Mike & Joy Candrian Family

January craft time

2012-01-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

January is the perfect month to finish my craft projects. I've been having so much fun making coordinating duck burp cloths & a receiving blanket for Amy's baby using the leftover fabric from her baby blanket. Pink will be the next color on my list of things to finish. Last night, I also finished a few more felt Christmas stockings for my future grandchildren while watching the movie, "Never Been Kissed" on our new Kindle Fire. (Fun chic flick...I've recommend it.) I know what you're probably thinking...Christmas is over but I just like to plan ahead.

Baby Quilt #5

2012-01-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

It's a miracle, my next baby quilt is finished! Amy started this quilt maybe 5 or 6 years ago. When she & John came home the end of September, she threw it on my kitchen table and announced that I had until May to get it finished. YES, that is how she announced that she was pregnant.

It feels so good to have reached my next goal & earlier than I ever would have imagined. After finishing Brittany's quilt Saturday morning, I started machine quilting this one that evening and by 11:30 p.m. the quilting was finished.

I just love machine quilting...it's so much faster!

Last night I finished binding the quilt.

My favorite part of this quilt is the duck's wings, they are dimensional and not sewn down so the wings can flap. PLUS...this quilt is so snuggly warm.

I hope my next grandchild will love it.

No, it's not an original but if you're interested, here's the link to this designer's patterns: http://thimble-art.com/

They are pretty cute but I think the fabrics Amy & I selected are cuter than the ones the designer used. Just my opinion. What do you think?

Words Baby Quilt

2012-01-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of another original quilt I just finished for our next grandchild. I started this quilt quite a while ago and when Brittany learned that she was having a girl, well...it was time to get busy & finish this project. I wanted the quilt to be soft & warm so the back and the letters are fleece but I also wanted to use a lot of words on the quilt.

It's never too early to teach a child the beauty of words or to read...RIGHT?

I found the quote...

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

— Emilie Buchwald.

I love how the quote ties the idea for this quilt together.

The hand quilting has taken forever to complete.

NEXT...Start watching for a photo of Amy's adorable duck quilt for grandchild #5 which needs to be completed by May. (Amy started this quilt back in her BYU Idaho college days & I get to finish it. Seriously, it's adorable.)

A New Year

2012-01-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

2012 started out in a perfect way...we went to California to be with Rob's family and spent 5 glorious, sunny days in Coronado; only a 10 minute walk from the beach and a few minutes from seafood restaurants & shops. We played in the ocean, ran after our grandson, played with our granddaughter, built sand castles (John build a molar shapped sand castle), helped our grandson surf on the sand, fed the birds, went to Sea World and ate freshly made gelato (thanks Andrea)!

May the rest of 2012 bring an increase of good memories with family!

Random December Shots

2011-12-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

Is he really babysitting?

These two became good buddies.

Thanksgiving Point, playing in the sand.

Yup, she's warm but boy does she drool!

He love walking up the stairs and touching the temple doors.

Temple Square with Aunt Lorena

Our Christmas day surprise...a visit from Brittany, Brian & Andrea's favorite little buddy! He only wanted Andrea & they played every game he could find with her.

An injury while at his other grandparent's home... good thing his dad knew how to fix it.

Andrea hung this ornament on his ear & when it fell off, he wanted it back on...silly boy!

Candrian Year in Review

2011-12-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

The moment you've all been waiting for....

a must watch for all family & friends.

Andrea, thank you so much!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Our Fabulous Family

2011-12-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

The whole family in one location - a modern day miracle!

Our children

2011 Neighbor Gifts

2011-12-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

Easiest Neighbor Gift EVER.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! (A gift I don't have to bake & no calories...A little celebration in a bag for our neighbor gifts.) Hum, I wonder if any of my neighbors read this?

Pure JOY

2011-12-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Look at this little guys face - it radiates pure JOY! Mike & I had our first real grandparent's day on Saturday with our little grandson who is visiting from Sweden. We took him to the Sandy Aquarium & he couldn't get enough of this tank with a huge turtle and a lot of sharks. He kept calling him Tommy the Turtle after a book his mother reads him. The funny thing is that Mike...yes, MIKE keeps grabbing our new camera & snapping photo after photo.

We really like being grandparents!

Withdrawal Pains

2011-12-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

After spending 10 days with the above two grandchildren & their mother,

5 days with our darling daughter...

7 days with Rob, Amy & John, 6 days with Brittany but only 4 days Brian.
THERE...Did I forget anyone?

One fun day will all of these guys...

Celebrating a birthday a few days early...
(Do you like my truck cake?)

Spending mornings playing outside with Grandpa
(Do you love the p.j. look with tennis shoes? Also, funny how Mike got into taking a lot of photos of his favorite boys.)

Mike & I are going thru
WITHDRAWAL PAINS!

Sadly, everyone has left our home.
Please come back!

More Family Time

2011-11-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

The things that make us smile is time with our loved ones!

Saturday morning entertainment on a sled.

Bundle up because baby it's cold outside!

Craft Time

2011-11-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

I'm getting my craft time in earlier than normal.

These are my little penguin felt ornaments with real feathers for wings & Pendleton Woolen scarves & hats (the wool was from a shoe bag I was going to get rid of until I decided it would make great accents to keep these guys warm.)

Finally

2011-11-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday night, Mike & I finally got to meet our adorable niece,

Gabrielle Candrian, and her fiancé, Rafael Valez.

We met at Lark Creek Restaurant in Larkspur, California. We spent over three hours eating but mostly talking right next to a cozy, warm fireplace.

(I'm sure our waiter wondered if we'd ever leave!)

Mike & I fell in love with both of them! For all of you who know about our family, let's just say this get together was about time!

To Rafael & Gabby happy wedding in just 12 days. You make a great couple!

Muir Woods

2011-11-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

So beautiful, so peaceful...Muir Woods

"Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

- John Muir

Saturday Morning Run

2011-11-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

I asked Mike to smile & he said he was. Hum....an exhausted smile, maybe?
This was after his 7 mile run. His father use to run this trail & this was a goal of his to run it too.

Saturday morning, at 7 a.m., Mike & I headed to Stinson Beach, California so Mike could participate in a race (which upon arriving there, we learned that the race was canceled.) After being annoyed, Mike found a bunch of people to run the Dipsea Trail with which meant running a ton of hills, over rocks & branches, hundreds of steps but beautiful views. He ran with a new friend, Charlie. I took a different route and enjoyed a run north on Highway 1, then thru the streets of Stinson Beach and onto the beach...it was warm and beautiful and so easy to run at sea level. My new pocket-sized camera joined me and this is what I saw:

Notice...this guy caught this fish right before I snapped this photo.

After our morning runs.

Charlie & Mike...just finishing the Dipsea Trail Run...two exhausted men.

Marshmallow & Cutout Cake Ideas

2011-11-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

Do these images inspire you to be creative?

More fun ideas with Marshmallows,

I've never made these but always wanted to

...maybe for the grandchildren.

Can you guess that I think cut-out cakes are adorable?

Again, the grandchildren will benefit

from my love of being creative.

Fun Recipes for Children

2011-10-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

While cleaning out my recipes last night, I came across the following favorite recipes.

Monster Munchies were a favorite of Rob's. This came out of a Star Wars activity book.
The bird's nests are super easy and fun to make around Easter or what about after talking about birds or going bird watching with your child? This came from a magazine called Ranger Rick.
The cutout cakes are so fun. I made the space ship for an outer space birthday party for Rob right after we moved to Utah. I think these adorable cake ideas were from Good Housekeeping Magazine. Brittany, how about the truck or giraffe for James?
I added Cheesy Pizza Soup onto our family recipe sharing blog: http://candriangirls.blogspot.com/

Felt Countdown to Christmas

2011-10-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

After working on this for almost two years off & on, I finally finished it in time for Amy & John to countdown to Christmas. This was just a kit & all the sequins were a pain to keep contained while I sewed them on but it was nice not wasting time while traveling.

Our first Granddaughter

2011-09-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late in coming but being as this little girl lives so far away, and then once we came home from our trip, we were exhausted and also had to go back to work full time to pay for our next trip... I just kept forgetting to put a few photo of her on this blog.

Neither child was interested in this photo session.

Sporting matching hair cuts.

Andrea told tales and claimed that this is Mr. Fox's house.
A real fox came on Rob & Lorena's patio and stole one of Michael's balls....
so Michael kept wanting to take a trip up the hill to Mr. Fox's House.
I wonder if he thought he's see Mr. Fox?

This is what she did best - SLEEP

Grandpa teaching his grandson to shoot a bow and arrow. A very useful skill.

I had to be very creative cake using whatever items I could find in Sweden to make this into Elmo.
Turned out that the sprinkles were strawberry flavored, the nose - orange candy coated almond
and his smile - chocolate sauce.

What's a birthday without cake, RIGHT?

