The Erickson Grandkids

Great Ride

2011-09-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Eric and I had another great motorbike ride! We trailered the bike to Monticello Utah and spent the night. The next morning we hopped on the bike and rode to Bluff Utah. Bluff is wear the pioneers of the "Hole in the rock" expedition ended their trek. I wanted to see it. I love pioneer history. We then rode to Four Corners, where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado come together. I loved it. It was fun to stand in all four states. Never been to New Mexico so I thought it was fun. We hopped back on the bike and headed to Cortez and then to Telluride Colorado. It was a gorgeous ride. The colors were just starting to change. All the golden yellows with the dark green of the pines, it was really breath taking. Telluride is a little Ski resort nestled in the canyon of the San Juan Mountains. We stayed in a little bed and breakfast. Rode the tram to the top of the mountain which was free! We had to ride it again after it turned dark. What an amazing view with all the lights of the little city.

We woke up early the next morning to a great breakfast of omelets and yogurt. We then started our ride about 9:00 that morning. The air was crisp but not overly cold. The sky was so blue with no clouds. We started our trip on the "Million Dollar Highway" We climbed 11000 ft to the top. I thought yesterday was breathtaking, today was so much better! I could not believe the beauty that I was seeing. We ended up in Silverton Colorado, a little mining town with great old west hospitality. We finished the ride through Durango, Dolores, and back to Monticello. We ended the day with a session at the Monticello Temple. The temple was the 1st small temple that President Hinkley started. They said it was his baby and he came and attended a session often to check on his baby. It was a great place to thank my Heavenly Father for a safe ride and a thankful heart for the opportunity to see the great beauty our Heavenly Father created. I also thanked him for a great man to spend my time with. Eric and I had so much fun together. I love trips like this! So grateful we took the time to go and enjoy our time together! All together we rode 451 miles.

Bluff

David O McKay Quilt

Had nothing to do with Bluff. The family just wanted to display it.

Jens and Elsie Nielson graves.

They were in the Martin & Willie handcart Co.

They were asked to go with the Hole in the rock expedition. They are my hero's.

Four Corners

Telluride Colorado

Silverton Colorado

Monticello Temple

What a great way to end our ride!

We did dress up to go in :o)

Graduation

2011-06-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

My Baby graduated from high school on May 25th, 2011! I am not sure how excited I am. Eric and I will be empty Nester's very soon. (I am very excited for her though, just not for me). The week was very exciting for her. It all started with Seminary graduation on Sunday the 22nd. On Monday we had a family BBQ in honor of Kylie. Starla made an amazing cake for her. Then on Wednesday the 25th she graduated. She is so amazing, she worked so hard to keep her grades up. She received 2 scholarships. She will start at BYU-I this fall.

Kylie with Mom & Dad at Seminary Graduation

Kylie with Camille Saunders

Kylie with Trevin Thompson

The day was pretty exciting! I am so proud of her!

This is Kylie and her good friend Trevin Thompson at kindergarten graduation. This is them 12 years later. Pretty cute. Notice Kylie has her arm around Trevin in the kindergarten photo and Trevin has his around her in the high school photo.

Ryan Turns 29

2011-04-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ryan turned 29 on April 5th. 29 years ago it was snowing and cold. I was scared of labor. I had Stacie in Logan Utah. They had epidurals in Logan but Madison didn't have them yet so I was scared. Stacie's labor was long and hard. Ryan's labor was only 3 hours long so things went pretty fast. They didn't have ultra sound then either so we didn't know what we were having. We were so excited that he was a boy. Eric kept telling me that "I'd done good". He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz. When we left the hospital he stilled weighed the same. He was a great baby. But he was always hungry. I had a hard time keeping up with him. I think I only nursed for 3 months. His big sister was excited for him to join our family. They have always been great friends. Happy Birthday Ryan, I sure do love ya!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-11T13:59:00.000-08:00

Eric and I were alone on halloween. Kylie was busy with the school dance and all our grand kids live to far away :o(

I did make Eric and I mummy hot dogs for the occasion. I made this mummy bean dip for Kylie and her friends for their dinner.

