Murphy Clan Christmas Party 2006

The Belliston's are certainly getting a work out when it comes to entertaining. We had the Murphy Christmas Party at their house. We had soups and salads and deserts, exchanged presents, visiting and went home!

Temple Square

We managed to squeeze in a short visit for Temple Square this year. It was very cold! We ate at the Training Table before we went to Temple Square. Natalie was at her Burn Unit Christmas party.

Thanksgiving @ Ashleigh's

Ashleigh had Thanksgiving at her house this year. What a relief for me--that relieved me from all of stress! I cooked the dressing, sweet potatoes, and cranberries. Jenny and Eric did the turkey and gravy, Ashleigh did the potatoes, and Natalie attempted to do the rolls.........

Ashleigh and Jenny made the pies. It was great.

Jayda's Halloween costume

This is one of many Jayda's Halloween costumes--Tinker Belle. She also has Ariel. She is getting ready for trick or treating......

Jennifer's 34th Birthday

October 29, 2006

Today we celebrated Natalie's belated birthday and Jenny's birthday. We had a spaghetti dinner at Ashleigh and Randy's house Sunday evening. Everyone exchanged gifts, and we had birthday cake with ice cream. Joel and I left early to get home to watch "Desperate Housewives". A great time was had by all. Natalie celebrated her 26th birthday in Palm Springs. I know--it's a hard life.

OH MY GOSH--Jenny's Halloween Party

OK--this was the best party yet! Everyone was dressed up, and Joel got the award for the best costume--he was the tooth fairy. He was not real happy about his costume-but he refused to go to the store with me to get an outfit. Randy was the mafia guy, Ashleigh was Medusa, Chloee and I were witches, Jenny was a 90's girl, Parker was Drucula and Olivia was a pony. Oh yeah-- How could we forget Natalie? She was Wonder Woman. Great food and fun was had by all!

Pumpkin Patch

Jenny, Joel, and I took the grandkids to the local pumpkin patch. The kids picked out their own pumpkins. Jayda missed her pre-school pumpkin patch visit because she was in California. The other grandkids had not gone yet--so it was perfect for us all to go.

Palm Springs

On Friday, we visited Becky one more time, and then had to leave to pick up Natalie at the Palm Springs airport. Her plane was on time, and Jayda was glad to see her and spend the weekend with her. We spent the weekend with the "Palm Springs boys"and had a wonderful time. The weather was in the high 80's, and we spent some of the time in the pool. I know, it was hard to take, but we made the best of it. We took Dave and Glenn to lunch at our favorite Japanese resturant for lunch on Saturday, and later that night we had a birthday dinner for Natalie, who spent her birthday by herself, as we were gone! We just relaxed and swam on Sunday, and we got ready to head home the next day. But Uncle LeRoy had to come over and do Joel's hair--with the highlights to cover the grey. The next day we drove to St. George, Utah to spend the night with my dad and Martha.

California Trip w/ Jayda

On October 18, we left for California to visit friends and relatives that we had not seen for quite a while. We arrived that night and stayed in Buena Park, right next to Knott's Berry Farm--which we did not have time to go to. The next day we went to see aunt Becky, who lives in an assisted living center, with husband Garland, who is in the rest home side of the facility. So was so happy to see us! We took her to lunch at Dukes, that is right on the shores of Huntington Beach. She had never been there before, even though she had lived in the area all her life. The food was yummy, and she was so glad to get out. Later that evening we went to visit Julie Brown in Cypress. She was glad to see us too. We talked about old times, family, and books, and how much we had all changed!

BOLT LOOSE?????

Last month I escaped and went to BUNKO with Teri Ivie. I never take my cell phone because I do not want to be found, or bugged. Jenny called Teri's phone and told me to get home because there was a bolt loose at the horse barn, and Joel wanted me to get there quick. I looked at Teri and said--what do I have to do with a loose bolt? Then I could hear Jenny repeating the phone message: A BULL MOOSE! OK-- we all screamed and got excited because that is big deal to see a moose! So we get to the barn, and there in the dark is this huge moose just looking at us. Some of the neighbors were there taking it all in. Joel had gone to feed the horses late in the evening and when he got there the horses were acting "funny". They did not greet him at the gate, and they were running around, not even interested in eating. He hung around for a while and then heard something that had just jumped into the canal nearby. Oh boy--what he saw next was being face to face to a bull moose. He could not believe his eyes. We called Wildlife Resources and they said they could not get the moose in the dark--wait until the morning. The next morning at about 5:00 a.m. Joel went back over the the horses, and our friend was gone. He got a phone call later in the morning that said the moose had been caught down the way at Timpangos High School football field. Our moose friend had been down here twice before, as he had two tags on his ear. Three strikes and you are out---they took him far away. He was on KUTV that night and on the KUTV web site too. We had just returned from a short trip to Teton Park/Yellowstone, and we did not see one moose. That was a big disappointment for me, as moose are my favorite animal, and I love to take pictures of them. Anyone who hunts and kills a moose is not my friend-------