We took our grandson to Gruna Lund (an amusement park in Stockholm) to celebrate his 2nd birthday.
Notice the knock-off Dumbo ride. Our grandson knew exactly how to make the elephant soar.
Seriously, he said push that button, flies high. Wow, we miss them!
NEXT TIME, COME VISIT GRANDPA AND GRANDMA'S HOUSE.

Before and After

2011-08-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER

The sun had deteriorated our cushions on this set. After not being able to find replacement cushions, I bought this fabric yesterday afternoon. Late last night I finished one chair & an ottoman. A huge improvement! Makes me want to be in the tropics.

Visitors

2011-08-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Touching an eel at the aquarium.

This past week, Brittany & our grandson came for a visit...Andrea joined us on Monday and stayed until Wednesday. Michael Jeppesen came down from Idaho to spend a night with us. Jeff came and joined us for dinner two nights in a row (he provided fresh salmon for dinner one of the nights and we barbequed it and it was fabulous)! Now, Mike and I are going thru withdrawals from a noisy house to a very quiet one. All the toys are put away, the beds have been changed and we're wishing our grandson, daughters and nephews would all come back! Anyone need a place to stay in Sandy?

Shooting a few hoops with Grandpa.

He ask each of us to come in his blow-up pool.

His favorite place to play was in Grandpa & Grandma's closet.
He'd come out with shoes on, clomping down the hall and into their kitchen.

Jeff trying to make me smile.

He loves steering wheels. This one was at Wheeler Farm.

Loving the spray feature!

He would say, "Swing again Grandma!"

He also loved the drum stick but to hit balls with.

Overnight trip to Idaho

2011-07-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

It was great to see Michael in Sugar City this past weekend. He’s such a nice, fun, handsome and great nephew! Saturday night, we enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by Sue, played Wii (Michael had to show me how to work the controller since I hadn’t played in at least 2 years), Sue and I also had a few tennis matches…we went for a walk down their country road, got to ride in Michael’s very nice new mode of transportation, enjoyed frozen custard in Rexburg, slept in the new Springfield Inn (which was really nice)

The Dad's checking out the new car.

On Sunday, we went to their Sacrament meeting to hear Michael speak (he gave the best missionary talk), and then back to the Jeppesen house for fresh fruit and donuts and then a little fun with Ryman, Brylie and Kayden riding the go-cart. Let’s just say that Taybri didn’t want to play with her great aunt, maybe she didn't trust her siblings driving?

A Knoxville Summer Break

2011-07-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Life's fondest memories for us are centered around our family. It was so great getting to spend time with this little guy and his family in Knoxville, TN . . .

Plus his Aunt Andrea

WHO wouldn't want to spend time with their family?

When you could get a smile like this?

Candrian Relatives

2011-06-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

The little boy in the middle, behind his grandfather is Robert Lincoln Candrian. The old man is Frederick Hauser. I just love this photo. I can see the love in Frederick Hauser's face for his grandsons. Can you?

This is one of the few family photos I've ever seen of both of Robert's parents and his brother, Bill.
Robert is the taller boy in the photo.

Don't you just love the old car? I wonder what kind it is?

Robert L. Candrian winning a high school track race.
He held a record for his running that wasn't broken for something like 40 years!

Such a wonderful thing has happened, I've become acquainted with a lost relative. So, for you Gabby and all the rest of my nieces that read this blog, here are a few photos of your Candrian relatives. Sorry, they aren't cropped. These were scanned a long time ago and I had no idea what I was doing back then.

Baby Quilt

2011-05-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

I Finally finished a baby quilt for our third grandchild. Here it is, my very own creation....

Lorena wanted a light blue, bright pink and brown color scheme. So, my latest creation has: sand dollars in the corners and a fish border. Plus.....

... A bike (in honor of Lorena) and a surfboard (for Rob), a sand castle (for her Grandma), a light house and a little star fish (for her big brother).
Just so you know, the quilt is even sized, it was really hard to photograph! I seriously don't know how people enjoy piecing blocks together.
I've decided that I like creating mural-style quilts.

If a task is once begun...

2011-05-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

In third grade, I learned the following saying, "If a task is once begun, never leave it tell it's done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all."

Let me start by showing you a photo of the blessing dress I made for our first granddaughter . A very old fashion, traditional christening dress. I added tatting onto the dress which was made my her great, great grandmother, Ruby Cox. (I cut off one side of a hanky she tatted around for the trim). The pattern is one that I've had for at least 32 years. I made the first blessing dress when I was pregnant with Rob because back then we didn't know if I was having a boy or girl and I wanted to be prepared. Then when I had Andrea and Brittany, I still wasn't prepared since we thought the twins would be a boy and a girl so I had to hurry and made one more blessing dress...sadly, I never finished the dress that Brittany wore (it still needs buttonholes and buttons). I was simply too busy taking care of babies and trying to get some sleep. As soon as I finish the complicated baby quilt I'm making for this granddaughter, I decided I'd finish Brittany's blessing dress. . . I'll give it to Brittany once I'm finally done with it. Seems to me, I forgot that saying when it comes to this little white dress. It's about time that I finish what I started even if it was 30 years later. RIGHT?

O.K. - Better Than Okay

2011-05-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we enjoyed a quick weekend trip to visit Amy and John in Oklahoma City. What a wonderful surprise to find Brittany & James

hiding in their backyard waiting for our arrival!

Gardens at the Museum

We participated in the Jim Thorpe 5k with super strong winds and a beautiful, warm morning running around Lake Hefner...just look at Jame's hair to see how strong the wind was. Joy won a first place metal. Mike and Amy finished several minutes before her....too bad there were faster people their age.

The Cowboy Museum was part of our Saturday tour...it was interesting and very well done...a Definite "must see" while in OK, We loved the western oil paintings on display. Mike liked the John Wayne memorabilia. . ..who knew we'd see the actual hat and eye patch from "True Grit"?

We also visited the serene Oklahoma City Memorial. It's so sad to think of how many lives are affected by evil people and their actions.

Our little grandson loved trying on hats and glasses! Spending a few days with our family was great. Thank you Amy and John for hosting this mini family gathering.

A Unique Time Capsule

2011-05-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Tucked under our house I found this: Rob's football toy chest...a unique time capsule.

The football toy chest was given to Rob by his Grandma when he stayed with her while I was in the hospital with toxemia back in 1981 waiting for Andrea and Brittany's birth.
Grandma was spoiling him with a new toy a day.
She then decided he'd need a place to store the toys...thus, Rob toy chest.
Mike and I decided that the toy chest would be a great addition for Michael's new bedroom in Sweden.
Tigger, Zipper, & a few old friends

Fireworks, cars & a Christmas stocking &umbrella hat.

Flat Footballs

Ninja Turtle and ???

A heavy bag of sports ball, 49er towel....

High School grad cap & track appearel

Baseball hats...three are SF Giants

Rob wants it sent empty.
Mike and I think it should go filled.
What do you think?

Saturday Morning

2011-04-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Mike is in DC enjoying a few SF Giant's games with Andrea where today's low was 58 degrees and the high was 68 degrees. Some of you may wonder why I didn't go too...well, I only get 10 vacation days a year and after our Portugal trip, I'm down to 5 days ....
Mike on the other hand has so many, he'll probably never run out of them.

Today's goofy award

Sandy, UT high of 48 with a low of 28 degrees!

Why am I telling you about DC's weather....because this is what I woke up to!

Tomorrow Mike heads to Knoxville to spend some time with Brittany's family and may I add....the weather is much nicer in both places than here!

I had to shovel off at least 6 or 7 inches of snow before I could head off to this morning's 5k charity run. As soon as I got to State Street, it wasn't as bad. The only part of the 5k that was really cold was being in Riverton Park and having the wind blow the snow off the trees and on top of everyone. Plus the race took the participants tromping in snow covered grass. Which means, I got cold feet by the end of the race...luckily, I had spare running shoes in my car as part of my emergency kit and those dry shoes felt great while I waited for the awards and prizes. I ran the fastest I've run a 5k (31 minutes and 10 seconds)...I know, not really that fast, but keep in mind my age and genes...which means it wasn't fast enough to win but I took 2nd place and won a gift certificate to have my piano tuned. Which it really needs...next time John or one of the kids come home, they can play a piano that will sound so much better.

I really want to run a 5k in 30 minutes or less...anyone have any tips for running faster besides getting a new body?

April Snow storms, Wedding Celebration, and Double Nickles

2011-04-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Poor little birds...I'm sure they are wondering what happened to all the budding trees.

I also wanted to show you a few photos of conference Sunday. I seriously use to love spring...
but living in Utah doesn't always bring warmer weather during the spring season. Poor Mike, he was amazed at all the snow we got!

At my friend, Chari's wedding .

Stringhams, Christensens, and Mike...the church group at the wedding.

Mike told me I was double nickles this year. I've never heard that nickname for my age but here I am in front of my birthday pie that Mike bought just for me. He hates lemon merange pies but knows I really like anything lemon flavored. Notice, he even bought two 5's so I could brow out the candles.