It is one of my favorites to make on Hallowween.

Kylie and her date Alex - They look like pretty bad biker dudes!

Happy 30th Birthday Stacie!

2010-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today is Stacie's 30th birthday - Wow, where do the years go? I gave Stacie her photo album so I don't have very many cute pictures of when she was born.

She was due on July 15th. The night of the 10th I started to have contractions. I remember her being very active that night. We got up that next morning and went to the hospital. They were very busy that day. All the Labor rooms were full, so I think I got the last room. The contractions were very hard and fast. Epidurals were very new at the time and I think they gave me one without asking. I was very grateful at the time though :) After that nothing to exciting until delivery. She was posterior and wasn't coming down so they used forceps that looked like great big salad tongs. I was grateful I couldn't feel it. It sounded horrible. When she was born she had bruises on her cheeks from the forceps. But she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! They didn't have ultra sound in those days so we didn't know she was going to be a girl. We were very excited. She weighed 7lbs 10 ounces -I think, (remember I gave Stacie her book) anyway It was a great day! She nursed really well. My roommates baby wouldn't nurse so she was in tears, I thought wow I don't know what the problem is this is a breeze. (no sympathy - I later learned with other children that it is just the kid - I had some that were horrible) After we got her home that first night I remember just looking at her and bawling. I couldn't believe that she was mine and that Heavenly Father really trusted me to take care of this precious little thing. Great times! Eric and I were so young, going to school in Logan, poor but we were happy. Life was good!

Stacie was always such a happy thing. She was a go getter from day one. At 5 months she was sitting up straight and tall, at nine months she was walking. She never crawled. Her Great Grandmother Erickson told me that if she didn't crawl she wouldn't be a good reader, she was my best. I can't believe 30 years has gone by. Now she is a Mom with 5 beautiful girls of her own (almost, number five's still cooking). I am so proud of what she has accomplished in her life. She found a great guy to help her along the way. It will be fun to watch the next 30 years! Love ya Stacie!

Blessing Day
She loved her swing. Back then they didn't have cool swings that laid back. So I put her in sideways. It worked!Stacie at 5 Months - always Happy!Stacie today with her daughter Jaynie.

Staying at Grandma's

2010-05-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Carter came to play at Grandma's while his Mommy is on complete bed rest. Carter's new little brother (Sam) is very anxious to come into this world. Carter played on the slide and the tramp. He loves to play with his toys on the slide. He would race his action figures down the slide. We had fun on the tramp. Note the static hair. He is so cute!

North Carolina May 2010

2010-05-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

This is just some of the highlights from our trip. We went to watch our 1st granddaughter be baptized. That was a very cool experience. She was so cute and so ready to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints.

Kimberly, Sean and Carter also were able to go. We love going to the zoo with the kids, North Carolina has an awesome zoo.

We had a great time as usual. We love North Carolina, it is so pretty. I can see why Stacie & Whit love it so much.

Vegas Trip

2010-03-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

On February 7th Eric and I went on a little getaway to Las Vegas. We flew from Idaho Falls on Alligant Air. We bought $9.99 tickets one way, coming home was $39.99, pretty cheap. Hard to pass that up. The end of January Eric got sick with what we thought was Bells Palsy, (Another post, sometime) We already had the tickets and he was feeling pretty good then so we still went. I am so glad we did because we had so much fun together. We spent the night in Vegas, rented a car and drove to the Grand Canyon. It was a fun day. The new road at Hoover Dam is awesome. We drove to a little town called Williams Arizona and spent the night. It is a little town on Route 66. Pretty cool. I could not believe the snow they had. I thought it was suppose to be hot in Arizona! The next morning we boarded a train to the Grand Canyon. It took about 2 hours to get there but it was so much fun. On the way there we had coach tickets, we were in the cheap seats. You know with the poor people :o) But on the way home they booted us up to 1st class. I guess they felt sorry for us or something. I didn't complain. We had entertainment, train robbers, and on 1st class we had refreshments. In coach we just had water.

