...I don't feel young anymore! Why you ask? Two things:

1. My oldest son Brad and his wife are only a few weeks away from having a baby...which would mean I am going to be a Grandma!



2. My youngest daughter Jane just turned 12 and is now a Young Woman....Yikes

So even if I feel young and can run around with young people, I am not young anymore...in fact I am officially middle-aged! But I have decided that that's ok because I am super excited to be a Grandma and it's fun to have a 12 year old who keeps us laughing all of the time with her jokes and clever remarks. So three cheers for being OLD!









Jane's friends came to her birthday party dressed crazy which is how Jane wanted it...They all had a great time and the house was even all in one piece when they left that night!

So grateful for my family!

I feel so blessed! We just returned from a wonderful trip to Utah where we were able to see our parents, brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, and last but not least our daughter Anne and son and daughter-in-law, Brad and Michelle! It makes me so happy to be surrounded by family and I always feel a little blue when our time together comes to an end. As we drove from the airport in Cincinnati I became a little teary-eyed as I looked at many familiar Cincinnati landmarks and was reminded of good times with our family...the Reds Stadium, the Waterfront restaurant, Sawyers Point etc. Seeing these different places warmed my heart, but also reminded me that we were driving home with only two of our five children....my heart has a hole in it because we are not all together! Life is like that though and that is why family reunions are so great!



Jane loves to ham it up with her cousin Megan at Grandma and Grandpa's house by getting into the dress up box...we get a lot of good laughs as we listen to them talk in their foreign accents!


We had to get a picture of all the kids together (minus Ben of course who is a little too far away!)


Natalie Lloyd is married to David Bennett! What a great day!


Brad, Michelle, Patrick and Sarah enjoying the wedding reception


Becca, Anne and Jane outside the Provo temple! They are oh so cute!


My beautiful mother with Anne!

Becca with Grandpa Johnson after she received her Patriarchal blessing from him...


We were able to spend some evenings with Grandpa Pearson...the girls have wonderful memories of the swing on the ditch bank so we had to capture it on film with Grandpa!


We had a cold day at Bloomington Lake near Bear Lake, but that didn't stop the brave ones from jumping into the icy water....those on the shore had to rap up in blankets and coats and wonder how in the world anyone could brave the glacier water!




One of our favorite nights of the reunion was going to see the play Juanito Bandito rides again at Pickleville playhouse. Grandpa treated us to the barbecue dinner before the play...yummmm, yummm! It was fabulous to be together with all the people I love the most and to be reminded that I am truly blessed to have an amazing family who never cease to amaze me!