Christmas P.J. Tradition

Well it is Christmas time once again. Time for all the fun traditions that we do. I love the tradition of the Christmas P.J.'s. It is always fun to go out hunting for P.J.'s that will match and go together. I always second guess myself and wonder if I picked the right ones. I think they turned out pretty cute and the kids loved them. They couldn't wait to open the presents from Grandma and Grandpa. They knew they were P.J.'s( except for Brock who told Grandpa that he knew they were swimming suits) but the fact of opening a present was so much fun!! We had a nice dinner and had fun playing "Ghost in the Dark" a tradition we play every time we are all together. We are so thankful to have such cute and fun grandkids. We are grateful for Kassie and Gentry they do so much for us. And we feel so blessed to be their parents. We are also grateful for our son and daughter in law. Betsy gets so excited for this night and Ryan being the good sport he is always gets into the P.J.'s Thanks Ryan for being a good sport. We are so grateful for so many blessings that come into our lives each year. We are grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that our family will be together forever. We love Christmas, all the fun it brings with the traditions. But most of all we are grateful for our Savior. We love him and are so grateful for all he has done for us. Kim and I would like to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and to let all of you know we think of you often and love you all..

Disneyland Fun !!!

Disneyland was all I expected and more. The grandkids had a a great time and it was so much fun. We rode rides, watched parades, ate, and had a tone of fun Trick or Treating at Disney California Adventure. The Tower of Terror (my personal favorite) did not dissapoint. Alyssa even was brave enough to ride it. The Haunted Mansion was Wow!! That was another favorite. Can't wait to go again. I would love to go during the Christmas season and see all the fun decorations they have at that time of year. Thanks again to Betsy and Gentry for letting me tag a long. And I did get a turkey leg (another favorite) and it was delicious. We all had a great time at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Our Family Pictures 2008

Here is our family pictures. They are blurry because we took it off the prints. I can't wait to get them and put them up in my house. Look at those cute little grandkids of mine, are they not the cutest faces you have ever seen.

JORDYN AT BUILD A BEAR

Jordyn at Build a Bear. More info on that on last post. I will get this blogging one day. Scroll down.

We Love Our Family, reunions, Lagoon, Family Fun!!

We have had a great summer. We had Kim's mom 85th birthday reunion. Good food, good fun, and it was nice seeing family again.

The first annual Reed reunion was held at Riverton Park. It was so good to finally get together. Not all the sisters and families could attend but it was still so much fun. My Sister Nykkie did a great job with the games. The kids had a blast.

We went to Lagoon this summer for FREE!! Kim's work gave us tickets so we took the whole family. The kids rode a lot of rides. Kim and I rode a few. But the grandkids had the best time. It was so much to see the grandkids enjoy the day. Kamri is a dare devil and rode all the scary rides. She brought a cute friend with her so she got to go on the big rides.

It was Jordyn's birthday and she wanted to go to Build A Bear. So for her gift we went to build a bear. She could have chosen any outfit. I thought for sure she would pick cinderella or some other princess. But nope she picked a U of U outfit. I think her dad is rubbing off on her. She had so much fun and Bridger had just as much fun watching her.

Rodeo Gals and Great Grandma Mikesell

Well we have been to several Rodeo's this summer to see Kassie's girls ride. Jordyn has done very well and is so brave. Kids her age are usually assisted by a parent to do their event but she wanted to do the poles all by herself. And she did!! The crowd that was there kept saying look at that little girl doing poles all by herself. She is such a tiny little thing. She will be 5 in a month and you would never guess that by how tiny she is. She has won several ribbons this year on her events and she is so proud. Then there is Kamri!! She is brave also and boy can she ride!! She is such a natural when she rides. I love to watch her do the speed events because she is so aggresive and goes so fast on the horse. She was in the top 10 in her age group in the state and got a belt buckle which is a pretty big thing. We are anxious for Bridger to begin next year.
Then about a month ago Kim, Kassie and her kids went down to see Kim's mom for the day. They really enjoyed visiting with grandma and taking some pictures of the yard and of Grandma. She turns 85 September 3 so you never know how long she has left. Even though she is healthy. Grandma really enjoyed the kids. Grandma fed them lunch (of course that is what grandma's do). They don't get down to see her much so Kim was glad Kassie took the time to go see grandma. They had a great time feeding the ducks at Springlake and visiting Kim's sister Sharon. Kassie had her camera and took pictures so I thought I would post them. It will be good memories for the kids when they get older. They had a great day and we have really had fun watching the kids RODEO!! They are amazing.