The Grand Canyon is Awesome! I went as a kid. I remember camping but I can't remember the Canyon it's self, funny huh? How could I forget something that beautiful. I was just in awe. The weather wasn't very cold. It was overcast and snowy at times but not bad. I thought it added to the beauty. We had about 3 hours there then we headed back on the train.

After arriving back we headed back to Vegas. We got there about 8:30 that night. We had reservations at Cesar's Palace. When we went to check in every Paul Mitchell school from around the country was trying to check in. We stood in line for about a half an hour then an employee from Cesar's came up to us and said " You aren't with the school are you?" How could she tell? Maybe the lack of black clothing and purple hair, maybe, I don't know. Anyway she said to follow her. She took us to the VIP check-in. They said they only had an optional smoking room with two beds left. We reserved a non-smoking with a king bed. I was tired and a little on edge at that time. Once again they felt sorry for us and up graded our room to a suite. I didn't complain. It was pretty nice. The next day we saw the sights of Vegas. That night we went to Donny & Marie. I loved it! So worth it to see the show. Then the the next day we headed back home. It was a great getaway!

The new road going over the dam - Our Train - Eric & I in coach, I love his crooked smile!

The Canyon!

The train station - The train robbers!

1st class seats - Our suite in Vegas.

Mr. Carter Sean West

2010-02-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

I found this in my camera.

Way to cute! Those are my glasses and grandpa's scriptures. He is the cutest kid!

Grandkids are the best. They always bring a smile to my face.

I miss all of them right now. Grandpa has been sick so I need someone to make me laugh!

Turning 22

2010-02-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

Scott's Birthday!

It is hard to believe that Scott turned 22 on February 4th 2010.

Where do the years go? It seems like yesterday that he was born.

Not a real cute photo of his mother :) but it was the day he came home from the hospital.

We had a quiet little party for him. Both grandparents were out of town so we celebrated with his cute friend Ashley, Kylie, Kimberly and Carter.

Christmas Morning 2009

2010-01-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning 2009! What a Great Christmas. We wished all the kids were home. We loved having Kim and Sean. We got to spoil Carter. He was so much fun. Santa was pretty good to him. We also loved having Grams & Gramps with us this year. Don't they look cute in their Christmas pj's? Thanks everyone for all the gifts, you all did way to much. We love you!

I found that you can click on the collage and view it bigger.

North Carolina - Thanksgiving

2010-01-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

I hope this works! I tried to do a collage. I wasn't sure how to move the photo's around so they got out of order. Oh well. We started our trip out helping Ryan and Starla move into their new house. The last photo should be the first. Scott is sleeping on the job. The washer needed to go up stairs. He was taking a break. Now go back to the top, it starts with Emma. Then we go to North Carolina. We went out to watch the kids so their parents could go play. We had so much fun. We pulled the girls out of school and headed to Virgina. We went to a civil war site. Appomattox Virgina. It was the place where General Grant and Lee made the treaty to end the war. Then we just saw lots of fun things. We drove the croaked road. (blue grass music is big all along the road). We went to Mt. Airy where The Andy Griffith show was filmed. I thought it was way cool. Kylie had no idea what the Andy Griffith show even was :) how sad.

When we returned home my Brother and his wife Marcy came to spend thanksgiving with us. It was so nice. It had been years since we had turkey dinner together. We prepared the dinner, then Stacie and Whit arrived home. So we all had dinner together. It was such a nice time.

The Friday after thanksgiving we loaded up and went to a tree farm and found the perfect Christmas tree. That was so much fun. We took a hay ride to the trees, past tobacco drying in a barn. This was the first Christmas tree we got to help pick with the kids since they moved to North Carolina. I'm so glad we got to be with them. It was really special. We had such a great visit.

