Fairview revisited

I got back Monday from another great time with the gals from our "Pine Valley Scrapbook
Retreat" only now we refer to it as Pine Valley/Fairview Retreat. this is completing our 11th year of doing this get together bi-annually. Kimmy built a beautiful vacation/farm house in Fairview, Utah in a beautiful Valley in Central Utah. We had great food and great company as always, so I am including some photos of the wonderful food and gals and we also had a visit with Tara, Trent and baby Evelyn. It was Tara and Kendra's Birthday, so they came to celebrate with us for that.

33 years later

Todd and I were able to visit our favorite spot, exactly 33 years to the day and pretty much the same time. It was November 8 and it was a Saturday in 1975. Todd asked me if I wanted to go to Kolob with him, we had been dating for almost one week. I said yes, because I really loved Kolob and I so much wanted to spend every minute with him I could. We found a special tree there and took a fun picture of us together. This particular picture became very special to us in our developing relationship and the years to come as a very fond memory.
We were able to find the tree once again, but had forgotten how hard it was to get to. It is hanging out over a very steep and high-up part of a cliff. (Maybe it was not hard back when we were 18 and 20 years old) We had to do some rock climbing, and we sure did not remember it being so high up. Here are some pictures to prove it all and the picture from 1975. We have deemed it our "Special Place" We will go back again, but maybe find a different route up there, so we don't have to rock climb. We sure had a blast though and were so happy to have found the same tree that meant so much to us.

I feel Special

It isn't everyday that a magazine article is printed about me. In fact, it has never happened before. For my Creativity, I actually was in the family section of a local newspaper once, entitled "Modern woman with a Victorian soul" That was fun. I also said that if I could have one scrapbooking layout published in a magazine it would be so great. I did have that happened two times, and then they called me to publish two layouts in a book about scrapbooking teens. Those things were really fun too. But this has surpassed all of that, (however I am keeping my perspective on the importance of things) I must admit that it was a great joy for me to see my creative works and picture in Elan Woman magazine, and the article written was so cool. Darci Hansen is a very good writer. I feel special! Thankyou to Darci and Amy Hansen (the photographer) and the magazine. It is a beautiful tribute to woman and the things they do!

Magazine is out.

The new edition of Elan Woman is out with me in it! Only problem is I have not seen it yet. Maybe today I will find someone who has a copy already in this valley, and I won't have to wait until tomorrow. I CAN'T STAND IT!

My Halloween wish came true!

My wish all week long was that some of my grandchildren would come on Halloween in full costume. Well, Josh did call late in the day and asked if he could come and trick-or-treat at our house. I was so happy. They did some trick-or-treating in Santa Clara and then piled in their van and headed to Grammy and Pa Pa's house. Cameron came as a southern Bell, Carys was the cutest little witch and Afton was a reluctant Ladybug. they all looked so cute. (I heard that the other 4 grandchildren were dressed up as Jasmine, a Ninja warrior, a Lion and Evelyn as a little pumpkin). After they were here for a few minutes, Josh's family, Pa pa, Ty and I walked down to the Anderson's Halloween bash down the street and had Chili, Donuts and Hot Chocolate. Actually the Hot chocolate was not needed due to the fact we have been having record high temperatures. We had so much fun with the lttle girls. I got my Halloween wish and pictures to share and scrapbook.

Valley of Fire

A weekend with Jacob and Kelli, was so much fun. Kelli is Jacob's girlfriend and she attends SUU as well. They had Monday off at SUU so they decided to come to Logandale. We also had Elliah, Breya, and Nolan here over night on Friday. Saturday came and we thought we would take a drive over to Valley of Fire, and do some hiking around. Here are some of our pictures of our time at this amazing State park. The rock formations are really something as well as the phenomenon of "The Indian Staircase"

I know it is fall when. . .

Saturday October 3, 2008 I finally felt as if Fall were really here,
in Logandale. In our little part of America at about 1100 ft. in elevation, (desert) I know it is fall when certain things take place. The Askeroth granddaughters were visiting Todd and I for the weekend. The following are events which took place letting me know that fall was arriving here in the Desert.

