HE is the reason!!!

It was twenty-five years ago today that my eyes were opened more fully to the tue meaning of Christmas. Oh, I had felt it before but nothing like this day so long ago. I had forotten until in Sunday school class yesterday. Memories flooded my mind of Christmas' past This one brought tears to my eyes as I remembered those events.

All the preparations had been made and with only six days left until that big day, a tragedy hit the area. Paul was working an afternoon shift at Deer Creek when news came that Wilberg mine was on fire. He called me to tell me the news with very few details and that he would be late in getting home. It took until the next morning to hear that my cousin Phillip was one of those trapped. He and I had been close while growing up with our birthdays a day apart. News was sketchy at best. Even when Paul was sent over to the mine to work in the warehouse to aid in the rescue, he still couldn't pass on many details. We didn't see much of him.

Sunday morning, the 21st was bright and clear. Spirits hopeful and cheerful for our children's sake. Because of this the Oveson annual Christmas party was held. Kaye and Lydell were the hosts this year. Paul wasn't able to attend because he was still helping at the mine. Minutes before the party began Richard told me that he had heard there was an explosion at the mine. My heart skipped a beat. The warehouse was located underground. Paul was in the warehouse. Richard tried to assure me that he was safe but I wouldn't believe it until I heard from Paul. Even the kid's excitement couldn't stop the tears. Kaye had arranged for the granchildren to perform the Christmas nativity. It was then my mind and heart was touched with why we celebrate Christmas.

We celebrate His birth for without Him this earth life would be a waste. Families would mean nothing. He came to this earth to show us the way, to pay for our sins, to die so we can live again, to give this life purpose and meaning. Because of HIM and only HIM we can remain with our families forever. He is the reason for the season. He is the light that shines. He is the peace that each of us seek. The greatest gift we can receive or give is love, His love. I pray we all remember Him and reflect His light as the greatest gift we give this year.

Merry Christmas to all.

Kyler's Kindergarten Christmas program

Last Wednesday we were invited to a very special Christmas program. I'm sure this is the first of many to come. Kyler has been so excited about this program. He has been saying his part for a couple of weeks and singing the songs, which I'm very grateful for because we had a difficult time understanding any of them. The program was so cute with the kids telling what their favorite part of Christmas was, Kyler's was decorating. Just watching the kids being their normal little selves with their teachers trying to keep them under a little bit of control was well worth being there.

Kyler at the end of the program. He jumped off the stage into his Grandpa waiting arms. He was so excited and silly.
If you look hard you can see Kyler, second row, second one from the left. The lighting in the gym wasn't very good so this is as good as it gets.

Early Christmas Present for Grandpa and Grandma

First I need to ask you to forgive me for the quality of the pictures. As usual we have forgotten our camera and only had cell phones. For years Paul and I have taken our children to Salt Lake for a day of shopping and seeing the lights. Over the past couple of years it has become more difficult to get everyone together. This year we came very close. We went to Tepyanaki for our dinner. We lacked having Nicholas' three kids plus Cyrena and her family. We really enjoyed ourselves and dinner was great. The kids had fun watching the show before us as our meal was prepared. Family is what Christmas is all about.

Brittany, Hunter, and Nicholas
Alex, Mike, Kassy
Van, who is really growing up.

We wouldn't give Alex anything else to eat so he settled for the table.

Josh, Paul, and Les
Alex picking on Van, so it begins.

I'm so grateful for my family and I love them with all my heart.

These are for Cyrena

I think she is using these pictures for a Christmas present. At least I'm hoping that she is. Cyrena you need to remember Hunter. There are pictures on their FB pages, Brittany has the most. I can't wait to see it. Posting twice in two days isn't normal for me.

Christmas Tree 2009

Since Paul and I became a family so many years ago, every year we have gone as a family to cut our Christmas Tree. Oh, there was one year I purchased a tree and had to throw it out on Christmas day because it was worse than dead. I did put up a fake tree after having a bad dream about a tree catching fire but that was over just after I started that. When the kids moved away we started going to the mountains Thanksgiving weekend. This year we went to Cottonwood canyon. We were disappointed that there was no snow. But it did make it easier for the grandkids.

The four oldest grandkids wanted to go with their Dad's and Mark up on the side hill to cut the tree. The problem was I was left alone with them and the sagebrush was as tall as they were. But we pushed on with Josh getting upset because we weren't going faster and Lexie wanting to go back to the Jeeps. Josh wasn't about to get lost and have me leave him. He held onto a string on my coat until his Dad came to help him.