Goodbye Big Blue

2009-11-09T17:07:00.001-08:00

This is Big blue. The guy we bought her from about 6 years ago wanted to buy her back, so we sold her. We had a lot of good times on her. We both felt it was time to give her up. We had talked about it, then the original owner called. So we did it. Eric found another bike that he liked in Portland Oregon. So we flew to Portland to pick her up and drive her home. I have to admit I was a little nervous. The unknown was a little nerving. First of all the guy wanted cash. He said he would pick us up at the airport and take us to the bike. My thoughts were that he was going to hit us over the heads and rob us and dump our bodies over a cliff somewhere.
Eric reassured me that that would not happen. Anyway he did pick us up and he was very nice. He took us to his dealership and we picked up the bike. We loved it. We were both very excited about the bike. It needed a new tire so the guy followed us to the Yamaha store and we waited for the tire then we were on our way. We took a few detours through Portland. We saw some beautiful falls along the way. The bike ran good and we had such a good time. The first night we made it to LaGrande Oregon.
The next morning we both woke up early and we had the same thought that if we were going to be safe that day we needed to go to church. I didn't pack anything. I had to pack really light so we could put everything on the plane and on the bike. Our luggage carried our leathers ,a comb, tooth brushes, mascara, change of undies and not to much more. So we had nothing for church. We called Walmart and they opened at 6:00 am. So we got up and went shopping. (I know we broke the sabbath so we could go to church - funny huh?) I bought a skirt and blouse, Eric bought a pair of pants and a shirt and tie. I also bought a round brush, hairspray and a cute pair of sandals. We were set. We got ready and we were cute I wish I had taken pictures. We had to ride the bike to church. In my dress, yes it was sweet. (I also only packed long garments, I kept trying to roll them up) We made it though. We were going to sit in the back and enjoy the meeting and be on our way. When we walked in I ran into my old roommate from Ricks. It was fun to see her. She didn't recognize me though. It's been 20 years, plus I looked pretty cute. We visited after church for a minute and then we were on our way. As we were leaving the missionaries walked out and saw us on the bike in my skit. It was great. We did feel better about driving on Sunday. We went from there to Stanley Idaho. The weather was beautiful. The next morning we woke up to a heavy frost. It was coooold. We had to stop at a little cafe and warm up with a hot chocolate. After that it warmed up and we made it back home. We went 830 miles. It was great. We fell in love with the bike. Now that winters here we hate the thoughts of not being able to ride.

The new bike. She needs a name!

Eric and I at the falls.

Kylies 17th Birthday & Homecoming Dance

2009-11-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

Kylie's birthday was the same day as the homecoming game so after the game a bunch kids came over for ice cream and cake.This is Kylie's date for the dance, Jentry Nelson.Chantelle came over to help Kylie with her hair. Love ya Chantelle. She is Kylie's Cuz. I'm so glad someone lives close to do her hair. I don't do hair! She looked so pretty. I can't believe she is 17. Where does time go?

Labor Day Week-end

2009-11-07T20:00:00.001-08:00

We went to Island park and spent labor day week-end. We stayed in buffalo campground. It is one of our favorite camping spots. We took Kailani Klingler with us. She is our adopted daughter. She keeps Kylie happy. Grams & Gramps Cheney brought their trailer and camped by us. It was a very relaxing time.

We went to he play mill that Friday night. We saw Footloose. They sang to Kylie for her 17th birthday. She loved it.We found this fun spot that had a rope hanging from a tree where you could swing out and fall into the water. The girls had a great time doing it. Eric couldn't stand watching so he also joined the fun, Levis and all. I wish I had pictures of him. It was pretty funny!

Back to School

2009-08-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Where have the years gone? Kylie Started her junior year today. She was so excited. We had to do the traditional picture of the 1st day of school.

I found this one of her starting 1st grade, not much change!

Scott looks very excited :)

Anyway I thought it was pretty cute!

The Bike Ride

2009-08-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

We took a few days and rode our bike through Montana and Yellowstone. We had so much fun. It rained (hard) for about 100 miles on us. I wish I would of taken pictures of us all decked out in our rain gear. It was pretty intense sometimes. We spent the night in Chico Montana at a little hot springs. The hotel was pretty cool. It was pretty old. All the rooms on one floor had to share the bathroom and showers. The room had a sink in it which was nice. Sounds kind of sick but it really was ok. The park was beautiful. It really was just a nice time!