Utah State Fair 2006

The cowboy, Natalie, Jayda and myself went to the state fair this year. We were there about twenty minutes when we ran into the Wimmer's--of all people. We were all there on Sunday.--skipping out on church. It is easy to skip church........ anyway it was fun to run into family. Jayda enjoyed all the livestock, especially the pigs. I think our family was the only ones there with all of our front teeth and no tatoos....... All kinds come out on Sunday. Maybe we should have gone to church after all.

Willie Handcart Company

Today is the 150 year anniverary of the rescue of the Willie Handcart Company. This picture was taken at sunset at the Parowan, Utah cemetary, at the grave of Christian Rasmussen, who married Mette Mortensen --who survived the ordeal, along with her whole family. Mette is buried next to Christian--but her tombstone is flat to the ground, so it cannot be seen. Christian and Mette Rasmussen are my great-great grandparents.

Camping

This is how bad you can look after a few days of camping. You have to wear a hat, and it was August--but cold even in the day. I"m glad I don't have to do this too often.

The Day the Mallards came home..

The mallards at Jayda's Pre School Show and Tell.

The day Joel let the Mallard ducks go.....

OK--Joel loves to ranch, but he doesn't have a ranch. He raised these ducks from the day they were three days old. They were a "Easter Present" for the family. They were in the kitchen under a lamp until they got older. Then they were put in the backyard in a pen. Soon they were huge, and were getting in the street. The next door neighbor told him "Maybe you should find a new home for your ducks. They might get eaten by a dog, or worse--hit by a car". He could never find a suitable place for the pair--until he thought about the ranch we were going to visit --so they are now in the possession of the Peterson's of Spring City. They like it there we are told.

My favorite: SUNFLOWERS

I took this picture at the Peterson ranch in Spring City--during our weekend visit in July. Sunflowers make me happy and I love to take pictures of them in the summer.

Jayda and Sophie--getting ready to ride

The girls are getting ready to ride the ponies around the neighborhood

Sitting by the River

Here I am--sitting by the river in this secret place--enjoying the beauty of the location. We stayed at the Lake Hotel that evening--which is my favorite place to stay. We were celebrating our 37th Wedding Anniversary. How could we stand each other this long?????

We weren't fighting this week.................
just wait until the next week.................

The cowboy found an ancient rifle barrel

The cowboy found appears to be an old gun barrel that was laying by the river. I was busy hunting for sparkling rocks.

Labor Day Weekend--2006-Yellowstone

OK--here we are after leaving Grand Teton National Park. YELLOWSTONE. We are at our secret place that no one knows about--where there is tons of ancient stones--obsideon--laying around by the river. A friend turned us on to this one. He did some work there with a water pump some years ago. Great find! The location will go with us to our graves--we were sworn to keep it a secret.

The Zip LIne--Heber

Ever heard of zip lines???? I thought it was just some kind of kid game......not! Here is Ashleigh on the zip line--about thirty feet above the ground and it was starting to rain! Randy went before her--but I wasn't about to do this one!!!!

Heber Valley Camp site

Uncle Dave and two of his three grandkids, Stockton and Saylor. We had such a great time. The whole Murphy clan went and we had a wonderful time--even though it rained and thundered, etc. The food was great and the company was even better. Dave flew in from Los Angeles to be with us.

Remembering 9-11

Where were you when you first heard about 9-11???? Joel and I were just leaving the Young Herb Living Farm in Mona, Utah, after spending the night there on a wagon train that was heading for Mountain Meadows. We were listening the KSL Talk Radio when the news came on and told about the first plane to hit the Trade Center. By the time were arrived home, Ashleigh had the TV on, the second plane had already hit. The towers came crashing down. We just could not believe what we were seeing!!!!!! The rest of the day was ruined. It will forever be in my memory.