The old folks win again

2011-04-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

Sporting our 1st place medals on a very cold, wet Saturday morning.

Oops a snow or rain drop on the lense...waiting for the winners to be announced.

Splash!

2011-03-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

The first morning on our vacation, after a huge rain storm, Lorena dressed our grandson in his rain gear. Mike and I took him outside to explore. Splash and rock became his favorite words.

A happy little boy outside and exploring.

The End of the World

2011-03-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

We would go to the end of the world for our children and that is what we did.

Last night, we returned from a fun trip to Portugal. This was never a place Mike nor I had ever thought about going to until Rob suggested that it would be warm (and yes, it was warmer than Utah and Sweden) and that they have great beaches and would we like to meet them there? Why not, right?

Within an hour upon arriving in Portugal on Saturday, the 12th, we meet in the Lisbon airport for a three hour drive south to an area called the Algarve. Rob rented a villa where the group stayed just west of Lagos in a very nice British community. It was so great to be with some of our family!

Boopa soon became Michael's favorite word...in case you don't know what a Boopa is, it's Michael's name for his Grandpa of course. Michael loved John and Amy but Grandma was not a word he would even attempt to say until he realized that Grandma is a fun person and would do just about anything for the little guy....eventually, he figured that word out too but Grandpa was definately his favorite person which really made Mike a happy person.

We explore a different beach every day and were amazed at the uniqueness of each Portugese beach. This is a beautiful country! We are grateful we went and that we were able to spend the time and experience with part of our family.

Friday at the beach was actually the warmest day of our trip, it finally reached the high 60's.
I think Michael needed sunglasses like his Aunt Amy.

Thursday night after dinner photo shoot,
this was the beach on the other side of the road from where we were staying...we loved the seahorse on the boat.

Amy and Lorena (hard to believe that Lorena is 5 months pregnant).

Near the "end of the world"...the most southwestern area of Portugal.

Oops, catch that boy! He's headed for the ocean.
He's so skinny, his swim suit would not stay up.

Yesterday morning commute

2011-03-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is what it looked like from our office window yesterday morning.
The worse part of the commute was the hour drive home in the snow storm Monday night and then getting out of our neighborhood Tuesday morning. Mike was shoveling when I pulled into the driveway, we both shoveled for a while then I shoveled about 3-4" before I went to bed and then Mike used the snow blower to get rid of the rest of the piles of snow Tuesday morning. Imagine....none of the snow shown was there the day before.
Thanks Lindy for the photo!

Crafting Saturday

2011-01-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon was family bonding - craft time. My sister Carol, niece Lorain, great-niece Aubree and sister-in-law, Priscilla joined me for some crafting at my home. Loved the girl bonding time . We made cards, Carol sorted photos (we laughed at how young some of us looked... we may have laughed at how you looked too), Lorain worked on a cute month to month craft kit and Priscilla whips out the most adorable thank you cards I have ever seen. We diverted our attention by showing the video of Andrea's date on http://www.themormonbachelor.com/ (Please go to date #4 and "like" Andrea...if you agree with me that she's the most amazing person out there and how could you not agree with me)! We read the clever date review of Andrea on http://realitymormon.blogspot.com/ (seriously cleaver blog on these dates) had lunch , crafted some more and then enjoyed a little cup of frozen yogurt...oh so yummy and healthy too. Thanks for coming and crafting with me!

Family Meals

2011-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

In a magazine called "Total Fitness" I read an articles about how good it is for families to have their meals together. This article stated that time spent around the dinner table with your family is actually good for a child's health and well being. The child will get higher grades, have a higher self-esteem and also get into less trouble. It suggest that you should eat at a table and not a counter so that everyone is facing each other instead of side by side. T.V. should be left off during meal time since that will negate the good that a family meal provides. It also suggested that everyone turn off their cell phones while their eating the family meal. . . I think I'll start to do that So, if you call our house around 6...you'll know why I'm not answering my cell phone please, don't call the house phone unless it's an emergency.

When our children were growing up, we almost always had family meals together. Maybe this is why they turned into great adults. It wasn't Mike's or my parenting skills, it was those yummy family meals...full of great conversations (right)?

A Tennessee Christmas

2011-01-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

This is what we saw out Brittany's back window on Christmas day.

Christmas day.... Our favorite part of our trip was spending it with two of our daughters, son-in-law and adorable grandson plus being able to Skype the missing children and talk with them on our cell phones. I love modern technology!

When we came back to Utah, the best part was only having to put away under 10 Christmas items. That was the easiest after Christmas clean-up I've ever experienced since I was a child. Instead of cleaning up the house, I spent my day reading a really good novel..."Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet".

Next year, it sounds like we'll be enjoying a full all out Candrian Christmas at our house. I may have to put up a few more decorations!

Look at the beautiful Tennessee River which can be seen from a bedroom window.

Christmas in Tennessee was cold!

World's largest Rubix Cube from the 1982 Knoxville World's Fair.

Neighbor Gifts and VT gifts

2010-12-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I delivered most of our neighbor gifts.
They were titled "WINTER SURVIVAL KIT"
Each was a little different because I'm still trying to use up all my scrapbooking supplies.
They have a cute poem by Kay Winters on the lids;

"It's just not funny
When your nose is runny;
You feel all soggy,
Hoarse and froggy.
Your throat is scratching;
The germs are hatching.
You know it's catching~

KERCHOOO!"

I saw this idea in a craft magazine but the contents were put into paint cans and since paint cans are a little expensive; I've delayed doing them until I decided that these nut containers would look great and when I ran out of those I used clear cello bags and they were just as cute.Contents: Chicken Noodle Soup, small purse size kleenex package, a couple hot cocoa packages, a can of soda and a small hand sanitizer.

This is what I gave to the ladies I visit teach: A Johnson and Johnson travel first aid kit. I added a note that said, "When you need my aid, I'll be there." I think it's a cute gift idea for your visiting teaching ladies and easy and reasonable (under a dollar)...just add a tag.

What's outside my window?

2010-12-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, Mike heard a weird hissing sound and this is what it was.

After already clearing our deck from a foot of snow, this is what was deposited after last Sunday's storm.

Maybe all the snow caused half of our electricity to go off in the house last night ...Rocky Mountain Power came out and restored most of our power but gets to come back within 3 days. Until then I'll not be able to bake nor use my clothes dryer...and tomorrow is laundry day. So, I guess I can wash the clothes but I'd have to hang them all up to dry...maybe I'll wait until next week to do this chore.

From left to right, horse, pig, rooster, chicken, lamb. These go into the barn and are part of the quiet book.(Gosh, my hand is looking old!)

Quiet Book

2010-12-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Brittany thought I should make a quiet book for James
so I thought, if I was making one, why not make four?
Doesn't everyone just love a cute quiet book to take to church? I had fun looking on-line and getting ideas. This project has already taken me a little over a month to create but I want our grandchildren to enjoy this special grandma & Brittany made books for years . . .who knows, maybe for generations!
Here are our pages:
This is the back page...it's a tic tac toe game but with various sports balls (some of the books have basket balls and footballs - love these foam pre-decorated balls) I commented to Mike that this activity is a little old for our grandsons but Mike thought our children could play it to keep themselves entertained.

This funny guy has different eyes, a set of glasses, various noses and mustaches, and varous crazy smiles, lips and whatever I could come up with. The bow tie was Brittany's idea. I like his fake fur hair.

Inside the barn are five animal finger puppets. The page zips up so the critters won't fall out.
On the right, is an aquarium where the fish can swim by sliding across the page and the seahorse swims up and down ...I used a clear sheet protector and foam fish, shells bubbles foam coral, sand paper for the bottom of the aquarium and a shinny fabric for the water effect. (My very own idea...I wish the photo had of turned out better...it's so easy to play with.

The car on the right has button-on wheels and a button-on sun. The window was made with a clear sheet protector. The house with a little car can be driven around on the road.

My robots have pipe cleaner legs and arms so that they can be taken off the page and played with.
The bodies and heads are interchangeable.
The monster page has a place for a pad of paper and pencil or pen. The noses are pom poms and the monsters have googly eyes. The little white monster is very soft...he's made from chenille yarn. He's a mini stuffed creature that can be removed and played with.

I found silver ribbon for the blade part of the ice skate. When I saw this idea, I loved that it was different and not a shoe...hopefully children are still learning to tie...are they?
The mitten has soft red fabric on it's cuff and soft warm fleece for the hand to slide into. I wish I had of made this a little bigger, my hand doesn't fit into it.

The snowman with pipe cleaner arms has accessories like hats and scarves in the brown bucket -type pocket.
The grass page has varous things hiding in the grass like a dragonfly button, two little flannel kittens, a heart, a key and whatever I could find that was little. I love the embroidered felt butterfly coming out of the grass. Brittany used all her sewing skills to attach the items that are hiding! Can you see the black feather?

