POOEY! Winter Ball Royalty

Who would ever guess Pooey would be nominated for Winter Ball Royalty? He was so cute greeting his partner Jo Gullo on the Fremont stage with a twirl and dip Friday. He looked handsome too! White suspenders, black shirt, black pants, white tie, and black and white shoes! Oooo La La! I can't believe every girl didn't attack him right then and there. His date for the ball was Brittany Cook. She's a cute girl who was also nominated for royalty. Pooey forgot to order flowers and informed on the way home from his Honor Choir Perfomance Saturday, that he needed them. After hitting several stores, we found some gorgeous white roses at Costco. After picking up white ribbon at Walmart, Suzanne my savior put it all together. It was a gorgeous bouquet. Brittany came and picked up Pooey. She looked so cute and together they were a striking couple. Poo said that they ate at Mimi's, where he had gumbo soup and salad. "It was the funnest dance I ever went to" he said. It sounds like they didn't worry about impressing each other, they just had fun! P.S. His honor choir performance at Abravanal Hall was unbelievable. Mr. A was the boy's choir conductor. He's a brilliant musician who loves what he does. The boys really look up to him. Andrew say's he's cool, but I think he's just plain fun!

Justin's 28!

I can't believe my oldest son is 28! To celebrate we went to Crystal Hot Springs, where we soaked and enjoyed the warm hot springs. Annie, Andy, JeeWon, and I took the Alaskan Plunge three times! That's when you jump into the cold pool, from the hot pots. Annie screamed even before she hit the cold water, scaring us half to death! The rest of us screamed after we hit the water. The last time we plunged however, I got a brain freeze that involved a headache. We couldn't get Justin to take the plunge. Tina took it once. After soaking a couple of hours, we had had enough. Our skin was wrinkled like prunes and we were itchy from the salty water. We were all hungry so we found a Chinese restaurant in Brigham City. The food and staff was great. Annie made Justin a cake, so we headed for home to open presents and eat cake. Justin received a card game (King's Crown) from Annie and Andy, a Paul Pott's C.D. from me, and pho from Jayni and Jake. We played King's Crown until Tina threatened to take the keys and go home. JeeWee won! She was the life of the party. We all became delirious after she snorted and one time she made us laugh so hard we cried! The game was mega fun, and Jayni I did not cheat! Justin has so much hot air, that he had no trouble blowing out all the candles, even the trick ones. The cake was delicious, even though Justin threw his in the garbage! (He's on the South Beach diet) Happy Birthday Bup! WE LOVE YOU!

A WILD WEEKEND IN SPOKANE!

How much fun can you have in one weekend?

I try to squeeze 5 days of vacation fun into 3

every time I go see Jayni, Jake and family in

Spokane. I missed my first flight and caught my second arriving Thursday eve at 11:00 pm. Poor Jakes having to pick me up! I flew on a small plane, so I arrived a little sick to boot! Anyway the next morning was worth it all! I crawled in bed with Elly and whispered that Grandma Suzy was here with some fun presents for her and Toby. She was so excited! She opened her big present, which was a stuffed horse she immediately named "Old Blue". She wasn't sure she liked him at first, asking me that didn't I know she wanted the blonde horse? Oh Well I told her the blonde horsey was scarey and knew she would take good care of "Old Blue". She attached to him after a while, and all was fine! She had a great time taking care of him while I was there. Elly put on her horsey shirt and her pink cowboy boots, and was a cowgirl princess the rest of the day. We played most of the morning and then Jake and I went to Spokane Discount while Elly had Joy School. We got some fantastic deals there. After lunch, we played some more then me and Jayni went to Spokane Discount for some more fantastic deals. Needless to say, I'm sick of Spokane Discount. After a super dinner of refried beans Jayni prepared, Jake picked up Andrew at the airport that night while I fell asleep with the kids. The next morning Jake, Andrew and I woke up early. They played basketball with the missionaries, and I ran 2 1/2 hours, in the stake center. The stake center wasn't to bad to run in actually I listened to Jan Karon's Home to Holly Hills. It's a great book. After our run, we cleaned ourselves up. Then Jake and Andy went and picked up the cake, pizza and other party needs, while Jayni and I cleaned and prepared for Toby's birthday party. Guests arrived at noon and the party began. Pizza, and drinks for everyone. Then the Shiny Dinah Musical Birthday Party began. At first, it started out a little wierd, but then the adults broke down and started to play with their kids and finally they began to have fun! After the party, Toby tried to blow out his candle, the cake was cut, and Toby pigged out on his cake! He made a mess! How fun it was to watch little Tobs eat his cake! Elly enjoyed having all her friends there to play with too. After the guests left and clean up was done, we all relaxed! That night we played games, and watched videos. The games were highly competitive! The next morning, we went to church. I went to Elly's sunbeam class. Elly was a so cute singing head, shoulders, knees and toes in front of the whole primary. She loves to sing! Elly raised her hand on every question asked, and loved every minute learning to choose the right. After Jake taught his sunday school class, he took us to the airport. We left in a hurry forgetting some important things. While in transit to the airport, Toby fell asleep. As Jake was going over bumps in the road, Toby's little choppers jiggled. I couldn't help but kiss him the whole way. He's so cute, as well as Elly. I love you all so much! One thing Elly said in her prayer Saturday night that tickled me was she told Heavenly Father that she was grateful for the jewelry box that Grandma Suzy bought her and JeeWon. Thank you Jake and Jayni for a wild weekend!

Rexburg Temple Open House

No, I didn't want to drive to Rexburg during the worst winter on record, but after JeeWon said, "Susan have Faith", I knew I had to go. We left after church on Sunday. The roads were scary, but we made it! Coming into Rexburg you could see the temple high on the hill. It looked like the Temple was on fire. You couldn't miss it. Accidents abound through the streets of Rexburg, but we made it to our hotel without an incident. The next morning I ran in 9 degree weather. The wind was unbearable! Our reservation was for 7:30 a.m. I cleaned the snow and ice off the windows, and after our continental breakfast, we ran to the car. We parked in an LDS church parking lot and was shown a short video inside the church about temples. Then we walked up to the temple in a hallway of covered canopies. It was supposed to be heated, but it was freezing! Some darling young men and young women covered our feet with booties before we could enter. As we entered the bottom floor, JeeWon's tummy started hurting. I think she was too excited, she knew that the temple was indeed the house of God. We seen the baptismal font first, (which JeeWon thought was the neatest), then we toured the entrance, changing rooms, chapel, endowment rooms, the sealing rooms and then the celestial room. I loved the murals that was painted in the endowment rooms. Brother Parsons painted scenes of the Grand Teton National Park, representing the earthly life we now live in. It was phenomenal. I showed JeeWon the mirrors in the sealing room representing eternity. The wood in the Temple came from Africa. There was not a nail hole in anywhere in the wood, it all had all been glued. The marble was from Italy, and patterns of wheat were etched through the carpet. The pattern of wheat was also duplicated in the stained glass windows. The celestial room had crystal chandeliers hanging. Over 500 crystals in each light, it was gorgeous. Even though I didn't want to drive to Rexburg, It was all worth it knowing JeeWon and Andrew were able to see the Temple, the house of God. JeeWon might never have this opportunity again. I think Andrew liked listening to the book on tape we had playing the most. It was called Remembering Christmas, a fun Christmas book that everyone enjoyed.

Christmas 2007