I'm a failure

Is it true? Have I really not posted anything since UEA? Are you serious?? It's a fact. I am a blogging failure. I do try to change my background to kind of keep up with the seasons, but other than that. . . . . . . I know, pretty weak.

Oh well! Just so you know I am busy with lots of great activities that are keeping me from posting. I love to spend time with my grand babies as well as Ted and the rest of the family. Aggie basketball season has begun which takes up some time plus gives us lots of time together. Christmas preparations were crazy midst all the regular stuff of my weeks like work at White Pine, piano lessons Monday through Wednesday, keeping the family fed, laundry and dishes washed, beds made, bathrooms cleaned, shirts ironed, exercising at least a few mornings a week, Stake YW meetings and ward visits, facebook status updates and checking on everyone else's updates as well as staying current with my scrabble, word with friends and hanging with friends. Plus I try to find time to work on my Personal Progress, (I just have Integrity to finish!), read my scriptures and the Ensign and attend the temple on a sorta semi regular schedule. So there! That's why I'm a blog failure! :-)

UEA Weekend

We have had a busy and eventful UEA weekend! Wednesday afternoon I cancelled piano lessons and Ted, Richie & I went to Ogden to watch Ty's Roy Junior High Razorbacks take on the South Junior High team. Richie's friend Sarah was on her way home for the weekend in Bountiful and she came too. The weather was beautiful and it was so fun to be there with family! Even though they lost, their strength and conditioning coach did a great job! After the game we went to Goodwoods on Riverdale Road for a delicious barbecue dinner. I had a Lasik revision on my right eye at 7:00 am in Ogden so we spent the night at Ty & Amanda's house. After they got the girls settled in and Newel fed they took off for a couple of hours and went to a movie. It was so great to spend that time with baby Newel and really get a chance to connect with him. It's different when you're his only option! He was a little fussy for 20 minutes or so but then he finally burped and settled down. He is so sweet!

Ted, Emorie & Eva on the hill watching the game.

Cindy, Emorie & Eva watching the game from the hillside.

Grandma King and Baby Newel

Grandpa Ted & Baby Newel. They were even color coordinated!

Ty and the rest of the coaching staff heading back after halftime.

Emmy & Eva were excited to go find their dad after the game was over!

Thursday morning we got my eye done bright and early then came back for yummy french toast with Ty and Amanda, their kids and Richie before heading for home. I spent the rest of Thursday relaxing while Ted and Richie went to the Aggie Big Blue Club lunch then Ted went to the cattle sale in Smithfield.

Friday morning I have a post op visit with Dr. Cromwell in Logan then we did a little shopping and had lunch at Winger's with Ty & Amanda, their kids and Richie. Ted and I were a little late because we got held up at Dillards, :-), and Emmy decided to hide from us under the table. Realizing this was what she was up to, I played along and said, "Where's Emmy?" She popped up from under the table and yelled "Surprise!" It was very loud! We thought it was pretty funny even though it was a little embarrassing!

After lunch we put the girls carseats into our car and the four of us headed home for the night. We went for a walk and played at the park, went to the farm with Grandpa to feed the heifers, gave the dogs a bath, watched "Finding Nemo", ate leftovers from lunch, gave the girls a bath, had scriptures, song and prayer and then read books.

Emmy & Eva after finishing their bath in Grandma & Grandpa's big tub!

Eva fell asleep during the stories and Emmy settled in good too! Ted and I watched TV upstairs for a while and I realized I was exhausted! Being a grandma and having fun is hard work! :-) I left Ted to finish his show and went to bed. The girls were sleeping in beds on the floor in our room and sleeping well. I woke up about 1:30 and realized Ted was snoring! I couldn't let him wake the girls up! So throughout the rest of the night I slept, woke up to him snoring, nudged him so he would stop snoring, went back to sleep. . . . . . again and again. About 4:30 Emmy woke up and started to cry so I brought her into bed with us. Ted said her feet spent a lot of time in his back. He decided that next time he'll sleep upstairs where he can snore all he wants and not have little girl feet in his back! :-) He's a great grandpa!