Here's James holding onto the white yarn monster. It was the perfect size for little hands.
I 've saved the patterns created for this quiet book. If anyone is as crazy as I am and wants them...let me know and I'll e-mail them to you as pdf's. Just make sure you leave me your e-mail.
I strongly recommend that you wait until after Christmas to make your own quiet book(s). Next post, I'll show you the cover and the finger puppets . . . I love how they turned out and then wondered if a child would rather have plastic farm animals....they would have been so much easier to buy.

Stained Glass in our entry

2010-11-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

After thinking about adding a stained glass window to our entry for 25 years, I finally designed this window. The window took weeks to cut out and then time to solder it together and paint the patina onto the solder. Last night I got two of the panels in place and then had to ask for help from Mike to get the other three to stay. This morning when I looked into the entry, I saw the colored glass illuminated from the natural light. I'm glad I took the time to make this. I can see things I'd change but for now, this project is done once I add a little more silicone to the edges of the glass. (The silicone is holding the glass in place).
WARNING...If you come visit, please don't slam my front door! I'm not sure how secure the glass truely is.
Opps, I just noticed that one of my ship plates is crooked...I must fix that tonight.

Highway to Hale and our Tennessee visitors

2010-11-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here we are dressed up for the "Highway to Hale" 5k race which was in Orem on Saturday, Oct. 30th. Mike was a winning, happy S.F. Giant's Fan and I wore Amy's old bee costume that she wore 20 years ago (with a few adjustments). For about 10 minutes, I was announced the winner of the 50 - 59 year old women until we were leaving the festivities and I looked at the time that was posted for Mike and relized that he had my time and I was given his time. Our numbers had gotten mixed up with our names and unfortunately for me, I am not as fast as Mike. I gave back my award and prize and must be happy with the fact that we both placed 3rd for our age group...but it was fun thinking I won for those few minutes!

Look who's visiting.
YUM...Grandma let me try an orange and I loved it!

The proud Grandparents.

This happy but sleepy little boy came with his adorable mother to visit his Grandparents. When he's alert and active, he babbles the most creative words and Mike and I delight in his entertaining personality.

Favorite Relative

2010-10-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Candria sent me this drawing....don't you just love being someone's favorite? Thanks Ryman, you made Uncle Mike's and my day. We love and miss you!

A fashion statement?

2010-10-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

So Friday after work, I stopped to do some quick shopping at Target. After the shopping, I felt something funny hit my face. I looked in the car mirror and discovered another of my earrings hanging off of one of my earrings. So, I know I work with a bunch of men, but why didn't the only other female I work with tell me about this extra earring hanging off my main earring? Ever had anything like this happen to you?

Thank you Snowbird!

2010-10-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

This was taken on our FREE tram ride up to the top of the peak, thanks to Snowbird Ski Resort. Yesterday was customer appreciation day. If you missed out the resort is doing the same thing this weekend Check it out: http://www.snowbird.com/events/summer/customerappreciation.html. You just need to take a can of food in exchange for a ticket. Be generous and take more than one can...it's to help the food bank. It was a fun way to get up the mountain and if you wanted, you could take the tram down for free too. The boy in this photo and his teenage sister were freaking out about the height! It was pretty funny.

At the top it was a little breezy and chilly but you could see for miles!

Mike at the beginning of our 4 mile, 3,000 feet descent.

A rock for our chairs; this is where we stopped for lunch. The tram passed right by us and we could see a bunch of people waving.

This photo doesn't begin to show all the beautiful fall colors. By the time we had reached this far in our hike, our toes were hurting. Next time, we'll wear hiking shoes without toes!

Learning to walk

2010-09-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Everyday his walking skills improved. My friend taught him how to sign butterfly. It was fun when he realize that he could do what she showed him. That's what the hand action is all about.

Last week

2010-09-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is the cruise ship we arrived on to see Drottingham Palace.

Notice the Palace in the background.

A little piano that children were allowed to sit and play outside the theater at Drottingham.
Michael love playing it because it was just his size.

I started out my run in drizzle and finished the 6 miles across one of the bridges to Stockholm from Rob's house and back again in a huge, soaking rain storm. YEA, I did it!

I dressed Michael up in an outfit similar to one that Rob had when he was his age. Here he is with Rob's treasured toy, Puppy Too. Rob was on his way to Frankfurt, Germany for a work conference.

This simple alphabet book became a favorite, I think I read it at least 20 times one day to him.
Eventually, he could point out a few of the images when I would ask him to show me the "robot" or the "seahorse".

This is the Town Hall which Roxanne and I hurried to the top of the tower for amazing views of Stockholm. The Nobel Peace Prize dinner is held in this building.

Millesgarden on Lindingo.

A good trip, a long flight home...good to be home but already missing my grandsons. Trips like these make me miss having my family so far away. At least I'm forced into seeing new things and having a wide variety of adventures if I want to spend time with our family, which I really want...no matter the distance.

My friend, Roxanne Parker, joined me in Stockholm during my second week there.
We walked, explored and shopped a lot. She taught Michael a little sign language too.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2010-09-23T01:24:00.000-07:00

Since I am still in Sweden it's Mike's birthday, I know he'll enjoy seeing this video of his son and grandson. WE MISS YOU! HAVE A GOOD, fun DAY Mike I'll See you soon. I'll also kiss our grandson and take him to Skansen, http://www.skansen.se/ so Lorena can have a relaxing day at home. . .or a long bike ride before it rains again...besides I want to spend every moment with that little guy that I possibly can since I have to leave in soon too.

Sigtuna; second oldest town in Sweden

2010-09-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Grandpa carried me all over the place.

In front of Saint Mary's, a really, really old church...

Grandpa found a feather for me. It tickled me.

Viking inscriptions, this little guy seems to know what they are saying, too bad he can't say the words...yet.

More trip photos of our little Champion

2010-09-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Our Champion's birthday cupcakes...I saw this idea on a blog and had fun adding a photo to the party hat toothpick.

Opening gifts on his birthday...he clapped whenever we said YEA!

This statue is outside a grade school.

Happy Birthday Champion

2010-09-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

Michael has learned to clap for himself and then raise both hands over his head when we say, Champion! He has been our little champion as he learns to walk more and more from morning until evening and do very cleaver things like sit quietly while his grandmother reads him his new story book....this little boy loves having us read to him. His new book has great interactive parts. Michael has figured out how to work one of those pages and is quite pleased with himself.

Stockholm Half Marathon

2010-09-13T04:45:00.000-07:00


The route through Stockholm ...Friday afternoon, right after we arrived in Stockholm. After not sleeping much on our plane.

Mike at 22k notice the palace in the background.

Entertaining Michael while Grandpa runs the half marathon...at a swan fountain.

Grandpa proudly holding Michael after the race...hum, let me taste that metal Grandpa.

The bridge packed with runners...13,560 runners participated in this race. WOW!

My Friend's Book

2010-09-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Tiffany Fletcher, just had her first novel published. It's called, "Mother Had a Secret". It's a true story about her mother. I'm so excited for her. I've already read her original manuscript and then an updated version and found her story very interesting. On Friday, Deseret Book and Seagull will both have this book for sale in their stores. Today Tiffany told me that my name is in the acknowledgement section...what a touching surprise. I can hardly wait to get my own copy!

Contrasting colors

2010-08-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

A week ago on Saturday, I decided to paint Amy's closet. It's the first time her closet has been empty since we moved into our house 25 years ago this month. A perfect time to paint, right? While standing on the top step of an old step stool, I was painting the last corner, I leaned too far to the right and could feel myself falling. I over corrected only to fall hard! My paint brush flew out of my hand along with the almost empty paint can. I ended up on the floor of the closet. My tooth went through my lower lip, I knocked my head, bruised my hip, lower leg, upper arm...etc. Mike luckily was in the kitchen and came to my rescue. He first wanted to know what I did and then offered to pick me up but I just wanted to lay on the ground and not move and then I insisted that he first clean the carpet where the paint can fell which was not on the tarp (of course). He brought me ice and Advil and finished painting the last corner of the closet. I had a lump on my head for a week. On Friday, I noticed that my bruises were lovely shades of yellow and purple. I really love yellow and purple, they are amazing contrasting colors, actually my favorite colors, just not on my skin!

A Breathtaking Saturday

2010-08-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Mike and I ran a 10k at 10,000 feet above sea level all proceeds went to help the Sanpete Valley Hospital purchase health care equipment. We got up at 5 a .m. and left the house around 5:30 to drive south to Fairview and then into the mountains way above the city.

The views were amazing! We started above a beautiful lake and ended the run near a reservour where a mammoth was discovered in 1990.

The first part of the run was all uphill for at least 2 1/2 miles...extremely breathtaking! I believe at mile 2 1/2 I walked a few steps until I caught my breath. The best part was running downhill. I was never so glad to see a finish line in my life! Mike ran the whole way. He's so amazing. May I say that the optional activities were to go to a funeral or run with Mike in this race. I keep thinking that these runs will keep me alive and healthy longer.