Slide show of Summertime Fun!

2009-08-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Summer Time Fun

2009-07-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

We had a busy month of June. On the 9th Kylie and I went to girls camp. It was my 4th one as the Stake Young Women's President. It has been fun to be there with Kylie all these years.
Then the next week Stacie and the girls came home and I met them, Kim, Kylie and Starla in Salt Lake. We had a fun sisters retreat for a few days. We had all the kids, one day Stacie's sister in law watched ALL the kids, except Sofie, so we could go and have pedicures and do some shopping. Thanks tons Brooke!
After our fun time together we headed to Lava hot springs for our Cheney Family Reunion. It was fun to see everyone. Even my sister Sue, she lives in Rexburg but it's hard to get together. We all had fun visiting. The only problem was is it wasn't long enough. Thanks Sue it turned out great!
Then it was back to Rexburg and all we did was play - Rigby Lake, the zoo, the museum, water games in the yard, lots of eating. Then it was the 4th of July. What a fun time. Stacie, Whit, Kim, Sean and Kylie all ran in the Fun Run that morning. They all made it and had pretty good times. Way to go Kids! Starla's Mom and Dad came to watch the parade with us and then came over later for more food. The boys did the great fireworks show. Who needs to watch Melaleuca fireworks when you have "THE BOYS" show. It was awesome. What a fun time everyone. It is way to quiet around now. I love you all!

Grandkids!

2009-07-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun month! It was fun to have all the kids home. I'll post more about summer later but I had to post this picture of the grandkids at G's dairy. To cute!

Robin's

2009-07-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

This spring I hung my springtime basket out my front door. With in days two Robins started to build a nest. It has been a fun process to watch. For the first week or so the Mom would get really mad every time we would go out the door, she would attack anyone coming to the door. After awhile she settled down and remained pretty calm as we would come and go. We started to call her Mary. I would say hello every mourning. About two weeks ago all four babies flew away and we haven't seen them since. I thought it was a pretty cool thing.

Empty nest!

North Carolina & New York City

2009-06-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Tribute to Andy

2009-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is our little dog Andy. Stacie got him for her 16th birthday, July 11th 1996. He was born June 19th of that year. Stacie, Matt (her cousin) and I went to pick him up. He was so little.

We had him for almost 13 years. After Stacie got married she took him to live with her and Whit but all he did was sit at the door and whine. It broke her heart so she brought him back home. Which was fine with me, I kinda liked him.

This is Stacie's senior picture. She had to take one with Andy.
This is Andy at this past Christmas 2008
About two years ago he was diagnosed with a heart condition and bad hips. He still loved to chase cars even with his bad hips. I was so afraid he would get hit by a car. They told me then that when he started coughing really bad that the end would not be far off. About a month ago he started to cough alot. I didn't think a whole lot about it. He was still so active. Just after that Eric and I went out to see Stacie & Whit. We thought he would be fine. On April 30th we got a phone call from Kylie telling us that Andy had died. She went to check on him when she got home from school, he was curled up in his bed. Her and Scott buried him in the back yard. I felt bad I wasn't there. But I am almost glad I wasn't. I'm also glad that he went the way he did I didn't want to make the decision to put him to sleep. After we got home it was hard to not have him around. I still think he is here, when I go outside I want to say, " com'on Andy, let's go out." It is just weird not having him around. He would follow me around the house all day. No matter what room I was in he would be there too. I was looking at pictures in Kylie's camera the other day and found this picture of Andy. It was taken about a month ago. I didn't realize how old he really looked. Poor thing. I'm glad he is now in a good place.
We love you Andy!

