Who doesn't love Ronald?

Actually, I think Ronald is a little creepy, and I guess Megan does too, because she wouldn't get too close to him during our trip to McDonald's.  Bekah was a good sport and climbed around inside the tube slides with Abby and Megan - and she only got stuck once (it was a little too tight a turn for long legs).

Only for die-hard chocoholics

Bekah was home over the weekend, and although I have been behaving myself VERY well and haven't been eating much sugar, I decided that the occasion warranted making a special treat. So we made these little beauties:

We got the recipe here and here and they were deeeeeeeeeliiiciiioussss! Of course, we ended up with way more cupcakes than any of us wanted to eat (well, that's a lie.  I wanted to eat all of them, but I was able to exercise a moderate amount of self-control), so our home teachees and visiting teachees got a sugar-high this weekend whether they wanted it or not.

Full moon

This was the view of the mountains to the east of our house when I was driving home the other night.  I just happened to have my camera, so here you go.  I thought it was kind of pretty!

Christmas and a cruise

Since we're already almost halfway through February, maybe I should get my Christmas post done.  (Before long I'm going to be one of those people who sends out their Christmas cards for Valentine's Day.)

It was so much fun to get the family together - that's always the best part of Christmas for me.

We appreciated Jeff, Rachel, and Forrest coming out to spend time with us. I don't think any of those three got much sleep during the time they were here, but it sure was fun to have them!  You can see here how thrilled Forrest was to see us all...

Two weeks after Christmas Dave and I went on our long-awaited cruise.  We actually booked the cruise almost a year ago, so yeah, it was a long time coming!  We got away from the cold and snow in good old Heber, and took in a little of this:

Yep, it felt good.

Thanksgiving

This year Nicole made the turkey for our Thanksgiving feast, and I have to say, I believe it was the best turkey I have ever had.  She brined it (using Alton Brown's recipe).  I think we have a new holiday tradition.  Yum!!

Bekah became Abby's new best friend during our time in St. George, and Dave, Jake, and Rob worked on perfecting their motocross skills (the Play Station version).

We also celebrated Megan's 2nd birthday while we were together.  Bekah noted a funny moment when, after opening one of her presents, which was a doll that crawls, Mega was trying to get Abby's attention.  She was feeding her baby with a toy bottle that Bekah had given her, and she kept saying "Abby babo baba", (babo = baby, and "baba" = bottle) over and over.  Try repeating that tongue-twister fast ten times! (Abby was still successful at ignoring her, however!)

I know that Thanksgiving is past, but I just want to say how grateful I am for all of the blessings that I enjoy, and especially for the opportunity to reflect on those blessings during this season of the year.

I am so thankful to have been born to "goodly parents".  Thanks, Mom and Dad for being such great examples for me, and for making gospel living such a priority in your lives and in our home as you raised your children.  Thank you for your sacrifices in my behalf.  I love you!

Thanks to my brothers and sisters for their love, friendship, support and example.

Thanks to Dave for being a supportive and loyal husband, friend, and teacher, and to his parents for their stalwart examples and efforts in raising their family in the gospel.

Thanks to all of my children for living the gospel, loving me, and bringing such great happiness into my life.  And thank you (to those who are married) for choosing such beautiful, strong, and faithful spouses.  I love you all!

And thanks to my four sweet little grandchildren for the opportunity to be a grandma!  I love watching them grow and being a part of their lives.

And most importantly, thanks to my Heavenly Father for giving me all of the above blessings!  I'm so grateful to have the gospel in my life and to have a knowledge of the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.  I love Him and hope to grow closer to Him each day.  I am so grateful to have the blessings of the temple in my life, and I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me so abundantly.

A day at the races

As a preface to this post - Dave, Rebekah, and I took a quick trip to New York last weekend to see Dave's parents.  It was fun to spend time with them, and they look wonderful!  Rachel, Jeff, and Forrest traveled from Iowa to spend the weekend in NY as well, so it was a great time.  We loved being together!  The only glitch was that we didn't have our camera.  I'm very sad about that, but I'll have to rely on Rebekah to give me her photos.  I know she got some great pictures.  So Rebekah - post your pictures from New York soon, okay?!

In other news,  Jake had a race yesterday in Manti, possibly the last one he'll do this season.  So we invited Rob, Mindy, and the girls to go, and we had a great day.  Jake did great,  finishing 3rd.  The pictures of Jake were taken by Rob, who is a very talented photographer!

Spooky Treats

Last time Bekah was home for the weekend, she wanted to make some Halloween cupcakes.  The ones in the picture she showed me were really cute.  Our interpretation of them was not quite so perfect, but still pretty darn cute!

As luck would have it, we were babysitting Preston that night, so he helped us out, and even decorated his own cupcake.

And Preston's fine work deserves a closeup: