Merry Christmas...

We are in Idaho for Christmas. We are fortunate enough to have Shyla and Clay with us as well, so we are all together. The weather is cold but not too bad.

Last night we went on a cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene to the "North Pole". We had a great time and it wasn't too cold.

Here are some of the lights from the dock.

Geezer and Lily get to pose with Frosty.

Every Christmas we say we are going to tone it down with the gifts, but I think they multiply under the tree. Here are a few select scenes.

Lily trying to peek into her stocking.

Grace had a little trouble opening her own gifts, so Lily helped.

Shyla loves Star Wars!!!
Grace loved her music machine

Clay, decked out in his new Packers sweat shirt, looking at his Canadian coin.

Peanut and Hazel love aunt Shyla because she keeps them warm.

Aunt Shyla is great fun!!!

A big smile from Grace lets us know that Christmas was a success.

Jim is always available to read a new book.

"Dr. Lily" giving her mom a checkup.

We pray that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, happy new year!!!

Happy Thanksgiving....

There are far too many things for which I am thankful to list, but I will name just a few.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband. I don't tell him often enough how much I appreciate his work ethic, his energy, his love. God blessed me far more than I could have ever dreamed when he gave me Bruce.

Next I am extremely thankful for my two daughters. Girls, you are bright, beautiful, wonderful Christian women and I am more proud of you than you can ever know. Both of you bring me more joy than I could ever deserve or expect. My prayer for both of you is that you continue to grow in the Lord, that you love your spouses with all of your heart, and that you call your mom more often.

I have always claimed that I have the two best sons-in-law in the world, and I stand by that claim!! I could not have hand-picked two better men for my girls to spend their lives with. As of now I don't have sons-in-law, but I have two great sons. Guys, I just want you to know I love you and appreciate the men you are.

Grandchildren are the blessings that no one can prepare you for. Lily and Grace bring me such joy. I truly enjoy the times I spend on the phone with Lily - she is truly the master of the non-sequitur!! (A hint to her parents - lets video conference more often) Grace brings me joy by just looking at her. She is so quick with a smile and is such a joy to cuddle with.

Last, but certainly not least, I am blessed with friends whom I cherish. True friends are rare and precious, and I have some of the best. God has given me friends with whom I can share my true self, and in the end, they are still my friends.

"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods."

Aristotle

I have been blessed in my life with a comfortable living and material possessions, but I would trade anything I own for the things I mentioned above.

My prayer for each of you this Thanksgiving day is that God blesses you with all you need and that he fills your life with love.

Snow, snow, snow, snow.......

For those of you who live south of the Mason Dixon line, the white stuff in the following pictures is snow.

Yes, we have had our first snow fall of the season - certainly not the last. We received the arctic blast last night. The highest temperature for the next few days is supposed to be 29. BRRRRR!

We knew it would come, but always seem to be surprised when it arrives. Well, here's to Winter. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will go away! I can dream, can't I????



All of you who got the White Christmas reference - 10 points.

The Grandgirls...

Last weekend, Bruce and I went to Idaho to visit the kids. We had a great time. Here we are, Gramby and Geezer with Lily and Grace

Lily - the future cheer leader - with her Geezer. She really glomed onto Geezer this weekend. He helped Jim build her "cubby hole", so he was super cool!!!

The above mentioned "cubby hole". Lily with her dad in her "cupboard under the stairs".

Grace is such a sweet baby. She is so quick with a smile and loves to giggle. Here she is bonding with Gramby.
Lily loves her play camera. Here she is taking a picture of Gramby taking a picture of her.

Lastly, here is Sassy trying to stay out of the line of fire of a busy two year old.

We had a great time, as we always do when we visit Jim, Alyson, Lily and Grace.

Halloween - office style.....

Today was our Halloween party at work. We had a costume contest and a pumpkin carving contest. We had more participation this year than ever before. Here are a few pictures of the festivities.






The "Puking Pmpkin to the left is the one our unit did. We tied for 3rd place.

This, obviously, is me. The teeth really make the costume, don't you think?????

Fun with the Grandgirls...

Last weekend Jim, Alyson, Lily and Grace came for a visit. We went to the zoo on a blustery, but fairly warm, October day.

Here is a picture of Lily feeding a very eager goat.

Here is Alyson, Grace and Geezer muggin' for the camera.


The weather on Saturday was very rainy, so we spent most of the day inside playing with the girls.

I am loving on Miss Grace. She is so sweet and so quick to smile.

Geezer is making Grace giggle.


Lily enjoyed playing with the Fisher Price Farm and House. These are the very ones her mom and aunt played with about 30 years ago. Hooray for quality toys!!!

We had a wonderful weekend with the kids and can't wait to see them again soon.

The perils of fishing...