In the mean time Paul stayed with Kassy, Tara, Alex and Van. They went for a ride to the top of Flat Canyon. Alex is now big enough to drive. Tara wanted to climb with the rest of us but Van just isn't ready for that. Plus she forgot her Moby wrap.
The tree that we chose was the second on the left. You can see Nicholas' yellow coat. Also I'm in there with the kids. Each of the kids were able to cut the tree except for Lexie who didn't want to. Josh makes the cutest sawing sounds. Kyler, being the oldest was given the privilege of cutting the tree down. I took video but silly Grandma forgot to save the video. I did get pictures but they didn't turn out very well.
Coming down I had only Lexie and Kyler to take care of. It was almost easier to pack Lexie than have her struggle with the sagebrush. I would like to know when Kyler grew up. He was guiding me back to the road.
Josh and Ashton were able to get a ride back. Mike and Nicholas had the duty of pulling the tree back. Mark decided to follow all the rules but cutting the stump down and spreading out the branches.
It is getting more difficult putting all of the kids on the four-wheeler but so far we were able to do it.
Nicholas said on Facebook that I have a desire each year for a Charlie Brown tree but I don't think it looks much like a Charlie Brown tree. Each time I look at it I remember the adventure we had and it brings a big smile to my face. I worry for the year that we won't have help in cutting a tree and I will have to go back to a fake tree but for now I'm going to enjoy this most wonderful tradition.

I have completed a huge project

This all began back in August with Bauer telling me that he wanted a costume. Last year I didn't make the costumes because of Dad but this year I guess Bauer changed all of that. I put it off, like I do everything else. Plus the kids kept changing their minds. Needless to say I started two weeks ago. Lexie's was first and I think that it took me the longest. She visited me one day and expected me to begin her costume right then, she didn't understand that grandma was tired after working all day. She even said that she was a good cutter. She kept bugging me about it, so I gave in. Plus she also wanted pink shoes because the Tinkerbell on the pattern had pink shoes. What else is a grandma to do. Little did I know, Bauer was driving his mom crazy in Rockford asking when his spiderman was going to be finished. He even called me from a store to make sure that I was making him a mask. He wasn't going to leave in case his mother needed to purchase one. I have decided that three year olds can be very demanding. Bauer really thought that his costume had been delivered yesterday but it was a package for the neighbors and he has been watching out the window for the mailman. He is so excited. He should get the package today. Over the weekend we had Josh, Kyler, Lexie and Ashton here and they had to model their costumes. It was great fun watching them trying to fly through the house. Alex's and Van's had to wait until Monday to be completed. It has been a difficult couple of weeks but it has all been worth it as I have seen the little ones eyes light up and their excitement about pretending to be something else.

Emmett was going to be a lion and I even had the pattern purchased but Bauer wanted him to be spiderman with him. Hence the two spidermans. Mark and Tara wanted Van to be Grrr. They sent me a picture of a robot dog. I don't have the head finished in the picture but you can get an idea of it.
Josh loves Peter Pan. Mike and Kassy borrowed our movie a couple of months ago and I guess he watched it every day, sometimes twice a day. They had to give it back because they were so tired of it. He wants his mom to be Tinkerbell and his dad to be Captain Hook. Alex is a puppy kind of like Nanna but we didn't want him to be a little girl puppy. Josh has a little sword to finish his costume.
Kyler feel in love with Batman over the summer months. We have a few episodes recorded on the DVR for him to watch when he comes to visit. He knew months ago that he wanted to be Batman. I made these same costumes years ago for Nicholas and Michael. They have brought back many memories. Lexie loves Tinkerbell and has for over a year. I had planned on making it green but when she seen a pink Tinkerbell on the pattern that is what I had to do. Of course she loves pink. I was going to make one for Hunter but his mom bought him a transformer, which I'm very grateful for. I don't think I could have pulled that one off.

I'm now looking forward to seeing them all in their costumes. I will only have the privilege of having three of them visit us on Saturday but I know that they will all enjoying pretending for even just a few minutes. It is those smiles that makes it all worth it.

Van's blessing

Mark and Tara spent the weekend with us. It was Van's first visit to Grandpa and Grandma's house and we loved every minute with him being here. They brought his blessing outfit with them and we finally took the pictures that we should have last month. He has really grown because it almost didn't fit him anymore.

I have tried to get this picture to turn but you can still see his handsome little face. He is such a joy to each of us. He loves to talk and will make a lot of noise especially when his Dad is talking to him. How we love him.