Below is our one attempt at a photo using Mike's cell phone.

Photo note: do not shoot into the sun!

Days of 47 Parade Float

2010-07-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

On top of everything else in July re: wedding plans, the whole family home, working full time....I was busy purchasing parade float materials like the fringe and paint and then painting a night sky and the daytime, light blue sky, onto our stake's parade float for the Days of 47 Parade which was on Saturday, July 24th...the same day we were in Sacramento, CA for Amy & John's open house. The Saturday after the wedding, I spent a few hours gluing the jewels onto the night sky and touching-up the paint on the float. The float looked so much better with people on it!

Remake - From skirt to apron

2010-06-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

Amy's newest apron was once a skirt from junior high...I had so much fun making this for her.

A Highly Intellectual Conversation

2010-06-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hum, I wonder what James is telling Amy? Any ideas?

5k Candrian Style

2010-06-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Amy, Mike & Joy ran in the Judgesrun 5k. Amy and Mike ran side by side (way in front of Joy) until as Amy states it, "I got tired of running and just wanted to get the race over with!" She took off, passing her father and winning a lovely first place metal for her age division. Mike and Joy each managed to bring home 2nd place ribbons but Amy dominated the race...and we are so proud of her!

Wedding Preparations

2010-06-01T13:43:00.001-07:00

I'm sure you've all heard that Amy and John Lovell are getting married on the 10th of July.
A month ago, Amy came home for a week to shop for a wedding dress. Since then, I've been gathering supplies to make their wedding day special. So far these are a few of the things I've put together for their NAVY & MUSTARD YELLOW, accented with ivory reception: on Saturday, I decorating this birdhouse...seriously staying up too late but yes, I had so much fun! I. We found navy lanterns from Ikea to use on the guest tables. We're going to have fresh flowers on the handles and the coolest real candles with LED bulbs in the middle ... they smell like a real candle, they feel and look like a real candle but no problems with fingers getting burned on the hot metal or glass. YEA for modern technology!
Last night, I finished their sign-in book except the photos...which will be added after their photo shoot in 17 days.

Monday night, we had this beautiful rainbow just east of our house...don't you just love rainbows?

Early Mother's Day Surprise

2010-05-07T05:31:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I came home from work thinking about what I was going to make for dinner and instead was treated to a really nice surprise...Rob flew home before he needed to report to D.C. for work meetings and Mike was barbecuing steaks! What a great way to start a weekend. We loved having him home even if it was for just a day and a half. Today, I dropped Mike off at the airport. He's flying to NYC to go to two SF Giant games with Rob before Rob heads back to Sweden and his adorable family. Two weeks ago, Andrea was home for a week (she took vacation time to help campaign for Senator Bennett. We didn't see much of her but it was comforting at night to know that she was asleep in her room. I enjoyed our morning chats as she would drive me to work or I would drop her off (we shared my car for that week). Tomorrow Amy flies home for a week. She needs to find a wedding dress and make other arrangements for her upcoming wedding to John Lovell on July 10th in the Manti temple. Now we just need Brittany to come home with Brian and especially James....that's suppose to happen in June. In July, if all goes as planned, we'll get all our family home for the big wedding celebration.
We love taking every opportunity we can to spend time with our family.

Kiwanis 5k

2010-04-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

The difference between Mike and Joy is very evident in our ability to finish a 5k race. I always thought it was because Mike has nice long legs or that I'm a female and just can't run as fast as the male population . . . but I watched a little girl who couldn't have been more than 6 years old finish before both of us.

I was still looking forward to both of us getting recognized for finishing first in our age groups but the race organizers thought that they should give metals to the top three winners for age groups and combined the men with the women of the same age into one group. . . needless to say, I wasn't the only one disappointed. The organizers also messed up with Mike's age group and even though Mike finished way before the three men who got a metal, he went home with just me as his prize!

Traditional Felt Christmas Stockings

2010-03-28T18:26:00.001-07:00

In my spare time and while traveling, I listened to Amy's suggestion to make extra Christmas stockings for future family members...hopefully, they'll each like their special, one of a kind CANDRIAN traditional felt stocking.

DC Half Marathon

2010-03-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

For a grandpa, Mike is amazingly a fast runner. Last weekend, he ran the D.C. Half Marathon with Amy and both of them ran it in under 2 hours...Mike' time was 1:51 and Amy ran it in 1:58. Good job Amy & Mike!

On Friday, Amy found out that she's allergic to a ton of different trees along with a variety of foods. No wonder she gets out of breath when she runs outside. Please keep her in your prayers as the food allergist conducts more tests this Friday. Poor girl...the doctors use to tell her she was a hypochondriac...oops, looks like they weren't smart enough to think about the possibility of food allergies.

Sock Puppets

2010-03-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Sock puppets and Sunbeams are a perfect match. Sunday's lesson was on birds and insects. I made a sock puppet for each child and let the children act out the story of the pioneers and how the seagulls ate the crickets (the white and grey socks became seagulls). I also told the story of wicked King Ahab and how the prophet Elijah was told to hide and the ravens feed Elijah bread and meat by the brook day and night (the black socks were the ravens). The stripped socks became caterpillers with a lot of little pom pom legs!

So, whenever you have mismatched socks, or socks that no one will wear anymore and your children are not living at home and you decide to clean out their drawers... why not make sock puppets? My Mom use to make these for her little children a long time ago. For more tips on making these go to: http://www.daniellesplace.com/HTML/puppets.html

(Mike modeling the raven puppet).

Yes, birds have tongues. Did you know that they have 5 bones in their tongues to crunch nuts, seeds and insects?

Some birds have a tongue like a straw...guess which kind of bird has that kind of tongue.

Shivery Sweden

2010-03-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

No matter the season, no matter the place, we love to spend time with our children and grandchildren. Sweden in March had a very different look than it did in October. We relished seeing the blue sky and enjoyed the warmth of the sun several of the days while we were there but the outside temperature was still shivery cold. A week ago on Saturday, Rob treated Joy to an early birthday gift; brunch at on old country home situated off of the Nortic Sea. After brunch, as we were taking photos of this gorgeous spot, we heard a crunching sound and saw this cruise ship making it's way toward Stockholm...the ship was crushing the ice incrusted waterway. It was a really "COOL" thing to watch and hear.

Of course, our hearts were melted whenever we could get this little guy to smile or talk to us! At almost 6 months, he was a wiggly, fun, energetic baby.

Below is what March looked like at the marina area looking back toward their home. Notice how the boats are frozen in the water.

Mike and I took our grandson out for a few walks to the local grocery store; seriously, everyone does this in Sweden...I believe the weather might have been a balmy 20 degrees but they bundle our little grandson in his snowsuit and put him in their stroller along with a warm fleece wrap and away we go...happy and quite toasty with a heavy acrylic cover to keep the cold air out.
We got to celebrate Rob's birthday while we were there.

Sweden doesn't have graham crackers or shortening but never fear, Joy planned ahead and packed these important ingredients in our bags so Rob could enjoy his favorite cake. . .a YUMMY traditional graham cracker cake.

Here's the recipe just in case you don't have it....it's wonderfully moist and reminds us of Grandma Virginia Candrian.

GRAHAM CRACKER CAKE
1/3 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

3 egg yolks

1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. real vanilla

3/4 c. milk

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 2/3 c. crushed graham crackers

3 stiffly beaten egg whites

DIRECTIONS:

Beat the egg whites and set aside. Cream the shortening and sugar until light. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternating with the graham cracker crumbs and the milk. Fold in the whipped egg whites. Line two round 9" cake pans with waxed paper or baking parchment paper. Next spray or grease the sides of the pans. Pour in the batter and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

FROSTING:

Beat 2 egg whites until stiff. Set aside. In a small saucepan, cook 1 c. brown sugar with 1/4 c. water to a hard ball stage. (Drop a little of the boiled sugar into ice cold water to test for doneness). Quickly beat the boiled brown sugar into the stiffly beaten egg whites. Beat for several minutes until the frosting is spreadable.

GRANDMA ALWAYS DECORATED THE CAKE WITH PECAN HALVES... (Rob likes his cake without the pecans).

Lorene Park, Portland, Oregon

2010-02-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, before we boarded our plane to fly back home to Utah, Mike drove me by my old neighborhood. The brick pillar is the first sign which indicated where to turn into my old childhood neighborhood; off of Glisan onto 108th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. This pillar is where the children from my neighborhood lined-up to catch the bus for school, we'd have races to the pillars and other games were played around the pillar. The neighborhood looked like it had shrunk. Is that possible or are my memories bigger than life? The old house had changed so much, it didn't look like my home. I shed a few tears. Good thing Mike understood how I was feeling. What are the signs you think of when you think about the home you grew-up in?

