Maren W's Reception

Before I post the reception photos, I just had to post this. (Please excuse mess in kitchen.) I walked out of my bedroom and saw these two snuggling on the couch. They are both very content.:) Hannah is so cute with her sippy cup and Care Bear. Of course, she has a boo-boo on her knee. She trips alot on our flagstone in the yard.

OK, I know it's been a couple of months since I last blogged. I missed alot of opportunities with photos of the family visit in July. I'm not very good with the camera, always forgetting to take photos and just enjoying the time with family. I did remember to take a few photos of the reception on Aug.8 (also Dave and my 10th anniversary), but missed taking photos at Maren's wedding. And just part of a picture here of the bride and groom. Our Maran has some pretty pictures that she can post when she gets back home from visiting here. It has been great having her and Hannah to hang with.

Maren's theme was Gerber daisies in hot pink, orange and yellow. It was so pretty and happy looking. We even had daisies floating in the pond and candles in the pool. The big guy in the photo is Maren's brother, Will, for those who remember him.

Its fun to see how each person decorates the backyard. They had white lights on the bushes and it looked really pretty when the sun went down. All the flowers in the backyard were blooming. The roses and petunias (which did not have a single bloom on them two weeks prior) were in full bloom. I was really pleased with how the yard looked. I worked over a hundred hours on it to make it look that way!

They must have had over 150 guests come. Maren W's entire family was there, all six siblings! The weather was perfect,86degrees the coolest day of the week. It cooled down into the low seventies when the sun set.

One thing that was really interesting is that a man from my teenage years in Culver City was at the Temple and remembered me from over 30 years ago! It was Allan Adams, a first cousin to the groom! Ask Jo and Bet and Frank if they remember him :) He came to the reception as well. It was fun telling him about the family. Our next reception is on Sept.26th. I am taking a little time off for now!

Three and a half weeks in North Carolina!

This blog is done in blue and white in honor of the UNC Tarheels!!
I want to thank Kerrie and Jake and Allie for putting up with me for over three weeks. I had a wonderful time and was so glad that I was able to help out.
When I arrived on the 17th, it was 10:30PM EST. Everyone was tired so we waited till the next day to visit. Allie awoke early around 6AM and said to me from her crib, "I'm looking at you". She was an early riser most every day but we got her routine down really well by the time I left. Here we are around the 19th of May with Allie in the park. The rose garden was very pretty.
Poor Kerrie was hot and swollen. We got our toenails painted on the 21st (Kerrie's Mothers' Day gift to me) and with Jake and Allie also, went to an Indian restaurant which was my first time. It was very good.











Kerrie, Allie and I went to her favorite butterfly museum on May 20th. They have a season pass and it is not very far away. Dave and I never got back there to check it all out because it was so blasted HOT! It hit 101 degrees and much of the museum is outside. We also went food shopping, to the library, and to a going away party for her friends who were moving all before Lucas was born.

Happy Birthday Luke! Although he was scheduled to come on the 23rd, Lucas came into the world on the 22nd due to Kerrie's blood pressure rising. It was a wonderful day for the Thornock family.

Luke was only an hour old when I got to hold him. (Notice the dark circles under my eyes, I was still experiencing jet lag) :)

Luke in his swing four days old.

North Carolina has many beautiful birds, among a gazillion other forms of wildlife. This was my favorite, the Red Cardinal. He and the female came daily to eat out of the bird feeder Kerrie puts in her window. We also saw mice and a vole outside next to the sidewalk. We all went to the Botanical Gardens but it uncomfortably hot so we didn't stay too long.

One of Luke's first outings was to Henderson Park where Allie got to play on the swings. There were many bold (unafraid of humans) squirrels there. One of them had to open this empty coffee container and it succeeded. Luke was asleep the entire time.

When Dave came, we celebrated a late birthday. He chose a Razzleberry pie and vanilla ice cream which was delicious. It is a new favorite of mine now. We sang Happy Birthday and Allie was very excited to give him his presents.

Dave and I took Allie to theMall where she got to ride the train, jump in a jumphouse and ride on the carousel. Afterwards, we went to our favorite store, Costco and had lunch and did some shopping.

On Saturday, June 7th Dave and I and Kerrie, Allie and Luke went to the Museum of Natural History in Raleigh. It is a great museum. It was free parking and free to get in!

Allie liked playing in the Toddler room in the Museum, trying on different animal costumes and playing with stuffed animals. Here she is as an owl.

Allie in her favorite spot in the museum, the dinosaur room.

A little Bumble Bee. Sorry the pictures are out of order, but I am sure you can figure them out. :)

Allie loved the dinosaurs and spent most of the time just gazing at them. We probably stayed in the dinosaur exhibit 30-45 minutes.We got her a little dinosaur to take home with her. It was a fun day. Jake was at home studying for his comps. He was missed. But we did get to go out and eat a couple of times after Luke was born with the entire family. In fact, when we were in Durham Kerrie spotted this sign next to our Restaurant. Hilarious.