1. I woke up to a cloudy day, (very important) and temperatures were down a lot.
It felt so good! ah ah ah

2. At 8:00 Todd went down the street to Ramona Crane's and pick up a bushel of Utah peaches. There is nothing like a Utah peach this time of year.

3. October General Conference was starting. Great conference as usual.

4. Cameron, Carys and Afton helped Grammy make ghost shaped sugar cookies and we frosted them with white icing.

5. It got windy, and a big storm blew in, complete with thunder, lightning and pouring rain. It rained for quite some time in late afternoon and evening. (happens so rarely in this place) It was a cozy feeling!

the weather says, it will warm up a couple of days this week, then it will cool off a lot and stay cool. Yeah!

Finally we can use this line

Finally we are able to use a line we have talked about for years. In 1978 after Todd returned home from his mission and I was visiting Minnesota before we got married, Todd's 4 year old nephew Reed Olson asked me, "You live near the mountains?" I replied yes! (I was living in Provo,Utah) He then asked, "if you fall off the mountain, then you would land on the town?" Well now we can actually say yes to Reed. We decided that when you are in Ouray, Colorado and you are up on one of the mountains, that if you fall off you indeed would land on the town. Ouray is a very happy little hamlet, completely surrounded by mountains on all sides. here are some more pictures to prove it.

Colorado Trip

Wild ride on the Million Dollar Highway

I was leaning toward Todd a lot going south. He kept telling me he was hugging the yellow lines and he would not take his eyes off it!
This is coming back North to Ouray
This is also traveling north, and notice how close the white line is to the edge of the road.

Our visit to the" Million Dollar Highway" was just as we expected. We had been forewarned
by Todd's Mother Leslie. Leslie and Ron had been there a few weeks earlier, and had their wild ride on the highway.


If anyone wants to travel south to Silverton or beyond from Ouray, they must do so on the Million Dollar Highway. I am wondering if it is the scariest highway in America! It gets scary just beyond the "Switzerland of America" sign just leaving Ouray, and for about 11 or 12 miles it is white knuckles for any passengers. The driver however feels a little bit safer, because he or she has control of the car. This highway has two lanes, no shoulders, and no (yes, I repeat no) guardrails, and about a 100-300ft drop off on one side. I am posting some of the pictures I took of the highway, on our way back to Ouray from Silverton. I was too scared to take many pictures on the way there.

Very Happy 30th Anniversary

Well, we got back last night from a very enjoyable week in Ouray Colorado. We had never gotten away for a whole week together like that ever. When I say ever, I mean, going someplace where we did not know anyone,with no children and a place we had never been to before. It was so relaxing. By that I don't mean that we laid around all day either. We hiked and hiked and then did more hiking, and soaked in mineral hot springs hot tubs right outside our hotel room. We strolled through many galleries and shops both in Ouray and Silverton. Ate out at some cool restaurants, and watched the whole entire 4th season of the"Office" in our hotel room at night, because there just happened to be a DVD player in our room. The mountains were breathtaking and it was a chance for us to just focus on one another and not think about any thing but the wonderful 30 years we have spent together. What a wonderful week it was.

Breya's letter

The other day I got a letter from my little Breya. She is in Kindergarten and was suppose to write a letter to a relative and send it in the mail. Elliah wrote it down while Breya dictated it to her. I will cherish it. Then she called yesterday to see if I got it. Answering the phone and having a grandchild on the other end is so special to me. Breya told me that she is sending me something else. I think she is getting into this mail thing. In her letter she asked me if I would come to her school and visit so she could show me something. How could I refuse. I will be visiting soon.
I can't believe I have arrived at the point that I have two grandchildren in school and that they are asking me to visit. I always thought that was for old people, on grandparents day, and now here I am. She writes in her letter: I love you too much than anything! Do you like flowers? Because, I do. You're my favorite Grammy and I love you a whole whole lot. And I just love to spend time with you when I visit at your house. Love Breya

I needed to see the Askeroth girls

On Wednesday, I had to go to St. George for some errands, and decided that I needed to see my three Askeroth granddaughters and have a little bit of Grammy time. They showed me their new rooms and they sang songs and performed for me. I read them a story and we played outside. I thought I would post some pictures of the new generation of Askeroth girls. Grammy sure loves them alot.