Wedding...Oregon trip

2010-02-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Last week, Mike & I got to go to Portland for a special day...a family wedding. Then we headed to Salem for the reception and time with my younger brother's family...lastly time at the beach.

This is my younger brothers family...have I ever told you all that I simply adore Karl! He is an awesome brother.

I had a great time at the wedding and then goofing around while we waited for the bride & groom to finish their photos. KJ has really grown up!
Here are The Bride & Groom ...I loved how happy they both looked! It was great meeting Michael.

A few of my Thatcher nephews...their wives & some of their children.

Amazing sunset at Cannon Beach!
I'm so glad we were treated to great weather!

Family visits

2010-02-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

Paul, Catherine and their adorable children came for a visit on Saturday. The children taught us to use one of the baby toys we couldn't get to work! They read to James and were adorable and so well behaved. Thanks for coming by, it was so good seeing you!

Photo Sessions

2010-02-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Fun times baby sitting. I took my daily photos of this little man...he didn't seem to mind.

I told Brittany that her baby looks half as big as she is...no wonder her back hurts!

Time with our grandson

2010-02-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

This is the reason Mike & I took time off from work, to take care of this little guy. Thanks Aunt Amy for the cute outfit.

Lost

2010-02-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Friday plans -
Leave work at 12:30 p.m. to fly to Richmond.
10 a.m. flight canceled
Worked all day - was really excited to only work 1/2 day...oh well!
5 p.m. Home alone
Saturday
8:38 a.m. my friend picks me up to take me to the airport.
9 a.m. checked my suitcase
10:30 a.m. up to the boarding gate with my boarding pass in hand and was told that I was not on this flight but was now to be routed thru Detroit. I asked about my bag and was told,
"Don't worry we'll get it off this flight, we have plenty of time...I was told that the airpost didn't want me to get stuck in an airport when my connecting flight was canceled."
1:30 p.m. boarded my flight to Detroit
6 p.m. arrived in Detroit
Connecting flight CANCELED!
Suitcase in Atlanta
Next flight into Richmond 7 a.m. Sunday morning.
Delta Agent takes an hour to fix my new schedule!
9 p.m. arrived at the Detroit Fairfied Inn
10 p.m. attempt to go to sleep
Sunday / 1:30 a.m. fell asleep some time after this hour.
5 a.m. time to get up
5:30 a.m. take the shuttle to the airport
6:30 a.m. board my flight to Cleveland, OH
8 a.m. arrived in Cleveland, OH
9 a.m. board plane for Richmond
10 a.m. arrive in Richmond - kiss Mike goodbye (he's on his way home)
So much for planning to spend the weekend together!
Bag still in Atlanta....it finally arrived in Richmond at 8:30 p.m.
I wonder when I'll really see my suitcase?
Any bets on that?

Pop-up Fun

2010-01-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

Don’t you think pop-up books are fun? I own 35 of these ingenious books. They are the only thing I actively collect. Whenever I look at these works of art, I am truly amazed at the creative minds that go into making them. After receiving a new pop-up book for Christmas... I looked up the paper artist that created this book, "Peter Pan", and discovered that on his website there is a tab called: MAKE YOUR OWN POP-UPS.

http://robertsabuda.com/popmake/index.asp

So of course, I have been keeping myself entertained trying to make all the really cute designs using the scrapbook paper I own since I now digitally produce my scrapbooks. The best part is you can download all the patterns and follow along using their step by step instructions.

Here are a few of the cards I have created using this website (sorry a couple of the images are blurry but I love the pig and especially the spider):

Please act surprised if you get one of these pop-up cards in the mail!

The True Meaning of Christmas

2009-12-20T19:01:00.000-08:00

Today, I got to act out the nativity story with the Sunbeam class (the 3-4 year olds) during Sharing Time. I was a shepherd (just in case you can't tell from my amazing costume). This was the first time I've done this since our children were little. I remember one Christmas we actually used Amy as the baby Jesus...only 24 years ago! It was fun and things like this help me remember what Christmas is all about. Can you guess which child's parent borrowed my camera to take pictures of his child?

I also thought a lot about our grandsons and how when I held these precious babies I thought how sweet, small and so tender they are and wondered what Mary thought as she held her first born son.

Mike and I also went visiting / home teaching to our families. The message was on service. This was a perfect reminder that by serving others, we are doing what Christ would want us to do.

Adorable

2009-12-11T06:18:00.001-08:00

Just say it, "Adorable"! He really does look so much like Brian. Brittany just wants a part of him to be CANDRIAN...his long legs are definitely that part.

Our Second Grandson

2009-12-10T12:32:00.001-08:00

Long thin fingers, skinny long legs, curly toes, tiny sweet lips, dark hair...and oh so ADORABLE! Our newest grandson.

Random thoughts

2009-12-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

Just a couple quick updates. The flowers came a few days after we got home from Sweden the note said there were from Michael Robert (our grandson). He's learning early how to make his Grandmother smile...it was a thoughtful way to say, "thank you".

The next photo was taken on Thanksgiving day. We were part of a 5k race at 8 a.m. in Draper where all the proceeds went to help the Utah Food Bank. It was so cold that morning but we liked that this run was for a good charity. Mike did fabulous...he placed 2nd out of his age group. I came in 8th out of 28 for my age group...I'm a lot slower than Mike but I keep telling myself that I'm steady. There were over 3,600 people in this race.

The last photo is of our kitchen. The floors (we chose Tigerwood) were finished last week and the baseboards today. We can finally get our kitchen back in order before I leave on Saturday to help Brittany with our newest grandson, James Brian Richman. Check out Brittany's blog and or Andrea's blogs for pictures. I'm taking my camera so next week, I'll be posting photos of our newest grandchild. We are so grateful that the Lord blessed us with two adorable grandsons. We're grateful for prayer and blessings too.

countertops

2009-11-23T15:50:00.001-08:00

We can actually eat at the counter once again. YEA! The flooring arrived today. It's to be installed on Wednesday. YEA! Here's a look at the granite countertops. They are really beautiful.

Remodeling

2009-11-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

This all started with getting bids for a new bathroom cabinet for the downstairs bathroom...and ended up with tearing out the kitchen cabinets, chipping away at the old tile flooring, replacing light fixtures and ordering granite countertops. The cabinets were torn out a week ago yesterday. We are down to one working sink. The new cabinets were installed last Thursday. On Saturday, the lights were installed by Garry & Brant Jeppesen, Jeff Candrian and Mike... I loved having family members working together to complete this task. I even got sick of picking out lights and the four men went to Lowes and choose a new light for our main bathroom and wouldn't let me look at it until it was hung. They did a good job with their selection.

I was painting the kitchen walls giving them a second coat while they were installing the last light. I've replaced cabinet knobs in all three bathrooms. I've spent days looking at hard wood flooring & am getting sick of looking. I found one flooring that Mike & I really liked but our installer came over last night and started to tell us everything we would need to do to the floor if we used the one we selected and this morning before I came into work, I stopped off at Home Depot to see what they had. No more tile...it cracked and the grout chipped out...I was thinking of wood laminate but afraid it would look fake once the granite countertops are in. What do you like better, wood lamitate or the wood flooring?

Stockholm in the Fall

2009-10-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Fall in Stockholm is beautiful, you need to go to Amy's blog to see all the photos I've taken since we've been here.
Today, I thought you'd like to see the neighborhood that Rob & Lorena & Michael are living in....

They live really close to a marina so I walked down past the tennis club, past the park to the other side of the marina...I shot the photos looking back toward their duplex. The sign is the name of their street & I know you just love our photos of Michael...he really seems to have grown since we've been here.
Our little boy was blessed at church today. I am so happy we were able to be here for this sacred event. We have to leave tomorrow. I've already shed tears!

6 weeks old

2009-10-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

We arrived one week ago today. Today Michael Robert is 6 weeks old...as I was running yesterday I thought about how much babies change and how at first our time is measured in weeks...next we measuring time in months and as we grow older we measure our time in years. Isn't it sad that we aren't growing and developing weekly? I mean, just think how much we could at least mentally grow. This is Michael with little Michael a week ago...this was taken Thursday night. The last photo was taken tonight...his favorite place to sleep (in his stroller). Okay, I know, I said that was the last photo...but he loves his bath time with Grandma! During his bath time, w e had a great chat tonight. I asked him what his cousin was going to be like and he smiled and tried to tell me...
Honest...it was so cute!

Carmel Corn if you dare

2009-10-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

II made yummy baked carmel corn to take to our visiting teaching / home teaching families. Tonight, after a long day of church meetings, Mike was relaxing, reading and munching on some of this delicious treat when he felt something lodge into one of his crowns. Sadly, he broke a piece of his crown right off! Luckily, it doesn't hurt but he now has a nice jagged edge on the crown. Here's the picture I took so Brian could do some long distance dental consulting with him. (So nice to have a son-in-law that knows about these things).
I also decided to share what we took to our families. Here's a photo of the package I'm delivering tomorrow (since it's one of my V.T. sister's birthday on Columbus Day). Notice the witch card and a black shoe made from cardstock...I got this idea from one I saw in Paper Craft Magazine a few years ago...the shoe is overflowing with carmel corn.

