Blogging is confusing!!  Katie has been trying to help me with little ticky-tacky things like changing the font and things like that.  There is so much to learn, but I think I have learned more things today, mostly by trial and error.  Katie is very smart and knows a lot!  Thank heavens, because her mom knows nothing!

More books and our remodel job!

I just finished a few more books.  I started a new author, Sarah M. Eden.  She writes in the eighteen-hundred time period in England.  "Courting Miss Lancaster" was a darling, light, and fast read.  I enjoyed it very much.  "The Trial" by Lindsey Phillip Dew was a great read also.  It is about upholding the rules of the law even if you won't like the consequences.  I recommend both books.



I worked the Orem City Primary Elections all day yesterday.  One of our ward members, Chris Nichols, is running for Orem City mayor.  He actually won be a landslide against the other candidates.  I hope he wins.  He will be a great mayor!  He is a good man!  He is the one who helped find and purchase our Springville town homes.  We made him a wealthy man when we signed on the dotted line.

Life just keeps passing us by.  My life is very full right now and I love it that way.  It could slow down a tiny bit, but life is treating Frank and I well.

We finally finished our remodeling of our kitchen, living room and bathroom.  I love all the improvements.  I absolutely LOVE my new kitchen!  It reminds me of Florida!  The countertops are the sand and the backsplash are the colors of Florida.  The kitchen is so bright and cheery.

Old kitchen

New kitchen

I LOVE our green wall!

The green wall

We saw this color in our newly decorated room at the Flamingo Hilton Grand Vacation Club that we stayed at in May with all our family.  I called down to the front desk and asked what the color was.  An engineer wrote the color on a paper and left it in our room.
I called Brandon Zollinger, our painter, and he was able to find the color and had it all painted when I got home from our trip.  I am not a green, brown, tan, or gray person, but these are all the colors in our new remodel.  So out of character for me.



I LOVE the tile!  It is so beautiful, and so easy to care for.  I went with the big 20" squares and they are so nice to walk on.

The new tile

I LOVE the bathroom!  I chose a rectangle sink, a faucet that looks like a watering trough water faucet, and we put in an old-people tub, a WALK-IN tub!  It is so much fun to take a "tubbie" now.  Frank and I picked out a beautiful frame for the bathroom mirror that we already had in there.  It is gorgeous!  We used the same countertop color with a dark brown cabinet.  Everything is so elegant.  We also used the same tile on the floor and around the tub.  I love this room!

Rectangle sink and watering trough faucet!

Our beautiful mirror!

The finished bathroom

Our walk-in "tubbie"

We carpeted the small area in the front room, down the stairs, the family room and hallway downstairs.  I really like the carpet I picked out.  At first I thought it was too light, but change is difficult.  I had to get used to it, and now I LOVE it!  Everyone who has come to look at our new house, comments on how good everything looks together.  That was not me alone.  I had opinions from Staci, Theresa, Tiffany and Katie, along with all the workers and installers along the way.  Our new digs all came about because of the help of many.  I couldn't have done it alone.  So, a BIG THANKS to everyone who helped make our home so beautiful!

I'm Back!!

I'm finally back! My daughter Katie taught me how to make this blog, then I forgot everything she taught me. I still may forget some things, but I am going to keep trying. I want to use this blog to post books I have read, cards that I make and journal some things also. I am excited to be back.

Since last September when I started my blog, we have had a few more grandchildren join our family. Theresa and Mike had #15, a beautiful baby boy, Aiden Sean McLay, born Monday, 28 January 2013.

Katie had #16 on Sunday, 17 March 2013, St. Patrick's Day. I was going to go watch this little peanut be born but she came too fast. Dang! I was sitting in church and looked at my phone for a text from Katie AFTER the Sacrament, and she was already here. Her name is Harper Bailey, and she is beautiful.

Next came little Brinley Jane Edmunds (#17), born 3 June 2013. She has these cute little fat cheeks that you just want to squeeze all the time. She is adorable and a good baby!

Staci married Mark Komadina (from Albuquerque, New Mexico) on 27 June 2013. He has one son, Cody, who also joined the grandkid list. So, he is #18.

Tiffany has moved in with us while she waits to have #19 due on 9 September. It has been fun having her, Skylar and Cohan living with us. She helps out a lot, keeps things picked up, and is a great mom, plus does all her hair stuff. She is amazing!

As you can see, our grandkid list is growing by leaps and bounds. We have so much fun when we all get together. I love my kids, their spouses, and all our grandkids very much! They are the best!

These are the latest books I'm reading by Joni Hilton. They are the funniest books. She really has a humorous way of making ANY situation funny. I have been laughing my head off with some of the funny comments and situations Andy, Brian and their kids get themselves into. These are a must read for any LDS Relief Society woman and mother out there!

My very first blog post!

I can't believe it! My very first blog post. Thanks, Katie, for helping me get a blog up. It took a few times to figure out the background (or template), but we finally did it. Do you like it? I have a lot to learn. But for now, I will just go with this background.

A little about my family: I am married to an amazingly, wonderful, patient man who puts up with all my quirks. I have eight beautiful kids, five daughters and three sons. Six of the eight are presently married. I have 14 darling grandchildren with two more on the way. Being a grandma is the best ever. I can love them and send them home. I don't have to be responsible for them, only when I'm babysitting (which is fairly often). But I love my grandkids. Our youngest and our oldest is living with us right now. And the best of all, is one of my granddaughters is living with us, also. This keeps me young at heart.