"Andy"
June 19th, 1996 - April 30th, 2009

Jazz Game

2009-04-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning we went to Salt Lake with Mom & Dad Erickson and Neil and Sherri. The boys needed a break from work. They wanted to golf but a storm rolled in with 3 or 4 inches of snow. Is it spring? We met Ryan and Starla and Emily and Will for dinner at The Market Street Grill. We then went to the Jazz game. It was fun. The Jazz were way ahead but almost lost it in the 3rd quarter. They did pull it off. It was a good game. We had a good time.
The next morning they dropped me off for my young women meetings at the conference center. My presidency drove down and met me there. The meetings were awesome. It is so nice to be in the presence of those women. Sister Dalton is so great. You can't help but feel the spirit. After the meetings we had lunch at" The Garden" on top of the Joesph Smith building. Great place for lunch. We even had fried pickles. (They are good Marcy) We then went shopping at Orson Gygi's. It is a restaurant supply store. It is awesome! I spent way to much money. We have to go there girls! It was a great day!

David Archuleta Concert

2009-03-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

Eric and I took Kylie and Kailani to see David Archulta, It was so awesome! He was playing in Pocatello. Eric and I were not the oldest ones there either. We had great seats. We were 8 rows back from the front. The only problem we have now is that we are deaf. Small price to pay. He gave a great concert! He is really cute and little. Kylie is now in love.
On our way home Eric and wondered what we are going to do when Kylie leaves home and we don't have her to use as an excuse to go to these fun events. Our grandchildren had better move closer so we can take them! We had a great time!
The photos are not that great. The last photo is Kylie and I with the Jacksons. They were there. They had front row seats.
A girl we sat by had a great camera and said she would e-mail the photos. I haven't heard from her yet. She was from New York and has been following David on his tour. She is 35 and has done this by herself. I asked if she follows the bus she said no, that would be stalking! Crazy huh? If she sends me the photos I'll post them later. I love never growing up!

Kylie's Shoulder Surgery!

2009-02-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

On February 25th Kylie had shoulder surgery. Not so fun, it has been four days now and she still doesn't feel very well. The meds make her sick. Anyway two years ago she was snow boarding and started to fall, she caught herself with her arm and she heard a pop then she fell on her shoulder and felt it go back in. She had to be taken off the hill in a toboggan. When she got home we took her to the doc. He xrayed her and said nothing was broke. It had just popped out and then went back in. So that was that. It took her awhile but she recovered.
Then last year she tried out for JV softball team and made it, but it kept popping out and she was always in pain but she endured and had a good season and was looking forward to playing this year. In January she went to a camp in Logan Utah and hurt it pretty good. The team doc told her she needed to go to an orthopedic doctor to have it looked at. So we did. He thought it was just an instability problem. He did order an MRI just to be sure. Of course there was nothing there, just a big bill. He thought physical therapy would do the trick and she would be ready for try outs. We tried it for a week or so and all it did was make it worse. The therapist was to afraid to do anymore so we went back to the Dr. He suggested surgery to tighten the tendon that holds the ball in place. We hoped she could just endure the pain and try out this year then get it fixed in the summer. He didn't recommend that, he wanted to do it now so we did. After he got in he found a tear. He couldn't figure out why it didn't show up on the MRI. Oh well it is fixed and all is well except she wont be playing ball this year or this summer but by next year she will be great. Her coach is going to keep her on the team to help her out. Sorry this is so long. If anyone has ideas of getting her off the hard drugs so she can get feeling better let me know!

Valetines Dance

2009-02-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

New Orleans

2009-01-29T09:56:00.000-08:00

We went to New Orleans for the NADA convention. (National Automobile Dealers Association). The last time we were there was the February before Katrina. I thought maybe it would look a lot cleaner with new paint and fixed sidewalks. Was I wrong, it looked worse! There are a lot of empty buildings and the sidewalks are awful. Those who can afford to fix up are, but there is so much to do. ( We didn't take a lot of photos, sorry). We still had a great time. We did a lot of walking and eating. We spent a lot of time at the convention center. Eric went to meetings and I went to the place they have for the spouses. I had a facial and attended a work shop on dieting. It Sounds boring but it really was fun. Shopping was not so good. I found Sax Fifth Avenue. Thought maybe I would buy a dress. Ha, the minute I walked in I new I was in the wrong place. First of all I walked from the convention center. It was about five blocks. The humidity and my hair don't mix and I was hot, yet I was cold it was in the 60's. Anyway I felt like I looked awful. I walked around a bit, I looked at a few price tags and about died. A little jacket was $1,000.00. Yep I was in the wrong place. Even things on sale were way out of my league. I slowly walked out so know one would see and I went back to the convention center. On the way back I walked through the river walk shops. A little more my style. Not many stores were in there because of Katrina. But those that came back were OK. There was Gap & Ann Taylor Loft. That was it, The other shops were little souvenir shoppes. I did find a sale in Ann Taylor's, all their sale things were another 40% off. That was fun.

