Tagg and the Tree

Woah......... What is THIS ????

I think I'm going to LIKE it !!

I'm going in.......

Gotcha !


What? You got a problem with this ??

Come What May and Love It

One of my favorite talks from last conference was by Elder Wirthlin. I felt inspired to share it during November when we went visiting teaching, and as I studied it, and prepared the message, I felt it had such meaning in my own life. Elder Wirthlin passed away a few days ago. He will be missed.

Another Christmas Tag !

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both (I recycle the gift bags for sure !)
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial, since 1993 (when we moved into our new home)
3. When do you put up the tree? Depends........This year, Roger brought it up out of the basement on the day after Thanksgiving. I take the ornaments off every year, but the tree stays INTACT, with the lights on it. So there it sits... Haven't decorated it yet.
4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime in January (see above - it's not too hard)
5. Do you like eggnog? It's okay - Maybe a little IF it's homemade by my mom....and COLD !
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Maybe my Chrissy Doll, whose hair grew?
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes - I have Grandma Tonks' old one (nothing fancy, but just sentimental), and I'm going to see if Landon can get me one from Peru.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Roger's parents.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Grandkids
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't remember. I don't think I've ever gotten anything I hated.
11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story. Camryn watched it the other day, and was telling Roger about the part where there Santa was mean to Ralphie and pushed him down the slide. Hope it didn't scar her, because Bruce R. aka Santa, is coming to our house on Christmas Eve.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? First part of December, although I started on the "I SPY" quilts earlier this year.........like about FALL of 2007....
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably, I don't remember.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom's waffles on Christmas morning. Mom? hint, hint, hint??
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Either.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
18 Travel at Christmas or stay home? Either - just as long as my family is together. Manda and Cam are coming home THIS YEAR........but next will be a different story :(
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowds
23. Favorite Christmas tradition? From my childhood, would be Christmas Eve at Grandma Dicksons for sure. For a few years (late 90's, early 00's) we took the boys snowmobiling.
24. Up early or sleeping in? Our kids were NEVER the early early birds. 6-7 was usually the norm.
25. Who hands out the gifts? Me.
26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? Sometimes.
27. Do you tell the Christmas story? I read it.
28. Do you leave cookies for Santa? Nope.

Saturday Savior

I forgot to blog about this - and it's important ! On Saturday, November 22nd, I was able to take my Sunday School class to see Savior of the World. It was wonderful. We had a great time. These young men and women are SUCH a great group. I love them.

Mindy (mom) with Austin and Hans

A brother and sister who actually get along ! Tim and Deborah (home from college)

Riley and Colton, entertaining Karen

Havala, Tiffany, Deborah, with Karen in front.

"Wonder" ful tour director :)

A certain "bakery" man that I know will probably want to "murder" me for posting this.........but oh well :) You've got to do, what you've got to do !
Erika and two of her boys traveled to Ogden, via Front Runner a couple of months ago, and Rog took them on a tour of the bakery. What a great guy !!

Yesterday was Great !!

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Mom and Dad sent me this cute cartoon EARLY this morning. I guess they are up getting things ready for Thanksgiving Dinner at their new home. I can hardly wait !

Are you ready for the Big Day?

Click here for a fun Thanksgiving Quiz.

My Memories of Flaming Gorge

My dad liked to fish, and I guess mom did too. Probably she mostly just herded kids. My siblings and I were always up for an adventure in camping. We drove to Flaming Gorge at least once every summer. The ride was sooooooooooo long and terrible, and from Lone Tree on, it was just a terribly bumpy gravel road for about 30 miles, which seemed to last forever. I just hated that part. I don’t really remember the fishing all that much, but I do recall a few things.
Many times we went with Grandpa and Grandma Tonks. Once, I vaguely remember a small hotel room, but we usually stayed in our canvas tent. Our sleeping bags were these huge affairs (with ducks and geese on the flannel interior) that kept us so warm. Mom and Dad zipped them together, and we all climbed inside. The lantern would hang from the top of the tent, and the mantels would glow dimmer and dimmer after the gas was turned off. I loved to look at them as I fell asleep, and Dad would always tell us stories, and scratch our backs.

There was a place called Echo Canyon, or something like that, where if you hollered, your echo would come back at you. There was an area downstream from the dam, where a big flash flood occurred in the 60’s. A few people were killed there in a campground. I believe the flood happened at night while they were sleeping. We took pictures, with us kids standing down in the big gullies and washes that were made when it flooded. You could only see our heads poking up, level with the asphalt in the road. I felt scared, and I worried that another flood would come and get us.

Another memory which stands out, is after we had been playing in the water, Grandma Tonks took our picture and I was posing (as usual). She made a comment about how I NEVER took a serious picture, and I always had to pose and ruin the picture, and she was so disgusted. I don’t know why I remember that, but I do. (See picture below)



We didn’t have a boat; we just fished from the shore, but one time in the summer between my 7th & 8th grade year, we went with one of Dad’s friends, Newell Cutler, on his boat. That was a fun day. I caught the first fish of the day, then absolutely NOTHING the rest of the day while others were catching them right and left. Mr. Cutler let me steer the boat for a little bit in some of the side canyons. This was a BIG thing for me and Mark and Erika, because we had NEVER been on a boat before.



After the trip with Newell Cutler and his boat in 1973, I didn’t see the Flaming Gorge area again, until 2008. Wow……..35 years !! Roger and I swung by there this past summer, on our way back from Rock Springs. As we drove through the little town of Manila, we only saw the reservoir from a distance, and didn’t even get a glimpse of the dam. During the drive from Manila (on a fully paved asphalt road) to Lone Tree and Fort Bridger, I kept trying to "catch a glimpse" of my childhood, but the scenery and green tinged mountains barely stirred a distant memory.

Cam's fun day at the Arizona State Fair

We are getting so anxious to see Cam and Manda for Christmas.
I think we will be amazed at how much she has grown up since Labor Day, both physically and mentally. Last night she called Roger, just a bawling........ Roger re-counted the whole conversation for me. Apparently she and her mom were driving somewhere, and something must have triggered a memory, and she asked Manda, "When are we going to drive "Up the Canyon" again?" Manda told her "the canyon" was "back in Utah". That was all it took - and the waterworks started !! By the time they got Grandpa Roger on the phone, Cam could hardly talk for the hiccuping sobs :( It's a good think Grandpa Roger is such a comforting influence on the phone. He had her settled down in no time, and before the conversation was over, she was telling Grandpa that "Anytime he needed to talk to "Barkley" (her dog), that Barkley was RIGHT HERE, and he should just call......." Too cute ! !.........or maybe you just have to be a Grandparent.