A couple of weekends ago, Shyla and Clay came up for the guys to hit the river and slay some trout. Well......check out the pictures. As you can see, fishing in the wind poses some unique hazards. Bruce has always teased about wanting to pierce his ear - I don't think this is what he meant.



The fun part was me trying to pull it out. Bruce said it didn't hurt, but I beg to differ. It hurt me quite a bit.

And now I leave you with an appropriate quote.....

"The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad." ~A.K. Best

Autumn in Billings....

I took a few minutes after work today to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors around Billings. Although they are bright, the pictures do not do them justice. Enjoy!!!





In an unrelated subject, I promised someone I would post the following picture (inside joke).

The Fishing Trip....

Shyla and Clay came to visit last weekend. Clay and Bruce spent three days fishing and Shyla and I spent the time shopping and visiting. I hope it was a restful time for both of them because their jobs are pretty high-stress on occasion.

Here are Clay and Shyla acting goofy with Sassy.

I did get them to give me a sweet pose. We always love it when they come to visit, but the trips are always too short. Hopefully we can get down to see them soon.

In other news....

I have had two blue jays visiting my peanut bucket lately. According to my Montana bird book, we are not supposed to even have blue jays. They are so noisy but fun to watch. They are also little pigs when it comes to the peanuts. They almost always try to put two in their mouths at once!

Here is a picture of one of the Jays in my peanut bucket. I also have 4 squirrels that come for the peanuts. They romp around the porch and snarf down all the peanuts they can. They also take the nuts into the yard and bury them. They are so much fun to watch. One even tried to shimmy up the shepherd's crook that holds my bird feeders. It was a hoot.


Here's one of the squirrels snarfing down peanuts. They are surely trying to fatten up for winter.

Another thing we did while Shyla and Clay were here was to celebrate Bruce's birthday. It was a Seahawk's themed birthday this year.

All in all, September has been a fun month so far!!!!!

Ladies' Retreat 2010...

This last weekend was our annual Ladies' Retreat at Yellowstone Bible Camp. The Billings Ladies were in charge this year and our theme was "There's No Place Like Home". We centered our talks around the Wizard of Oz characters. Our speaker was Becky Holton of Chicago and she did a phenomenal job!!!




This is a picture of our group just before our "Emerald City" tea.

We had 106 women attending our retreat. The weather was beautiful and God richly blessed us with wonderful food, fellowship and life-changing messages. My prayer for you is that you can experience such an event in your life.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another." Colossians 3:16.

Last night Bruce and I attended the Billings Clinic Classic which included a Beach Boys concert. I won front row seats from a local radio station. The concert was a BLAST!!! There are only two original Beach Boys left - Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. For being 69 years old, Mike Love can really put on a show. The group sang for two hours solid - not once but twice. We went to the 8:00 show, and they had already done a 4:00 show!!

They sang all of the songs that made them famous plus a few others. The audience was up dancing for almost the entire concert. It was so much fun!!!

This is Bruce Johnston on keyboard.

This is Mike Love as he is exiting the stage.

Forgive the quality of the pictures. I didn't know cameras would be allowed and all I had was my phone.

I know that the Beach Boys' music is nostalgic, but if you get an opportunity to see them in concert, it is worth it!!! What a fun evening of great music.

A Lily & Grace weekend...

Bruce and I traveled to Idaho this weekend to see Jim, Alyson, Lily and Grace. Who are we kidding...we went to see the grandkids!!
Lily and I had a Gramby-Lily shopping trip on Friday morning. We purchased several books and a toy for Lily. We had a great time and Lily behaved herself beautifully. In the afternoon, we all sat around the "pool" in the back yard. The weather was perfect. Seeing as Wednesday was Jim's birthday, we took him out for dinner Friday night.

On Saturday, we went to the park in the morning. Lily loves to swing!! It is a beautiful park and we had a great time. In the afternoon, we lounged by the pool again.

On Sunday, Jim was a little under the weather, so he stayed home from worship. Lily really missed her daddy, so we had to leave a little earlier than planned. We spend the rest of the day visiting and playing.


Here is Lily in her pool.



Here we are with both girls. I believe we have the most beautiful granddaughters in the world!!

As an aside...I am now on Facebook. My sister-in-law convinced me it was a good way to keep in touch with and informed about the family. I am entering the 21st century kicking and screaming!!!!!!!!

Introducing Miss Grace Inez Klein...

This is the newest addition to our family. Miss Grace Inez Klein mad her debut on Friday, July 2, 2010, at 11:25 pm. She weighed in at 7 lb. 1 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. She was welcomed into the world by her mom, Alyson, her dad, Jim, and her big sister, Lily.

Unfortunately for us - the grandparents - we were not able to be their for her "coming out" party, but we will be off to see her soon. As you can see, she is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Welcome, Grace. We love you!!