What I do most days.

In my twenty two years living in EG, I've never seen quail on my property until I moved here. They seem to like hanging around in the yard or in the front. They are kind of pretty. Click to enlarge and see the comb on their heads.

The king of the backyard! Those quail better beware!

The sun was setting and the fence is creating shadows. Dave has taken down the fence, finally!

The azaleas are blooming. A few weeks ago the entire alleyway was filled with pink and red camellias and purplish rhododendrons. I missed taking pictures of it.

After three years of taking care of these roses,(the ones in the pot) they finally look good. There were more than 24 blooms on them and they smell delcious. So, this is what I work on about three hours a day average in the spring and summer. I enjoy it, but my muscles and knees don't like it. Hopefully, some of you can come visit this summer and enjoy it with us. :)

I am going to take Maran's challenge and accept the tag :)

OK, this took longer than I thought it would to find my favorites. At least I won't have the 46 horns (or was that five horns?) and I will keep my teeth. Anyway, it was fun.



Favorite color:

Favorite holiday:

Favorite animals:

Favorite foods: (The pizza is a New York pizza)

Vacation spot:

Worst habit:

Current Jobs:

Dessert: My absolute fav is a Black and Tan from Leatherby's!

Hobbies:

That's all folks!

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

OK, remember in my post last week I talked about being honest. Well the lady in Lowes told me that what goes around comes around. Today, while shopping at Safeway, I dropped my license and gym pass to 24hour fitness on the ground. I found out when I got out of the car at the Doctor's office. So, I was totally stressed because of theft identity. Also, that Safeway is not in the best part of town. So, I called Dave from the doctor's office and he was going to drive to the Dollar Tree and Safeway to see where I dropped it. But then he got a call from the lady who bought our house saying that a man found my license and gym pass and drove to our old house and dropped them off! Can you believe that? He had to look up our address on Google and it was atleast three or four miles away. So Dave drove to Dottie's house (our old one on Elk Ridge Way) to pick them up and while there she told Dave that our sweet neighbor across the street (Louise, Al's wife) had died last week. On the way home from the Doctor's office Dave told me via cell phone about Louise, etc. So, when I got home I called Al and talked to him. He said he had tried to get a hold of us and left a message on our answering machine (never got it) about Louise. I think he called our old number. Anyway, I believe that God wanted us to know about Louise and for me to call Al and who knows what else will happen in the future. It made me very sad. She had colon cancer. She was such a happy, cute, energetic lady. I talked to her in January and thought that it was all under control. You never know with cancer do you. I am going to drop in on Al in the near future. He couldn't think of anything for me to do to help out. Anyone got any ideas? I think I'll make a bunch of dinners and freeze them for him. He is all alone now and blind and partially disabled but still has a wonderful sense of humor. Louise's memorial service is taking place while we are in Utah, unfortunately. I heard that the man who found my license was a practicing Christian. He was also an instrument in God's hands.

FINALLY SOMETHING TO BLOG

OK, my life is so boring that I tagged myself! If anyone is interested, here is my answers to the one that Maran wrote:

10 years ago:
Well, Dave and I were seriously dating and in love. In May he proposed.

5 Things on my list to do today:

Buy gardening supplies for my new veggie garden
Get my hair cut
Go walking with Aunt Betty
Go to Relief Society
Watch American Idol

What would I do if I were suddenly a millionaire:

Pay off my mortgage
Buy a pick up truck
Go on vacation/travel (take entire family to Hawaii)
Buy all kinds of presents for my children and grandchildren
Save some for retirement
Give some to all of my kids

3 Bad Habits

Snacking at night
Staying up too late
Now that I have DVR, watching too much TV

5 Places I've lived:


Union City, NJ
Culver City, CA
Torrance CA
Elk Grove, CA
Sacramento, CA

5 Jobs I've had

Pool Locker attendant
Computer operator (Back in the 70's) for Pacific Mutual
Daycare provider
Food Club organizer/seller
Registered Nurse at Sutter Memorial and Bloodsource

5 Things people don't know about me:

This one's hard because I'm very open
1. I love my kitty, Tigger.
2. I actually ate crab for the first time as an adult this year. (I didn't like it)
3. I've been pregnant at 19,20,21,22,23,25,26,29 and 30!!!! Not each one with a different pregnancy, just at those times in my life. And I was pregnant with two different pregnancies when I was 21.
4.I have a real pet peeve about being dishonest. (Today I found some seeds under a big bag of mulch when I got out to my car. So, even though it was inconvenient to go back on line in Lowe's, I went and paid for it. The cashier was very surprised and shocked that I would pay for it. I told her my integrity is worth more than a few bucks.
5. I love working in the garden.

Where will I be in ten years:

Hopefully, healthy and retired and planning to go on a mission with Dave. Also, in a smaller house that is paid off!

Thats it. Now I tag all my son in laws and my daugher in law, Jill. :)