This may interest a few of you

I don't know why I didn't add this picture with our wedding picture but I thought that it would be fun to add it now. I hope that it will bring back memories of a few of us when we were a lot younger. Personally I can't remember of ever being that young.

We made it

When we first began I knew that we would be married for eternity but when I thought about thirty-five years, well I didn't think that I would be this old. Paul and I celebrated our anniversary on Sunday the 27th. When I think back to that day so long ago, but yet it seems as if it was yesterday, I remember two very scared kids who really didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Being in the temple didn't help matters. But it was a glorious and a wonderful feeling knowing that we could be together forever. The temple ceremony was a lot longer back in the day and by the time we were married and sealed my mind was spinning. I'm so grateful that I had Paul by my side and my parents right behind me. Paul and I have had our ups and downs over the years but then I don't know a couple who hasn't. Without the bad we wouldn't really be grateful for the good or even notice it? Through our trials we grow and can become stronger if we allow ourselves to do this. Since our anniversary was on a Sunday and we celebrated it with a couple of our children in Salt Lake, Mark and Tara blessed Donivan, we really couldn't do much. We tried to attend the Manti Temple on Saturday but we arrived to late and was told the temple was closed. I didn't like that feeling at all. It almost felt like we were told that we couldn't enter heaven and I guess in a way it was. So on Monday morning we attended the Provo Temple. Just to remember the covenants that we made so long ago gave both of us added strength. Also as we were on the session, it was the same time that an accident took our precious David from this earth life. I was thinking a lot about him, as I always do, and the thought entered my mind, I wonder where my life would be if he hadn't left us for this moment? At the time both Paul and I were inactive and not living up to the covenants we had made just a few short years earlier. Because of David's death I changed my life. I want to finish raising him. I pray that changing my life also helped my children's life by helping them draw closer to their Heavenly Father. Again trials help us to grow IF we allow them to. Paul and I went through this together and I know that it has strengthened us and helped us to grow closer together. I love Paul with all my heart and I'm so grateful for that day so long ago that sealed us together for eternity.

Sunday was a full day in and of it's self. Witnessing Mark giving his son his name and blessing was a witness to the power of repentance. Mark has come a long ways and I'm so proud of him. The blessing that he gave to Van was beautiful and very touching. How I love my family. Of course this silly grandma didn't get any pictures because of the huge dinner they had afterwards and all the people that was in attendance. I'm praying that Mark and Tara took pictures and they will share with us. Van is growing and is now smiling. Each of our Grandchildren are such a joy and great blessing. We just can't get enough of being around them. I guess that is way we try to do everything possible to spend as much time with them as we can, even though we greatly miss seeing two of them that are so far away. Our lives are full, what more could we ask for.

Kyler's First Day of Kindergarten

Although all the other kids have begun school, Kyler had his first day of Kindergarten at Pinacle where his mother teaches sixth grade. He has been so excited for this day all summer. A few weeks after his fifth birthday he told his mom that being five was hard work. He was able to pick out his shirt, green his favorite color. They wear uniforms at Pinacle but at least they are able to chose the color they want to wear. He is in school a full day and he was so full of energy this afternoon that he had a difficult time eating his dinner. I think he needs to run a race every day after school. He did say they had seven recesses. It is hard to believe that my oldest grandson is this old but I had better get used to it because there are several coming up after him.

Josh is having a great time in pre-school. He started last week. He gets to ride the bus to school and back every day. He can even spell his name out loud now. I'm beginning to wonder why they have to grow up.

Pictures of Donivan

Here are the promised pictures of Van. We were able to visit with them this past weekend. It was Paul's first time of meeting his newest grandson. We were also able to attend the Bountiful Temple with Mark and Tara on Saturday. It was a special day and I can't believe that Tara could do this so close after giving birth especially after tearing a muscle in her leg while pushing. She is remarkable.

This picture is one of the many faces that he pulls when he is sleeping.

He is such a good little boy except when he is hungry. He doesn't like to wait, even for a minute. That reminds me so much of his Dad.

We will be spending the weekend with them again because they are moving into their new home in Layton-Kaysville. It is right on the boarder of the two cities. We haven't seen it yet but I'm excited for the kids. There is one problem though, it puts them further away from us. But I guess now they will be the place to meet with all the kids with Les being in Ogden.

Enjoy the pictures.