We tried and tried to get a picture of both girls smiling cute. This was the best shot of them together. However I cropped a picture of each of them from the others!

Thank goodness for Photoshop!

This morning we got up and had yummy whole wheat pancakes with strawberries and then I got to do that morning rite of passage that mothers of little boys never do. Curl their hair! They were very good! We met Ty & Amanda at Cafe Sabor' for lunch and then went to the Aggie game. I think the Aggie's must have been as tired as the rest of us because they didn't play very well. But we did have a great time!

Emorie

Eva

Tomorrow we have one last party with Ty and his family. It's their Primary Sacrament Meeting program so we're going down for church. Emmy and a couple of other 3 year olds are singing the second verse to "The Lord Gave Me A Temple" She does such a great job! I can't wait to see how it goes "for real"! Busy, fun times for sure!

Grandma/Grandpa Time

Just over a month ago, baby Newel joined Ty and Amanda's family. He is adorable and we love him to pieces! They're doing great at settling in to this new family dynamic, but I remember just how busy life with three very young little ones can be! So in an effort to give Amanda a break, we have gone each week and taken the girls away for a while. We've been to McDonalds a couple of times, the Ogden Cemetery to visit Ted's grandparents graves and last week to Hogle Zoo. It has been so much fun and hopefully has given Amanda a minute alone with baby Newel. Oh wait! They have lots of alone time. . . . . . . in the middle of the night! Life with a newborn!

We have loved spending time with the girls! Last week we started at Cracker Barrell for lunch and then headed to Salt Lake and the zoo. Here are a few pictures from our day!

Baby Newel!

Another baby has joined our family! Ty and Amanda welcomed their third child and first son into the world on Saturday, September 3, 2011. He was born at 9:19 p.m., weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and is 20 1/2 inches long. He has dark hair just like his sisters and is absolutely beautiful! His name is Newel Tyler King. The King name continues for another generation! In case you can't tell from the pictures, we love being Grandparents!

Wise Money Management

For the last year or so, I have listened to the Dave Ramsey radio show on my way home from work. He's a financial guru whose goal is to help people live debt free. His money management stuff is really good basic advice, but he puts it in a way that it really brings it home. There is a free video on his website that everyone should watch even if they aren't interested in the whole Financial Peace University course. If you go to daveramsey.com and select the attend online link of the Financial Peace University course, there is a free video to introduce you to his school of thought. This one is the Gazelle strategy and I believe it is life changing! I for one am committed to running away from that cheetah! Enjoy!

I'm a music teacher again!

I have decided it's time to start teaching music again. It's been five years since I retired from my most recent teaching position, the Tavaci School of Performing Arts, and I've decided I'm ready to start again. I'll be teaching private vocal and piano lessons. I'm excited to return to one of my great loves, music! It's great that I can continue my work at school since I love that too! It's also really cool that Robbie will be teaching piano this fall at their new apartment in Smithfield!

I think I realized that I could put my afternoons to good use now that my family has grown up. I'll only be teaching three afternoons a week so it will still leave plenty of time for all of my other favorite things. Such as, being a grandma, being a wife, being a mom, shopping, reading, mowing the lawn, baking, church work, watching American Idol, watching movies. . . . . . . You'll notice cleaning the house was not on the list, but I'll still have time for that as well! It's exciting to start a new/old chapter!

Easter 2011

Finally a beautiful day! We have waited so long for a nice day and it couldn't have come at a better time. :) Easter is such a special day. I am so grateful for the Atonement and the power it has in my life. I love our Savior, Jesus Christ, so much and appreciate his sacrifice for me as well as all of us. Each day I need His love and patience!

It was also terrific to spend time with family. All of the boys except Zac were able to come home for lunch. Richie even came to our ward for church. :) Sometimes I miss the days of wrestling five little boys through sacrament meeting. Okay, maybe I don't miss the wrestling, but I do miss having them around. I'm grateful for the great lives they are living and appreciate that they are learning and growing even though it means they can't always be here.