Below is the recipe...if you dare...to make it!

RECIPE: Spray a large baking pan in preparation for the popcorn. Dump the popped popcorn into the sprayed pan...Mix together...1 c. butter, 1 c. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 c. corn syrup...let boil for 5 minutes without stiring. Stir Into the hot mixture: 1/4 tsp. of baking soda and 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Pour over 3 quarts of popcorn (I use 3 bags of microwave popcorn). I also carefully picked out all the un-popped kernels from the mix...don't want to break any crowns or teeth!

Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes...stir and bake 15 minutes more.

Dump out onto wax paper and try to wait for it to cool without eating any...I bet you can't do it!

WARNING: Do not eat if you have crowns!

ODE TO AMY

2009-09-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

ODE to AMY...

so spunky & adventuresome,
May this birthday not be dumb!
Enjoy being twenty-four...
let's hope this year is not a bore!
Each passing day...
we'll love you more & more in our own way!
So give a cheer...
LOUD and CLEAR!
For AMY happy day to you...
from all of those who hold you dear!

Top photo: baby Amy, Kent, Grandma
Bottom photo: Andrea, Amy & Brittany (on right)

Now, say the ode while you watch this video...
WE LOVE YOU MAYSIE...HAVE A FUN DAY!
XOXO Mom & Dad

SIGNS

2009-09-04T12:22:00.001-07:00

"SIGN SIGN EVERYWHERE A SIGN..." Andrea commented on her memories of the "fish" sign....

...so I decided to take a few pictures of signs. It's interesting how signs

can bring back memories. . .

SIGNS can also provide Warnings...

On Sunday, we saw this sign and watched as a couple totally ignored the sign and walked up the side of this mountain...maybe they couldn't read English or figure out what the symbol on the sign stood for...hum? Do we do this in our lives, totally ignore warning signs?

Crossing Bridges

2009-09-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

The other day Mike said that we've crossed a lot of bridges together and he's right we have...32 years of marriage will do that. We've learned a lot, suffered with trials, experienced death of our parents. We've watched our children grow into fine adults. Trips with family are happy times for us. This past weekend we enjoyed a wonderful trip where we crossed a few bridges, Richmond Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge as we celebrated this milestone. We enjoyed beautiful, warm weather on Saturday, jogged around his old Marin neighborhood, visited a beloved neighbor, Mrs. Boro (who took Mike to his first Giants game) savored the views of San Francisco, watched the musical, "WICKED" (love, love, love it)! We hurried to the Giant's game where Mike met a friend, John Boro. The Giants won & Panda hit a ball out of the park...reason for celebration! Andrea came with us too and it was great to share one on one time with her...besides we had our own personal photographer.

Sunday, we went to the only ward left in Marin & Mike saw a few people he knew from his youth...very few. The day was foggy and chilly toward the city but we still enjoyed our few days in this beautiful part of the world.

Kent - Baby Quilt - 10 k

2009-08-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Kent married Amber. It was the shortest wedding I've ever been to. The wedding party was lovely the flower girls adorable & the cake that Jill made was amazing. We picked Amy up from the airport in just enough time that she was able to congratulate the adorable couple and hang out with her cousins.

Last Saturday, Amy ran in the 10k with me...she actually ran ahead of me. She also kept running backwards to make sure I was behind her & towards the end she linked arms with me so I could pick-up my stride to finish this race. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't of burned my leg on Thursday...but I was going to prove to myself that I could run over 6 miles. I felt really bad for holding her up. She could have had a much better time than 1 second ahead of me...but I'm grateful that she cared enough for me to help me achieve this goal. THANK YOU AMY!

THE QUILT THE CAKE

After the race we had a baby shower for Brittany. Thank you to all of you who e-mailed me advice for her "Parent tips" book. She loved the book & the tips were great. I even forwarded some onto Rob & Lorena. Here's a picture of the quilt I made for Brittany & Brian's baby boy.

Once Again Blessed

2009-08-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Amy & I will run in my first 10k for the Wasatch Woman Love Your Body. I got really nervous yesterday & thought I'd ruined my chances of running when I stupidly poured out a pan of boiling water into the sink which splashed onto my right leg. Luckily, I had the sense to get a package of frozen Betty Crocker lemon frosting from the freezer (left over from a muffin mix that I thought I'd use but never have) anyway I found that it made a great ice pack...it was pliable & skinny & long but honestly, it was the first frozen thing I found to grab to cool the burning skin. THANK YOU BETTY CROCKER for making a great, versatile product!

So yesterday, instead of training for this run, I sat on a bar stool & iced my leg & prayed that it would be alright and thought how stupid I was to pour boiling water in a sink towards me instead of away from me...after a half hour I tried to run but only made it around the block before my leg was burning so I went home & iced my leg some more. I made it to work & iced my leg most of the morning but by the time I got to work, I'd moved onto a large chunk of ice, place a towel on top of it, found a carpet sample which I placed onto my garbage can & elevated my leg with the ice on top of that. I've also applied a lot of aloe onto my leg & love it's "cooling" effect on the burn.

Today, I was actually able to go running. Imagine my joy when I saw a fox run across the jogging path I was on. It was so cool! I have never seen a fox in Utah ...except for in the zoo...I think. Anyway, I feel like my prayers were answered & even though my leg has ugly red marks on it... it didn't blister & I feel really confident that I can run in tomorrow's race...along with 1350 other women. THAT'S a lot of WOMEN! I may need more prayers to run with that many women.

Kirk & Bear World

2009-08-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

KIRK actually let me take a few pictures of him...he's really grown-up into a fine, handsome young man. (When he was younger, he refused to let anyone take his picture).

Since it was a cooler August day, instead of water skiing with Sue & Garry in Island Park like we'd planned, we had a great time observing nature in a somewhat natural environment at Bear World. Kirk was our tour guide & our nephew, Jeff, came along for the adventure. Black & brown bears literally sat-up and begged for food...plus we helped feed deer, grizzlies, but honestly, the bears were the best!

On Sunday, Kirk talked in church and although he was nervous, he did a great job explaining the Church's background in Ghana. We love you Kirk! (I know you read this). He'll do great on his mission & I know all the Elders in other places will be jealous that he doesn't have to wear a suit coat & gets to wear sandals.

While there, Jeff told us mission stories about accidentally breaking ladders & bridges in Cambodia. Interesting foods he ate...I wonder what adventures Kirk will have?

Smoothies

2009-08-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning, I made an easy recipe that is so YUMMY, I knew you'd all want to try it:
Strawberry Smoothie.

1 vanilla low-fat Yoplait yogurt (Yoplait yogurt is the only yogurt I like).
7 fresh medium, strawberries, cut-up
Put the above in a blender & blend until smooth.
Add 10 medium ice cubes
1 tsp. real vanilla
Blend until it looks like ice cream.
Pour into a glass and ENJOY!
This is so nutritious and delicious and only about 135-145 calories too. (depending on how many strawberries you use).

Friday night Mike & I went to "Singing in the Rain" at Hale Center Theater in Orem to see our amazingly talented sister-in-law perform. The play was funny, entertaining and really well done! Nancy was fabulous! If you ever have the chance to see this play, go because it was worth it.

2009-07-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Rob & Lorena flew to Stockholm. Mike got the call saying they arrived tired but safely. I've promised myself that I'd be happy for them......and I truly am. Rob likes his job with the State Department, he loves to travel & his stay in Sweden will be a great experience for his family. It'll even mean Mike & I will hopefully travel to Sweden at least yearly.

So......

Why did I cry when jogging yesterday morning?

Why did I cry when saying the blessing on our food Sunday night?

Why did Amy & Brittany call me crying, Monday night; and then I started to cry?

Why did I cry when I called Rob to wish he & Lorena a safe trip yesterday?

TEARS pop into my eyes; I breath deeply and tell myself, "It's okay, it's a great opportunity, all our children are employed, I can deal with the separation of mother from adult-child. I remind myself that I am grateful for the different modern forms of communication like: cell phones, computers with cameras, e-mail and gchatting! (How did our ancestors leave their homes & family?)

Sweden is almost 5,000 miles from Utah, a fight to DC seems to take all day but to Sweden it's a minimum of 16 hours and 20 minutes! DC is two hours ahead of us but Sweden is 8 hours ahead of us.

I also ponder how Mike & I will keep our family close inspite of the miles? (SUGGESTIONS appreciated.)

2009-07-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Brittany and her cousin, Jill, conspired together & came up with a clever way to let us know what yesterday's ultrasound showed....here are the results: we're excited!