We ate at Emerils restaurant "Nola's", So good.. the Crab cakes are to die for!

We found the LDS church on Sunday. It is a very small branch. They had 2 big wards before Katrina. Now they are down to a branch. Those that left haven't come back yet. It was very humbling. It was nice to be there with them.

On Monday we went to the closing workshop at the convention. They Had President Bush (old bush) and president Clinton. It was so cool. They are both working together to help build disaster stricken places. They were both really fun to listen to. It's nice to know that they are working towards a cause for the better and they can set aside political differences.

Our way home was so fun (NOT!) Our flight to Cincinnati was delayed because of weather. That made us miss our flight to Salt Lake. We tried to make it. We had 10 minutes after the plane landed to get to our next gate. We had to run from one terminal to another. Go on 6 walking sidewalks and one mile long escalator. Eric ran ahead I tried, really I did. One man asked if I was OK. I felt silly. We still didn't make it. Even if I would have kept up we wouldn't of made it. Just so you know Eric and I will not be doing amazing race.

Eric and I at Emerils

The LDS Church in New Orleans

President Bush & Clinton

( not a good photo )

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T14:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was pretty quiet. The only kids we had home were Scott & Kylie. We still had a great time. Scott came home from California ( he is finished with his internship at the Aurthur Murry Dance studio. He loved it, but we are glad to have him home.) He got home around 5:00. We headed over to Grandma & Grandpa Erickson's for dinner. Grandma & Grandpa Cheney came with us. The Parkinson's and Flamm's were also there. So everyone had the best of both worlds. It's nice to be around so much family at Christmas. After dinner we came back home and played Mario Cart, opened our Christmas Jammie's and read the Christmas story from the bible. It was very fun. We then made Scott & Kylie go to bed so Santa could come. The next morning we got up around 7:oo. Kylie called because we were not awake. We opened gifts and ate a breakfast casserole and just played with our new toys. Everyone got I-pods so that was fun. I only have a few photo's. Enjoy!

The new pj's!

The Gifford's gave us a Moravian Star. It is so pretty. Thanks everyone for everything. Even though we were not together our thoughts were with all of you! We missed you!

2008-12-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

Kylie went to the Christmas dance with a friend named Bryton. He is a Junior. Just a friend. She had a great time.

She wore one of Kim's dresses. It was sleeveless so I found this little sweater to go over it. I thought it turned out pretty cute. Kailani Klingler did her hair. She is Kylies friend who isn't 16 yet. I'm so glad. I don't do hair.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was really fun. We had 16 people come over to help celebrate. Ryan, Starla, Emma, Sofie. (oops that makes 17 - 16 around the table) Kim, Sean, Carter, Kylie, Scott, Suzan, Brent, Leslie, Dan, Grandma & Grandpa Erickson and Eric & I. The boys had an early game of football before dinner. After dinner we all went bowling. It was the Mendenhall's against the Erickson's. The Erickson's came in matching shirts so the Mendenhall's knew we meant business. I believe the Erickson's won! Carter and Emma had fun dancing around the bowling ally. The last photo is of little Sofie.

New Tile!

2008-10-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

The carpet in my laundry room had seen better days. I wish I had taken before pictures so you all could appreciate it better. All the kids wanted me to put the new floor on the blog so they could all see it. I thought it turned out pretty good. It only took 3 weeks to get it done. I did the grouting all by myself. Dad did cut and lay all the tiles himself so I guess it was only fair.