After lunch Emmy and Eva had a little Easter Hunt in the front yard. Our customary place is the backyard, but it's still just too soggy!! Daren was lying on the couch and Emmy said, "Come and have a Easter egg hunt Daren!" Eva called the eggs "ball" and in the case of a pretty yellow egg, "apple". She and Emmy are both so adorable. We love having them here!

After the egg hunt, the boys took turns sharing their skills. Richie juggled golf balls for Emmy and Robbie caught jello jigglers in his mouth. Richie and Ty both gave it a shot as well, but Robbie is the champion jiggler catcher. We went back out front and the boys entertained us with a game of bocce ball. Robbie even attempted a sky high jiggler catch on the front lawn. It was such a fun day together!

When the girls were saying their goodbyes, I gave Emmy a big hug and told her to come again tomorrow. She said, "Okay!" Sounds like a good idea to me! I love our family so much and enjoy just watching them having fun together. :)

January Cruise

In January Ted and I had the pleasure of cruising to the Eastern Caribbean. The weather was fantastic and each of the islands we visited beautiful and unique. This was our first visit to an Eastern itinerary and we loved it! We relaxed, had fun and ate tons of delicious food. I think it's time to start planning next years trip!! Okay, maybe I'll wait until .........March. :-) We're always looking for traveling companions. The cruise will cost some money, but I can promise you, the memories are priceless!

This picture is of a couple that we met from North Carolina.


This couple was from New Jersey and had the greatest New Yorker accents. We met them at the show one evening and become good friends for the remainder of the trip. One night we saw them, and she said, "We wuz lookin fa yous two!" I hope the spelling helped you catch their cool accent!
These two pictures were taken on a couple of days when I decided to try curling my hair instead of wearing it straight. I've never been able to pull it off before because my layers were too short and I just ended up looking like a porcupine with a perm. But I decided to try it on the trip since if it looked really stupid, I knew I wouldn't be remembered by anyone that I see on a regular basis. It turns out, I kind of liked it and I really enjoyed having a different way to do my hair, especially since down there in the humidity, it wanted to be wavy instead of straight anyway! I've actually curled it a few times since we got back. It's great to have another hair option. :)
These two pictures were taken in the dance club. Very funky, yet comfortable chairs!


We visited five island on our trip. This is St. Thomas. We visited Megans Bay. We had seen it on the Travel Channel's Top Ten Beaches and it certainly lived up to it's billing.
A gorgeous bay with soft white sand. It wasn't as warm that day, but it was perfect for lying on the sand!


St. Kitts was less developed than some of the other islands. We walked into the center of town where there was a beautiful Catholic cathedral. The girls were part of a class that came into the church. I visited with them and asked what they learn in school. She said, "Good Christian living." That sounds like a very good school. They were adorable!



Our next stop was in Barbados. While we were there we went snorkeling with sea turtles. They were fantastic! I'm kind of a chicken, but I finally got up the nerve to touch the shell. It was awesome! I was pretty proud of myself! Somehow, I didn't manage to get any pictures in Barbados. I guess it's because I was busy swimming with the turtles and fish! I really did think I should have gotten an underwater camera, however, it wasn't the case! I'll just have to go back!

These next pictures were taken in Dominica. It's not the Dominican Republic, but a different island altogether. It was definitely a rain forest! They grow really big poinsettia's there as you can see and the waterfalls were beautiful!






This is in St Maarten. Our final and favorite port of call. I would love to spend 5 or 6 nights here. These are our traveling companions. Don & Jayne Knight, Judi and Bob Bliss. The Bliss' are customers of Ted's from Delta. The Knights are their friends. We enjoyed getting to know the Knights and spending time with the Bliss'. Such pleasant company. They didn't even mind when Ted and I slept in on sea days.

A sailboat in the sunset just before we set sail in St. Maarten.

This is our waiter Peter and his assistant Christian. Once Christian learned that I like lemon in my water and lemonade to drink, it was always there waiting for me. On our last night, they had run out of lemonade so he made me a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade! It was a little sour, but my favorite of the entire trip! He was a gem!
All in all a fantastic trip!