4th Family Activities

2009-07-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

All our children and their spouses came home for the 4th of July weekend. We celebrated this holiday in Idaho, thanks to Garry & Sue, Island Park was our ultimate destination. They graciously let us go to their cabin and like old times, we had a blast!

This is Lorena with the San Francisco / California baby quilt I designed and made for our first grandchild, Michael Robert. The quilt took hours to create, I know a few things I'd change but there is a lot of symbolism on this quilt and they can use the quilt to teach our grandchild about their California roots.

The next gereration

2009-06-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

Matt and Tiffany were in Utah this past weekend.
We were delighted to visit with them on Saturday.
They introduced Addilyn to us...
the next generation of Candrian's.
She's just three months old and is absolutely adorable!
We really enjoyed meeting her, thank you for coming.

Michael Jeppesen

2009-06-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Just a few thoughts about our adorable nephew, Michael Jeppesen...he is leaving next week for a two year mission to Richmond, Virginia. On Sunday, he spoke in church. Mike & I had the privage of going to hear him. (We drove up to Sugar City, Idaho and back on Sunday...good thing I had a good book to read.) He spoke about two conference talks which dealt with adversity...and tied in Joseph Wirthlin's talk about, "Come what may, and love it!" He did great! We hope he enjoys this week and BYU finals. WE LOVE YOU MICHAEL!

First Place

2009-06-16T08:49:00.001-07:00

I honestly thought I'd be 60 before I'd come in FIRST (in my age division) but on Saturday, Mike & I both ran in the Judges run for more info go to: http://judgesrun.com/ (the proceeds were for breast cancer research). We got up at around 6:15 a.m. and were at Highland High School by 7...we parked near the finish line, which was around 3/4 a mile away and walked back to the high school...then ran around the perimeter of Sugar House Park, back to the high school, up 2100 South, north at 1500 East and over to 1700 South for our 5 k. Mike with his amazing long legs actually finished a little over 5 minutes faster than me. He finished 3rd for his age group... but imagine my delight when I saw that my name was in first place ! We had two funerals to attend that same day but this was one awards ceremony I wasn't going to miss. (One of my children asked if I was the only one in my age group...no, I finished faster than 7 other women my age, I was the 88th finisher but Mike finished 41st! He's really amazing and so cute!).

I really love that women my age don't run as fast as the men do...and I'm okay with that fact.

Wow, what a tour!

2009-06-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday night Mike & I got home from another DC trip. We enjoyed being with our children...except Amy who's on her own work adventure in Botswana (luckily, we did get to chat with her using Rob's laptop & it was great to hear her voice!) We really missed her!

My favorite tour ever was arranged by Brittany to view the upper dome of the capital. WOW! The views and the art work were amazing. Thank you Brittany! Connections make life very interesting. Did you know that one of the medallions opens up like a hatch and you can look at the floor below? (see the middle photo). We joked about the 300 stairs we took to get to the top of this building. We were so grateful it stopped raining...the views of the city were really clear.

Beach Memories

2009-05-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

At an early age, the ocean was in-grained into my soul. My mother would load up the family car and take her children to the Oregon beaches. There would be a sense of excitement when we could roll down the window of the car and actually hear the ocean’s roar. But the site of the ocean was always the most thrilling moment of that drive. We’d all claim that we were the first to see the ocean thus winning some unmentioned game that ended our hour and a half road trip.

My Mother would rent a motel room with a "kitchenette" and an indoor, heated swimming pool. The beach then became our play ground. We often heard Mother’s strict instructions and followed them with the same strict obedience Mother would say, “Do not go too far out into the ocean; it will suck you out to sea with its strong undertow!” She even told us, "If we dug our holes in the sand too deep, we’d end up in China." I positively know that we never dug that deep nor did any of us ever get sucked out into the ocean currents. What did a Mother from Utah really know about the ocean? She actually knew a lot and taught us the names of the ocean creatures, the history of the Tillamook burn (from three separate fires in 1933, 1939 and then again in 1945) and the most important thing was how to enjoy the beautiful beaches God created along Oregon’s coastline.

We’d get up at the crack of dawn hoping for low tide and the chance to be the first ones on the newly washed shore. We’d scavenge the sand looking for sea shells; with any luck, we’d find whole sand dollars! I still am obsessed with the desire to collect sea shells, every beach I go to, I look and look, hoping to find an unusual shell. . . . . Last week I had that chance. Andrea and I met in Tampa, Florida to explore a few beaches. The first beach was St. Pete's Beach, next was Ft. Myers Beach and then Sanibel Island (known for their seashells). It's hard to imagine piles of seashells on a beach, but the right beach actually had so many seashells that when the waves came in; the water would move the shells and you'd hear the rustling of seashells. I wouldn't of believed a place like this actually existed! The ocean water was so warm and clear on these beaches. I am so grateful for the beautiful world that God created for us.

I absolutely love everything about the beach! I love walking barefoot in the sand. Even as an adult, I love to build sandcastles; I learned how to drizzle details onto my sandcastles by using the right consistency of sand mixed with ocean water (I think Carol taught us this technique). I wanted to laugh when a lady asked me how we made the sand look like icing? Here's the sandcastle Andrea and I worked on our last full day at Ft. Myers Beach. I've decided that creating sandcastles is a good way to met people. We had comments from tourists from Switzerland, Germany, Ohio, Minnesota...It's a great way to unwind. I like to think of it as "sand therapy".

Mike's San Francisco trip

2009-05-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Mike flew to San Francisco to meet his friend, Steve Grant and enjoy a few Giants games. He and Steve rented bikes and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge. SF seems to rejuvenate Mike's spirit. There must be something about the bay area that he needs in his system. My only request was that he couldn't come back to Utah without fresh sour dough french bread. YUM!

I stayed home and Mike also brought home tickets for "Wicked" so, to celebrate our anniversary(the end of August), we'll be going to SF. On Saturday, I ran in a charity race along the Jordan Parkway, it was a fun run...plus I came in 1st for my age group and improved my 5k time.

Wrongfully Accused

2009-05-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

Peggy Candrian loved the "PC" on the mountain in Park City. We decided that she needed a picture of her with her initials. So being the photographer that I am, I drove down a residential street trying to get closer to the mountain so she would have a good shot of her with her initials. While taking the photograph, a guy in a red truck pulled up a little ways from us and stayed while we took our three photos. We left the neighborhood and drove down the highway looking for the street to go to the Olympic Museum. anyway the red truck kept following us. This is making me a little worried...maybe he's an undercover police officer and I better make sure I'm going the speed limit. Okay, occasionally I don't ...but I'm usually pretty good at obeying the traffic laws. I turned into a street that I thought would take us to the museum, oops, it was one street too soon plus there was a sign that said, "private property, do not enter." Being the good citizen that I am, I turned around, got back onto the highway and right then, red lights start blaring...obviously, unknown to me, I messed up somehow...but I couldn't figure out what I had done.

Not only does one police car pull me over but pretty soon I have a police car in front of me and two behind me. Then there are policeman surrounding my car. Okay, really what did I do?

The police officer at my window asked me what I was doing in the neighborhood? I'm nervous and start talking really fast explaining how my husbands cousins are visiting us from California and Peggy wanted her picture taken with the "PC". I start to introduce everyone in the car to the police officer and then as proof, I whip out the camera and show him my photos. What did I do wrong, I asked him, talking a mile a minute...he asks for my license which I pull right out....takes it back to his car. When he comes back he asked me if I ran a red light. No, I tell him, I've been going the speed limit and trying to obey all the laws. Well, the guy in the red truck had called us into the Park City poise saying we were driving suspiciously and ran a red light and he is just sure that we are the ones who broke into his two homes in that neighborhood a few days ago. (My car is a little Acura, not a lot of trunk space...wouldn't a robber had a bigger car so they could actually steal more things? Besides, we were three harmless women with a little white dog).

I'm sure by the time the police officer got done with us, he was laughing all the way to his car. Oh, James or Jill, if you read this, would you check this story out? I want to let the Park City police force know the guy in the red truck was harassing us for no reason.

I was so embarrassed...imagine, me a robber?

The Blessing of Family & Friends

2009-05-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Family & Friends really can be a blessing when...they are thoughtful and talented.

I came home from jogging last week and a friend was planting my planter box for me. Isn't it beautiful? I was so delighted and surprised!

My oldest brother, Lester, came into town and I hired him to build a shower in our basement. After 23 years in this house, we finally have a shower. YEA! I still need to get a glass person to make the shower door but doesn't it look great? Wait, look at the pretty border....

On Friday, Mike's cousins, Barbara & Peggy Candrian (and Bruno too) came from Eureka, California for a short visit. We loved having them...they were so much fun. We had a little Candrian Cousin party Friday night. (Thank you to all who came.) Barbara went on evening walks with me and brought a copy of a letter from her Father that took the Candrian line back one more generation. Mike enjoyed reminiscing and watching old home movies while it was my chance to just get to know them better.