The magazine

Amy Hansen, photographer for elan woman magazine with her darling little Aidan, and below; Darci Hansen, editor in chief

Yesterday, the editor of Elan Woman Magazine, Darci Hansen came to our home for a photo shoot.
I mentioned several months back that the magazine would do a spot with me and my scrapbooking. Well, it is going to happen next issue (Nov-Dec). Darci brought her daughter-in-law Amy Hansen who is the photographer for the magazine to take photos of me and my "artwork" (that is scrapbook pages and other creative items). Amy also brought along her darling baby boy Aiden, who was so good while his mom and grandma did their work. I felt a little awkward when they were taking pictures of me. I am just not used to having a bunch of snapshots taken in rapid fire for a magazine. It was sure fun though and Darci is just the neatest person ever. They made me feel like I am kind of special. I admire other people's ability to elevate others around them and make their self-esteem soar. Darci is such a classy lady and someone I admire greatly. I am understanding her work and the purpose of this magazine more and more all the time. Anyway it was a way fun afternoon and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Getting ready to blast off

Todd and I are about to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We have planned a week long trip to Ouray, Colorado. We are so excited we can't even hardly stand it, because we have been planning this for over 12 weeks. A whole week away from all the busi-ness of everyday life. We wanted to go to Kauai, Hawaii, but the funds to do this sort of vacation for a week just weren't there at this time in our lives, and this economy! So alas, we wanted to pick a place that we could drive to (8.5 hrs.) and a place that we did not know anyone. Since it is our anniversary, we just really want to focus on one another. Todd said, how about Colorado, and I use to go to Montrose, CO when I was a kid and I got as close as Ridgeway Colorado , but had always heard that Ouray was spectacular. So Ouray was our focus. As we looked into it on the internet, we got more and more excited. Ouray has been dubbed the Switzerland of America, surrounded by waterfalls, 13,000 ft mountains and even a giant hotsprings pool. When I return I will be posting pictures of our trip and this unique and beautiful place.

new favorites

Could she be any cuter?
She is such an exceptional person
This one would be clearer if I did'nt steel it off of my son's blog, but wow, what a cute kid!
Tara took this great picture of daughter and daddy!
Ty is becoming such a wonderful teenager. We love having him around!

Well just posting some new favorite photos from my gallery of family members. I know I am a typical grandma and mom. But these pictures ore just to good to not be shared!

1st Birthday for Caleb

Breya on the slide at playground at Caleb's birthday with instant friend Erika
Caleb's cousin baby Evelyn and Grammy
Caleb's pal (uncle) Ty. Ty kind of likes him too!

Handsome Cousin Nolan out at the playground. Love that puzzled look!


We traveled to Cedar City on Sept. 7 for our handsome grandson's B-day party. He is getting so grown up, although he looks to short to walk and his little feet are so small. He gets around perfectly. Here are some pictures of Caleb eating his birthday cake, and also some other family members at the party. He really went after it in a major way and we were all laughing so much at him enjoying his cake and not minding anything else that was going on around him. He just kept nodding yes, when asked if 'that was good?' What a Cutie!

The day before the party, I had a garage sale, that I worked on for a few weeks. I told myself that if I sold all the other cameras I had, (3 to be exact) I would go and buy myself a new digital camera and get a good one. Well I did sell all of them and a lot of other junk laying around here too. Tara was down visiting Logandale, and I asked her if she would go with me to help me pick out a good camera. She was so helpful, and I don't think I could of done it without her. I ended up getting a new Canon power shot with lots and lots of great features. It sure came in handy the next day when we were at Caleb's party.