West Virginia and Loved It!!!

We have been lucky lately to visit our children who live in other states. I miss them so much! (I didn't foresee this when they were little that they would live so far away and I really, really dislike it....alot). At least we have one son and family who live here! The trips to see the other children are always a great blessing to us.

We had so much fun visiting with Eric, Joy and Olivia last week for Easter. It was a wonderful trip! Although Eric had to study some of the time, we still got in some really fun times and got to hang out with Joy while Eric studied. We were able to go to Olivia's storybook time at the library and Easter Egg Hunt, go to the Greenbriar, a Confederate cemetery, explore a cave, eat at the Lewisburg Inn, watch movies, have a fun Easter morning, and decorate rice krispie eggs (Yummmy), eat a delicious Easter dinner and get a new do (Joy colored, highlighted and cut my hair and I love it!). We loved spending time with them and thank them for such a great four days!

At Olivia's Library Story time and Easter Egg Hunt

Walking with Grandpa Boggess


Exploring the Cave outside Lewisburg

General Lewis Inn - a fantastic old Inn

Yummy Pulled Pork Sandwich with Coleslaw on it!

It wouldn't be a trip to Lewisburg without a visit to the Greenbriar. The tulips were beautiful!

My new hair cut and color with highlights!

Easter Morning

So fun to share Easter with Eric and Joy and Olivia!

Olivia playing with her Daddy!

Our trip home wasn't as fun as the road trip to Eric's. On the way there, Rick and I went cemetery hunting along the backwoods of northern West Virginia. There we found the grave site of Rick's 3rd Great Grandfather, Samuel, who had been one of the first to settle in the area in the late 1700's. We were able to see the beautiful land he owned and to walk there on. Rick's 2nd Great Grandfather also lived and was buried there. His great grandfather, William Augustus, was born there and as a seventeen year old joined the church and crossed the plains to Utah. It was an awesome trip for Rick to see and learn about his ancestors. We meet a man there whose mother-in-law was also a direct descendant of Samuel. We enjoyed his visit with us and the valuable information he gave us.

Land once owned by Rick's ancestors!

We then journeyed on to Eric's with Penelope (our nice little GPS lady). She took us on a wild GPS adventure on a historical turnpike (although I swear our GPS had it out for us and give us a wild goose chase). It was a one lane, mountainous road with many switchbacks and you couldn't see around the bends! There was actually a nice highway that would have taken 1/2 less the time if she had only suggested it! (I have trust issues with Penelope!) But we did make it safely to Eric's where we spent 3 1/2 days of fun and had a wonderful time with a safe trip home.

The Little Mountain Turnpike Road Penelope took us on!

Happy Birthday, Lacey!

Happy Birthday today to our daughter-in-law, Lacey! Such a great wife to our son and mother to five adorable children! Hope it was a wonderful day!

Colorado = Memories and Fun

We went to Colorado to visit Matthew and Katie and the boys a week ago for four days and had alot of fun...good memories and a great time. We loved our visit with them and Carter and Keegan! What fun we had! We went to the movies, up the beautiful mountains to a dinosaur museum, the Zoo, enjoyed a visit with our niece, her husband and daughter from Alamosa, ate great food (made by Katie), and was able to tour Matthew's office and where he has been working the last couple of years. (That was really interesting to see!)

Carter having fun with Grandpa!

Keegan having fun at the Pizza place!

Enjoying The Dinosaur Museum (below)

Matthew and Keegan

The Zoo

The Giraffes at this zoo are crazy! They love to eat out of your hand but ohhhh what long tongues they have!

Kamber (our Niece, Jami's daughter) in picture above!

Chad, Jami and Kamber

Katie and the boys!

Looking down at Colorado Springs and beyond!

Utah....And Lots of Fun!

I was able to go out to Utah on March 1st for six days! It was wonderful visiting with my daughter and her boys! I did get to visit with Brett, also, but he was in Tennessee for most of the week! We had a lot of fun going to quilt stores, the movie, "Tangled", dinner with my sister and nephew, a visit to BYU Art Museum and lots of other fun stuff. It is hard having children who live so far away and so I cherish these little visits and wish they would last longer.

Thanks for the great visit, Stephanie and Brett and boys!

I finally got Noah to smile for the camera....after he ducked under the table I just moved the camera below the table and took the picture! He started laughing and I got some great shots (although maybe a little blurry!).

Cooper was into posing with whatever was in his hand....below with a crayon at the restaurant and below that a wooden block....what a great mustache! Such a cute, little guy and very creative!

I love my grandkids!!!

A Big Surprise!

I decided to fix a nice dinner for Rick for Valentine's. We don't really like to go out to eat on Valentine's Day because everyone else in town is out there and you wait and wait for your dinner. I had fun picking out what we would eat and how to surprise Rick and made most of the preparations on Saturday while he was at his office. I made him Coconut Cream Pie while he was out Home Teaching the day before Valentines and hid it in our refrigerator downstairs. He loves coconut so I thought that would be a great surprise. It was even made from scratch, something I haven't done forever. Here are a few pics of our Valentine's dinner on Monday night (with work, then picking Rick up and a quick errand to deliver something, dinner ended up not being done until 7:30 pm- so it was late anyway.... :) It was fun being creative in the kitchen!

Menu

Cream of Peanut Soup

(Recipe from the King's Arm Tavern in historic Williamsburg)

Broiled Ribeye

Red Roasted Seasoned Potatoes

Steamed Broccoli and Snow Peas

Lemon-Lime Drink with Sliced Strawberries

Coconut Cream Pie

Cream of Peanut Soup....Yummm....It could be addicting!

Funny thing about the Whip Cream...after taking this picture and putting it in the refrigerator, the cream just fell flat and runny....still tasted great!

My Favorite Valentines!

Some of my favorite Valentines from the past.....

Expressions of love from a favorite Valentine of mine!

I Love You, Rick!

Valentines come in all shapes, sizes and different forms. They come from family and friends. It's not the Valentine that really matters though, its the love of the person who is giving it. The love that binds family to family and friends to friends throughout the year, day by day, that really matters most!

"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved-loved for ourselves, or rather, loved inspite of ourselves." Victor Hugo

Valentine treasures are people who
have often crossed your mind,
family, friends and others, too,
who in your life have shined
the warmth of love or a spark of light
that makes you remember them;
no matter how long since you’ve actually met,
each one is a luminous gem,
who gleams and glows in your memory,
bringing special pleasures,
and that’s why this Valentine comes to you:
You’re one of those sparkling treasures!
~Joanna Fuchs

To all those who have enriched my life with warmth, love and light...Thank You!

Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day!
I Love You!