4th of July FUN !!!!!!!

Fourth of July week was so much fun. It started out with a parade and lots of candy, and ended at Betsy and Gentry's house. Betsy's mom was nice enough to invite Kim, Kassie's family and I to the big 4th of July bash. We really had a great time. The kids swam and then we had a BBQ. The guys had fun playing basketball and the kids just had fun doing everything. Holidays are always so much fun spent with people you love.

4th of July FUN!!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma and Summer Fun!!

Happy Birthday Grandma......... She is as old as Disneyland!!
So for my birthday this year I decided to have all the grand kids come over play games, watch movies and have a sleep over. So I did!! We had lots of fun. The kids played dress ups, and we played a few water games, jumped on the tramp and then we all finally went to sleep. What a fun Birthday!!
A few weeks later Betsy and Gentry went out of town for the weekend so I said sure I will baby sit while your gone. Of course I had to have the other three grand kids come join the fun. They really had a lot of fun in the small orange pool at grandma's. Mind you Betsy and Gentry have a full size pool and we did go there to swim but they had just as much fun in the orange $8.98 pool from Walmart and the slip and slide. They did an obstacle course that Kamri set up and it was so cute watching them go through it. Then we tye dyed shirts red, white and blue. They had a great time doing this, it was so easy and fun. They loved their shirts and I think they wore them the rest of the time they stayed here and even slept in them.
They always love playing dress ups when they come to grandma and grandpa's. They each have their favorite outfit to wear so I took a few pictures.
Anyway my Birthday was so much fun and as always it is never dull when you have 6 at the same time !!I say it is just six times the fun!! What a fun June we had. More pics coming later from the 4th of July!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY FATHERS DAY HONEY!!

Kim has been a dad for 30 years!! Wow we are getting old!! Kim was a great dad as our kids were growing up. He helped me feed, bath and change diapers and he only has one good hand. He is one fabulous guy. He babysat the kids whenever I needed him to. He worked nights I worked days so the kids wouldn't have to go to a babysitter. He did this mind you on very little sleep. He slept when the kids took naps and then when I got home sometimes he would catch a wink or two. He has a great love for his two kids Gentry and Kassie and would do anything for them. He was always a great support to them in any thing they did. He would arrrange his work schedule so he could be to each event. Sometimes with no sleep at all!! He loved watching them particiapte in sports and Kassie's dance recitals. Any programs at school he was there. He never missed a Hallowen parade. I did; everyone. (only because I had a school parade at my school and I couldn't miss it because I was the teacher) But he was there to show his support and take pictures for me. He has been a fantastic grandpa and loves each and every grandchild. He will babysit them ,take them places, fight with them, play horses, jump on the tramp, swim.

go to all their activites, if it is a baseball game, soccer game or rodeo he goes to all of them. Kim had made it a tradition to buy the grandkids their shoes for their activites. We usually take the grandkids to get their shoes and then take them to eat. So they always have a good pair of baseball, soccer, or boots for the season. He is up for anything especially when it is with the grandkids. He is so proud of them!! He loves Gentry and Kassie and their spouses. He always keeps them in his prayers. Kim has a testimony of the gospel which I love about him. He enjoys church on Sundays and the temple when he can. He has been such an example to so many people and we are so lucky to call him husband, dad and grandpa. And your lucky to call him your friend. We all love you!! Have a happy day:)

"IT'S SO HARD TO SAY GOODBYE AND LET GO"