Happy Birthday Ashton

Today it is Ashton's second birthday. Because his family is going to Salt Lake today we celebrated his special day on Wednesday. Ashton is a very special little boy. He is one of those that is very easy to love and his smile will melt anyone's heart. He is a typical two year old but follows the example of his brother Kyler. He is always trying to do what Kyler does and it sometimes gets him into trouble. Ashton isn't talking much, but every day he adds a new word. The way he says Yes is very cute. He loves trucks and that was his first word. When he sees a truck he loves to tap you on the arm and makes sure that you see the truck also. Ashton really has his Grandpa wrapped around his finger. Whenever Grandpa is around and Ashton gets hurt, he will only take loves from him to make it all better. He is his Grandpa's little buddy. He isn't afraid to do anything. One day we found him climbing the fence to see the horses better. He loves animals and will do anything to get closer to them. With horses though it is a little bit scarier. We are so grateful that we have Ashton in our family. He adds so much more love and happiness. We love him very much.

This is one of his presents and probably the only one that he will care about. It is a Spiderman four wheeler that only goes 2 MPH. So he can't get into much trouble. He will leave it though when Grandpa starts up the big ones. Of course Kyler and Lexie love helping him.
Because of his love for trucks, that is what his cake was centered around. He loves the truck that his Grandpa found for him. After a couple of tries he was able to blow out the candles by himself. That is after we told Kyler and Lexie to let him try.
This is a glimpse of one of his smiles. Again they can melt your heart.

Happy Birthday Ashton.

Welcome to the world Donavan Mark Oveson

I know that I will never learn!!! You will see what I mean later on, or maybe you have figured it out, no picture!!!!

Tara was scheduled to be started on Monday the 4th. They moved up her appointment and since I had just come home from Riverton on Sunday, I had to hurry to travel back to Ogden. But I guess that I really didn't need to hurry. I arrived at McKayDee hospital in plenty of time. Cyrena wanted to be there when the baby arrived so she and Emmett went with me to keep me entertained, also Les. The rest of the kids came so we could eat a Mexican dinner together. Les chose the place and since Paul couldn't get off work, he really didn't miss out on this dinner. He doesn't like Mexican food. But I really missed having him with me. As the night became later and nothing much was happening with the baby coming the kids all left for their homes. I was left alone with Mark and Tara and was able to witness the great love that they have for each other. At times I almost felt like I was intruding.

After two and a half long hours of pushing and even surprising us all with how big he is, Donavan (Van) Mark Oveson entered this world at 5:22 a.m. We kept joking that he had his hands holding on tight to the inside of his mother. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 4 oz and was 20" tall. He has short blond hair and very fair colored skin. He looks just like his daddy did when he was born.

He is doing so well as is Tara. They are getting acquainted and Mark has already changed most of the diapers. Thank goodness he has this week off to help both of them.

Now just so I'm not a complete slacker, I did have my cell phone with me and I do have pictures on it but my printer is messed up again and I can't get them transfered to the computer. I left the good camera in Cyrena's diaper bag because my purse is to small for it. Needless to say I'm looking for a new purse.

I will post pictures as soon as I can get them. He is the cutest and we are very grateful to have our ninth grandchild here with us!!!

Oveson Reunion

We had a great weekend, celebrating both Cleveland days and the Oveson Reunion. Grandma Oveson has been looking forward to having the family all come to her house just to see all the grandkids and great grandkids. What better time to come to Cleveland than when we have Cleveland Days. We all ate very well at the Lamb Fry, enjoyed the parade and getting more candy than the kids could ever eat, which we still have a big bowl. The little kids enjoyed being at the park for the plane drop and running in the races. Dinner at Grandma's started at 5:00. We had a nice turn out with the majority of each family being there but we did miss the Oveson's that have moved away. We took up most of the hill at the school for the fireworks, which just keep getting better each year. It seemed to be easier for the family to get together during the summer months and hopefully this will be our new tradition.

We thought that the kids didn't get enough candy at the parade so we filled a pinata. They all took their turns, that is until Mick swung the stick. He knocked it off the rope so all the kids attacked the pinata and the candy went flying with help from Marty. Kayden didn't get a turn but I don't think he was to upset with it. Nya is the one in the picture taking her turn.
Dinner was great. We had Dutch ovens and salads to share. We did have a few problems with a small rainstorm but we managed to stay outside and enjoy each other. Grandma was very tired after everyone left but she has recovered quickly. We are now looking forward to next year and seeing each other again.

