Thanksgiving Craziness

Crazy and wonderful--that's how it always is when this family gathers. This Thanksgiving we only had Curtis and Shandy for Thanksgiving dinner since Carrie and Darren were scheduled at their "other" family for this year, so we invited Lybberts, Morris, and Amelia to join us. Craig (Shandy's dad) made his famous sauerkraut, and we had so much food it lasted all through the weekend (as planned!). Only one major crisis--our oven died!! Thanks goodness we had the turkey in the electric roaster, so we ran the rest of the dinner over to Carrie and Sam's...timing is everything.

Here are the two family chefs

Ethan having his macaroni and cheese--to heck with all that other stuff...
This is as calm as it ever gets when these six are together! Parker, Ethan, Carson, Kevin, Jacob, and Dexter (top of his head...)
Here's trouble!!!

Sharon came down so Jed and Nalani stopped in on their home from picking her up at the airport. We had homemade hot fudge sauce (in their honor), and these two bypassed the ice cream and went right for the good stuff!

The Project Continues

We now have a "real electrician" in the family!! Bless Cody's heart, he came and moved the disposal switch from a far corner where Pat couldn't reach it without a wooden spoon or long butcher knife, to just under the sink. He also did some magic with one of our lights! So Cody was under the sink, Carl was painting, and Pat was being the gopher!

The paint is a darker rust color than in this photo, and it looks wonderful!
Kind of tricky painting above the cabinets, but the resident expert got 'er done.

Sunday, Family, Food

Shandy, Curtis, and Dexter spent Saturday night and Sunday with us--such a treat! Dexter is a hoot, and really was happier than he looks in these first two photos! After attending Sacrament Meeting in Carrie and Sam's ward so we could see Carson do his part on the Primary program (all parts perfectly memorized, by the way!) we came home for the monthly cousins dinner. Theme this month was BBQ and man what a feast! Dessert was a birthday ice cream cake for Curtis.

We could hardly get Dexter out of this rocker
We caught Curtis after the candles were blown out--such enthusiasm

The Kitchen Project BEGINS

Finally, all the yard work is done, lawn mowed and mower put away, and the flowers beds all cleaned out. Since there is nothing to do outside anymore, we decided to do the kitchen. It has been one heck of a struggle trying to decide on a paint color. Last night, we said "let's go pick out a color, and just do it". That is what we did. We picked a color called "Rusty Nail". Of course, the biggest part of the project is the prep work and the mess. Here are a few pictures of our beginning. Carl filling holes and cracks. This is a very important job which requires lots of talent...(You will understand why I say this later).

Like I said, it creates quite a mess.

Here is the paint color. It is the middle one, and is called "Rusty Nail". If anyone is freaking out over the color, you better speak up now, or forever hold your peace!!

And here is Pat, doing her part to help. As I was doing my "very important job of filling cracks and holes", Pat was washing windows, etc. She said she couldn't reach the high part of the window and asked me to reach it for her. I said something like, "I am doing important work here, and can't be bothered with window washing". Wrong thing to say! ...I humbly assisted with the window washing.

Crawfordsville Trip 2007 - What a Trip

We had a very wonderful trip to see Mike, Kim, the girls and ALL the rest of the family. We had an awesome halloween party, went to the Covered Bridge Festival which had millions of people it seemed like. We took a boat ride on the lake in the evening. We even got to eat Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Ray's house. YUMMMMIE. There was even toronado warnings when we got there. We got to watch the Colts win a football game (with the whole clan) in Mike and Kim's new addition to their house. To sum it up, It was awesome!!!

Here is a picture of Camilla. What a beautiful witch. Later she was even doing back flips in her witche's costume!

Here is Courtney. She looks good no matter how she is dressed.

Here are two lovely folks. Pat the snake charmer and Carl the Sumo Guy

Here is Patrick and Kinsey as Dr Phil and Oprah

Another picture of the mad snake charmer.

My dream retirement house on the lake. The house is owned by this elderly lady. I am just waiting in the wings. Won't this be a fun place for everyone to come and visit us?

Camilla never sits still. If she is not doing backflips, she is "climbing the walls"

A couple of "Studs"

Mike and his Momma

Sunday Dinner at Grandma's. The "Boys" are having to do the dishes (Mike, Carl & Greg)

Mike and Kim and girls at the Covered Bridge Festival

Purdue fans at the Mansfield covered bridge

Well, looks like you get to see us again. Lucky you

Here is a picture of the millions of people attending the covered bridge. This is just one small section.

and finally, the view across the lake from Priebe's Lake House. The Priebe's are always so kind to us and let us stay at the Lake House. It truly a real vacation.

Cousins Dinner/Carson's Birthday

Today after the second session of General Conference we started a new round of "Cousins Dinners" at Curtis and Shandy's. Our theme this time was Mexican, plus we celebrated Carson's 7th birthday a couple of days early. True to form, the dinner was delicious and plentiful. Carson had picked out a "Pirates of the Caribbean" pinata; thank goodness the day was beautiful, so we scattered candy all over the carport.

These two stick together--Nalani's due around March 5, and Carrie March 15...

(Above) Carson and Dexter are "buds."

(Above) A bit lower, Cody!

(Above) Carson can now read his own cards

Happy siblings! (You won't be laying like that for long, Nalani...)

In Answer to Shandy's Tag

MY HUSBAND

What is his name? Carl Rulon Clark

How long have you been together? Married 39 years

How old is he? 63

Who eats more? I think he does.

Who said I love you first? Carl did (I think--geez, that was forever ago!)