My student teacher's last day was Friday!! It was so sad! I will really miss them both. They have been with the class since the beginning of the year. So we all have bonded. My class and I will truly miss all they did for us. They really were outstanding and did so much work on behalf of the students and myself. I will miss them more than words can say. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know Sarah and Sienna. I hope they had a good experience and learned a lot. I know I did from them. Monday I go back. I honestly am ready to go back and be the teacher again. I have missed the kids also. But I truly will miss the extra set of hands, the friendship that grew and all the new and fun ideas (and energy) they brought to the class. I just wanted to post this tribute to them. We love you Mrs. Brown and Miss Vanwagoner. Hugs
to each of you and another big THANK YOU for a job well done. Come visit us soon.

OH THE THINGS WE CAN DO WHEN GRANDMA AND GRANDPA BABYSIT!!

We love babysitting the grand kids. Sometimes we babysit Kassie and Ryan's kids and sometimes Betsy and Gentry's kids. And sometimes we babysit them at the same time. The past few weeks that we have babysat we have had lots of fun. These are some of the fun things they do when they are hanging out with grandpa and grandma. Alyssa wanted to make pudding. I didn't have instant and so I told her we could make that another time. She was persistent and after looking in the pantry found some cook and serve vanilla pudding. So she helped me make that and then she got this great idea to make ice soup. It's really easy grandma all you do is get a cooking pot, ice, warm and cold water and it's done. She kept adding and adding and then it was finally done. She gave me a bowl and then talked Brock into one. He said it was good but he wanted strawberries in his. So he had strawberry ice soup. YUM! Want the recipe call Alyssa. Then Jordyn got this great idea to pose for some pics. using her fake camera and then I went and got my camera to take the real pics. So they are posing for the pictures. She told her mom that we took some really cute pics of them with grandma's real camera. Brock caught a potato bug and put it in a jar. He babysat it for a few hours then he went home. SHH!! Don't tell Brock but the bug did not make it:). Bridger and Jordyn love to play horses when they come. They bring them and we race them and set up poles and barrels and then grandpa is our trainer. We even go to Rodeos. What a blast.! Jordyn was dancing with Alvin and the chipmunk movie and later the kids went down stairs to play more horses and play store. Kamri is such a good sport to play with the kids but she loves to be on the computer and play webkins, listen to music, or browse e-bay and I-tunes. Brock and Boston love movies and so when they come they like to watch movies. They love to eat popcorn of course while they are watching. My niece Shalece sent down some marshmallow popcorn that we tried out it was yummy!! Thanks Shalece. We bought a big screen T.V. about three years ago and the kids love, love, love to play in the box. It can be a house, a boat or whatever. It almost bit the dust today but Kamri and I fixed it with duct tape. Hopefully it will last another three years. Today grandpa was working in the yard and Bridger went out to help him. He thought he was pretty big boy. He is a great little helper!! Bridger Grandpa says thanks. We also had an inside picnic today. It was too cold for grandma to go outside so they ate their picnic inside and watched a movie. Grandma and Grandpa have so much fun when the grand kids come. WE LOVE OUR GRAND KIDS. We will see them again tomorrow. We are having everyone over for dinner in between conference. Will post more pics of that tomorrow. Sorry the post was forever long but I am a grandma and love to brag about the grand kids. We are so lucky and very blessed. The hands are you guessed it old grandma hands mine, Jordyn and Bridger's

Mikesell Easter Family Traditions 08

Easter traditions so much fun!! Each year on Easter or around Easter we get together for an Easter Egg hunt! This grandkids get so excited even if they have been to 2 or 3 the day before. Easter Sunday was the day this year. All the grandkids came over with their parents. They sat on the stairs outside and then on the count of 3 they all took off!! Of course they all got plenty of candy as well as money for the dollar store!! A few years ago Kim and I decided to give the grandkids each a swimsuit for Easter instead of a toy because the Easter Bunny takes care of that. So from then on the family tradition is Swim Suits for Easter and this year they got flip flops to go with them. So there they all are sporting their swimsuits from grandma and grandpa. HAPPY EASTER everyone. Hey Betsy and Gentry how long until the pool opens??