Another Girl's Camp has come and gone

Last week Paul and I was able to enjoy the beauty of the mountains with around one hundred girls from the Huntington Utah Stake. We had a great time and after being home for a couple of days realize just how great it is to be in the mountains because of the heat we are not enjoying here at home. The weather was perfect and we didn't even get rained on. We have had a few years that this has happened, but not many. This was Paul's tenth straight year in going to girl's camp. He started going when I was first put in as a ward president. He was asked to keep going even when I was released. For the past two years as a member of the stake he has continued on with his tradition of serving and keeping us all safe. He is remarkable. Even though at times I think the priesthood of the stake take advantage of him, knowing that he is there they do not fulfill their assignments. We did have a little bit of excitement because of the mother Bear and her little cub keeping us worried at nights. I wish that I had a few pictures to post but I really didn't get the camera out. Paul did take pictures of the skit we did as the Stake presidency but there is no way I'm going to post it. We did have fun using walkers and pretending to be old. Notice I just said pretending. 

We are getting excited about Chris, Cyrena and the boys coming for a visit in just a few more days. Also we are waiting for the birth of our next grandson. So the next couple of weeks are going to be filled with great times. I will post the new picture of all the grandkids together though. There is nothing better in this life than having family all together, which we will have this weekend for the Oveson reunion. We will miss Mark and Tara but as I said they are very close to delivery. 

Happy Birthday Kyler

Yesterday we celebrated our oldest grandson, Kyler's fifth birthday. He has been waiting for his birthday to come for months. It was exciting for me that as he woke up I was the first one to tell him happy birthday and see the smile that came to his face and stayed there all day. We had a party for him here with a few friends coming to help him celebrate. The favorite was the pinata that Kyler and his Dad had put into the tree outside. The kids all had bags full of candy to drive their parents crazy with. 

Kyler has been asking for a bike to ride around on. As you can tell on the picture below he was very excited to see that he got a bike. He had just opened up all his presents and I asked him if he was happy with what he had received. He wasn't to disappointed that he didn't get the bike but when he seen it, well you can see his reaction. He loves the bike as does Ashton.

Kyler is also growing up to fast and has fallen in love with Batman and Transformers. He received five transformers for his birthday, that I know of. Now we all need to figure out how to transform them so we can help him.

This is the Batman cake that I made for him. Several weeks ago we got on line to find the cake he wanted. As he seen this Batman cake top, that is all he wanted. Of course I was happy to make it for him. 
Kyler has always been a joy in our lives. We are so happy to have him in our family. He is going through a tough time right now but he is there to always help Lexie and Ashton. He is a great example to them. He is a very sensitive little boy, much like his Dad. He is growing up way to fast for me. When he comes here, he loves to watch "Batman, the brave and the bold". But at other times he loves to watch "Backyardigans" and other shows like that. He will be starting kindergarten this fall. The years are going to go by to quickly now. I guess I had better prepare myself for having older grandchildren. We all love him very much. Happy Birthday Kyler.

Ok I'm a silly Grandma. I didn't know if you pushed return after the title that it would publish your post. Now I need to write it again to explain. Yesterday was our second grandson's fourth birthday. He is a very special little boy. He began his earth life as a very small baby weighing in at only 3 lbs. His first year he struggled because he couldn't keep much down. He is only now able to drink milk and not have problems. He is a fighter and because of his determination he is still with us today. This little boy has a very special mission to complete here upon this earth. He loves us almost as much as we love him. When he calls and asks for us to come to his house there isn't much for us to do but to give in. When he clings to me so tight because he doesn't want to go home I have to promise him that we will see him again in a couple of weeks. He has come so far and we are so happy that he is in our family. 

The first picture is of his birthday present, a big boy bed. He has been asking for one for a long time. He has been sleeping in a small Lighting McQueen bed for a couple of years. He loves climbing up and now that he is four, he can touch the ceiling. He had his first night sleeping in his bed last night and had all of us worried because he wanted to sleep in the very bottom of the bed.

Of course Grandma made his birthday cake and even though I had problems with it yesterday morning, it turned out tasty and Josh loved helping me finish it. He loves airplanes and helicopters because his Dad is crazy for them also and he wants to be just like his Dad. So we bought him a Batman helicopter to put on top. The MM's are because if you want to get Josh to do anything, just offer him MM's. We put Oreo cookies around the bottom because that is his favorite cookie because of Grandma Pratt. He blew out his candles before we even had a chance to sing Happy Birthday to him. We had to light them again. I guess the first time was just for practice.

Again Josh Happy Birthday and we love you!

Happy Birthday Josh