I wish I had doors on the lockers. Oh well at least they are clean for a while.

Kylie came running up the stairs the other morning screaming, only wearing a towel. She was getting into the shower when this Hobo came running by. She about had a heart attack. So did I when I tried to catch him. He lost one of his legs in the process. We caught him to show Dad and then we flushed him. He really is big!

Summertime Fun!

2008-10-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

Our summer was way to much fun. We had a lot of things going on. It all started with girls camp in June, that's the photo of Kylie doing the hula. Then it was off to Oregon for a few days. Eric had meetings so Kylie and I and a friend of Kylie's, Kari all tagged along.

Eric & Ryan took off for Alaska along with Neil and his boys, Scott wasn't able to go. After that all the kids were home for the 4th of July. We all ran in the fun run, ( not so fun ) anyway then it was off to the parade. The rest of the week we played at the spray park, played on the park toys and rode the carousel. All the girls (except Starla 'cuz Emma broke her collar bone while the boys were gone) took off to see Kim in Boise. We had a great time just shopping, swimming, painting our toes and just visiting. It was great! After we got back we had a fun day at Rigby Lake with one of Stacie's friends from High school. Then Stacie went back home. (bummer)

Scott took off to go on tour with the dance team from the college. I wish I had photos. Now it was time to get back to life. Our stake took our youth to Martins Cove the end of July. What a great experience. I hope it built testimonies because it sure did mine. Then we came home to a new grand baby. Kylie and I took Emma and went school shopping. That was fun, Emma got lots of new toy's "Emma if your good Grandma will buy you a toy" She was great! Then we had Carter for a few days while Kim & Sean went to Vegas for their anniversary. We went huckleberry picking. We got about 2 cups, enough for a pie.

Eric & I went to California to a nephews wedding, it was great. It was nice to get away with Eric for a few days. Oh, we also had Carter, Lillie, & Kim's birthdays in August, Stacie's was in July.

September we went to Sophie's blessing then Eric & I went to Washington DC. Eric had meeting's again so I tagged along. Stacie & Whit & the girls met us there. It was so much fun. Eric had meetings so I got to go and play with the kids. We went to the museums and the zoo. We also celebrated Eliza, Kylie & Sean's birthday's. What a summer! I'm sure I left out a few details but those were the highlights. Great Fun!!!!

Buzzzzz!

2008-10-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

The leaves are starting to fall off our tree out front, Look what we found!

It amazes me how these little things can make this great big house.

Summertime fun 2008

2008-09-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

Kylie is in HIGH SCHOOL!

2008-09-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Kylie is a Sophmore at Madison. Hard to believe. Where did the time go? This is kylie and her friends on the first day of school. Kari, Kylie, Linzy, & Lani.

This week was Homecoming. This was the powder puff game. The sophmores played the seniors and lost.
Don't they look tough?

The big bomb fire after the big game.

The big first date! This was the day date before the dance. Kylie went with Colter Shirley. They went to the Riot Zone and played mini golf, had a picnic lunch and played the amazing race. She said " It was so fun". After the day date she came home and got ready for the dance. They went to eat at Jason Wards house!

The BIG dance!
She is so cute. She really could of used her big sisters to help with the hair. Mom doesn't do hair! But with her doing it over it turned out pretty good.

Colter and Kylie

Colter had a black eye. The night before he had a soccer game and collided with another player. Ouch! The other guy had to have stitches.

Going....

Going..... Gone!

Bike Ride to Beartooth Pass

2008-08-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

Eric and I rode motorbikes to Beartooth pass in Montana. We rode about 400 miles. It was a lot of fun. At times it was intense with steep switchbacks but we made it ok. We did feel a little out of place because we rode a huge comfort bike while our other friends all ride the cool ones. Plus we wore helmets and the others only wore their do-rags and leather. But it was still a lot of fun and know one really cared that we were different.

2008-08-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

Sofie Anne Erickson Our 7th grandbaby has arrived. I'm not good at journaling so I would rather show photos!