Who is taller? Carl by about 8 inches.

Who sings better? Carl would say I do, but his voice is much better than he thinks it is!

Who is smarter? We are both smart, but in different ways

Whose temper is worse? Temper--what's temper? More the silent treatment on my part.

Who does the laundry? I do most of it--especially since last time Carl did the laundry we now have pretty pink underwear!! As for who puts the laundry away, I do.

Who does the dishes? Usually me, I actually enjoy doing dishes--I tell Carl if he will cook I'll do dishes. We both like it that way.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do (and that doesn't mean we are old!)

Who pays the bills? I do. I really must teach Carl how to pay bills on-line.

Who mows the lawn? Carl mows, I trim, although I love to mow.

Who cooks dinner? Usually whoever gets home first, but Carl enjoys cooking the most .

Who drives when you are together? Carl, unless we are just going for a drive, then I do so Carl can "rubber neck."

Who is more stubborn? I am, unless you are talking paint colors--Carl usually wins.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Well, since I'm never wrong...

Whose parents do you see the most? When our parents were alive, we saw Carl's the most because they lived closest.

Who kissed who first? Carl kissed me. We were in the back seat of a car at a drive-in movie--"Song of the South," a Disney movie.

Who asked who out? Kind of like Shandy, we were friends for a long time before we really dated. Of course, Carl knew things might be getting serious when he asked to borrow my 1961 Impala (I had a car, he didn't) to take out another girl and I got angry and said "No!"

Who proposed? Carl (no comments, Nalani).

Who is more sensitive? Me

Who has more friends? Our friends are mostly family, and there are several couples we have gotten together with for years, but Carl has more friends at work.

Who has more siblings? Me-5 brothers, 2 sisters.

Who wears the pants in the family? I think we are truly a team, so I couldn't say.

I am tagging: Barbara, Sharon, Karen, and Jana.

St. George Getaway

We finally made it to Tuacahn amphitheatre this past weekend with the Rashes and Petersons. We have known these two couples from when we were first married, and the friendship has endured through all these years. We get together about once every two months for dinner, and then Lynn, our "social director," planned this outing. We all piled into Lynn and Cindy's Honda Pilot that just barely held six--lucky for us we are the oldest of the three couples, with the most aches and pains, so we got to sit in the middle instead of crawling into the back.

The weather was gorgeous--it never got above 90, even though it did rain on Saturday, but it didn't slow us down. The play at Tuacahn "My Fair Lady" was wonderful. The setting is incredible! Of course we had to visit several shops in the St. George and Santa Clara areas that carried things with our names written all over them. And, of course, we ate some marvelous food (except Carl had to have salad with fat-free dressing until the final meal. He said...well, we won't say what he said...but in essence it was something like "it will be worth eating fattening food," (he just had gall bladder removed) and we had some wonderful desserts. The St. George area is incredible! Here are some photos of the weekend.

At the theatre--we actually sat in the 2nd row from the front.
Ron and Kathy (the young ones) getting into the back.

Theatre entrance (notice waterfall in background from all the rain)

Saturday night desserts at the "Painted Pony" restaurant

The group (minus Carl) We refer to Ron as "Elder Eyring"--he looks so much like Henry B. Eyring!

Sitting in the big rocking chair at a gas station in Beaver.

What a Difference a Week Makes!

Carl's back!!! (If you saw the last photo of him on this blog, you'll know what we mean...) He is doing great and enjoying the new barbeque that he purchased this summer and from which we are all reaping the benefits. Here he is grilling "chicken on a stick," and it was wonderful.

Wouldn't be a weekend at our house without some good bubble blowing! Parker has really mastered the art of it and sits on the steps with a towel across his lap so won't get "sticky." Love the new fashion statement of the candy necklace, Parker.

We Love America!

As many of you know, Tammy Manwaring, stays with us when she comes down from Ogden to do her weekend drills. She is a captain in the National Guard. She told us about Governor's Day out at Camp Williams, a huge military facility between Salt Lake and Provo, so we headed up there so we could see Tammy march! Each year the governor is required to "review the troops." They make a huge day of it--families are invited, the military band plays, the different troops march. This year the governor also honored the wives and families of three soldiers from this group that had lost their lives. Their wives and children were there, and it was very touching.

Tammy has really brought to us a new appreciation for our soldiers. She and Shane both serve--Shane flies helicopters. The ironic thing is they both have the rank of Captain, so there are two Captain Manwarings in the family! It has been quite a sacrifice for their family, but both are very committed. We also enjoy it when Shane stays with us. He is a police officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office, so he parks his car in our driveway some days. Our neighbors think it's great--makes them feel safe! As soon as these two sell their home in Spokane and get into their own home here in Salt Lake County, we won't get them as overnight guests any more!

Carson and Parker got to go inside a tank, as well as some helicopters there were on display. (Sam is a huge helicopter fan, so he enjoyed those as much as the kids.)

There were also games and blow-up slides and zip lines for kids, as well as good food.

Party Time

Dexter got all kinds of cute toys, pajamas, etc., but he was obsessed with a little rubber lizard and would not part with it!!!

Most one-year-olds take a little coaxing to dig into the cake--not this one. He was digging in almost before the cameras were ready. The gooey picture are on Curtis and Shandy's blog.

Grandpa Lybbert has had Dexter standing with both feet on one of his (Grandpa Lybbert's) hands since he first started standing. He's almost too big now, but G. Lybbert managed to get him up there!

Those llime-colored balloons kept Carson entertained all evening!
Grandma Lorraine is one proud grandma--as well she should be...