Spring Break with Family/ Jump on It

Spring Break OH what fun!!! My sister Pat came down with her granddaughter Cassie. It was so much fun to have them down here. We took Kassie, her kids and Gentry's twins down with us. We missed Alyssa she was at a birthday party. We went to a place in Orem called Jump On It. There was a bunch of trampolines side by side so the kids could jump from one to another. They also had blow up slides and blow up "Jails" that is what Brock thought they were. (Enclosed blow up trampolines).

The kids had a blast! I did too! I even did a few tricks of my own. No photos however it would be a little embarrasing but the grandkids thought grandma was awesome:). Same tricks I showed Gentry and Kassie growing up:). Pat's husband Jim and Kim sat on the side lines and watched us. We had a great time. On our way home we stopped at Chick-filet (sp) Betsy Gentry and Alyssa met us there for dinner. Then off to Pat and Jims hotel to swim. The twins went home and Alyssa stayed with me. Kim and Jim opted out of swimming. After the swim Alyssa came over to grandma's for a sleepover. Neither one of us lasted too late we fell asleep watching Enchanted. Early the next morning we went down to the Easter egg hunt in Riverton. You will have to check Betsy and Gentry's blog for pics of that. Kassie went to one later so check her blog for that too. It was a fun two days. Easter is tomorrow so more pics and blogging then.

Making cookies at Grandma's house!!

Betsy and Gentry were out of town so their kids were staying with Kim and I. It was Kassie's birthday and so we had their kids too. So with the whole gang over, we made Valentine cookies. I honestly think this is more fun for me than them. It is so fun to see what they create and how they decorate with hundreds of sprinkles, more sprinkles than cookies actually. I hope they remember the fun we had. They are a bunch of fun, fun kids!! Each with their own personalities but we love them all so much!! Thanks for the fun times and memories made with Grandma.

Our Valentine Baby!! Happy 30th Kassie

Thirty years ago our beautiful baby girl was born. I was thrilled to have a girl!! Cute dresses, bows, and all that comes with having a girl. We brought her home on Valentines Day!! Best Valentine gift we have ever got. She was such a fun baby. Always so happy (except for a few tantrums now and then). Kassie sure has grown up fast it seems like just yesterday she was tiny. She has grown up to be just as fun and beautiful as the day she was born. We love Kassie because she will do anything for you. She is very giving and loving. She is such a great mom and her children mean the world to her (As well as Ryan) . She is so thoughtful and always thinking of others. We could not ask for a more wonderful daughter than her we have been truly blessed. Happy Birthday Kassie we love you so much!!
Love Mom and Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BEAUTIFUL VALENTINE BABY HAPPY 30TH WE LOVE YOU!!

Happy 31st Anniversary

Wow 31 wonderful years!! It went so fast! Our greatest accomplishments in our 31 years we agree are out two wonderful children and our 6 grandkids. We are happy and still in love. At times we may drive each other crazy but we have had a great ride and we hope we can spend another 31 years together. My favorite things about Kim are: He is a great husband, He is fun to be with, he is a great grandpa, he puts up with my shopping addiction, he has a testimony of the gospel, he is easy to live with, he is easy going and I still love looking into his big beautiful brown eyes. And I love the way he kisses. It still gives me butterflies. Happy Anniversary Honey!!! The things I love about Cyndy. I joke that she taught me everything I know. I know that it is true. She taught me how to live and love but the most important thing I love about you is YOU.

A funny moment at a serious time!!

We all arrived for the dedication of the grave. We all got out and headed over,but for some reason they weren't opening the hearse then they informed us that it was locked with the keys and casket inside. We all had to laugh saying that dad wanted his family together for a little while longer.We had to wait about twenty minute for the extra key to arrive, it really was funny everyone was able to visit and the kids were able to get extra wound up by throwing snow and getting as wet as possible.