Happy Belated 16th Birthday Sugar Bear!

Stephen turned 16 yesterday! 

It seems like this birthday took forever to get here and I am so glad.

Stephen is a very popular young man and I have not been looking forward to seeing him even less than I already do as he gets older and more independent.  However, he has a great opportunity to be a big influence for good on many people in his life. 

So, happy Birthday to my Sugar Bear who has many talents...

and just to name 16...

1. Enthusiastic

2. Determined

3. Ambitious

4. Athletic

5. Positivie

6. Optomistic

7. Competitive

8. Kind

9. Forgives easily

10. Self motivated

11. Faithful 

12. Spiritually strong

13. Fun-loving

14. Friendly

15. Super Cute

16. All Mine! (for now)

Happy Belated Birthday Sugar Bear!

LDS music - EFY song

Have a beautiful Sunday! Hugs!

Tamra and John

Tamra and Johnny Lefler

I imagine that probably the hardest thing about leaving this life has got to be knowing that we are leaving our loved ones behind...especially when we may have children who are still in the midst of learning and growing into their own people and not knowing what the future will hold for them.  And then, not being able to say anything or do anything to help them along any longer.  So, we must look down upon them and pray for them and also see the results of some of the work we have done in this life that

we now call our second estate, as they make their own choices.

These 2 beautiful children are the children that my sister Linda left behind when she passed away 4 years ago.  They were not this little when she passed thank goodness, however,  they are just as precious and adorable today as they were back then.

 This is Tamra and Johnny today!

Last weekend Mom and I took a trip to Las Vegas to see Johnny get married.

It was a beautiful ceremony and a great time together with many of the Lefler Family.

Tamra and Johnny were Linda's youngest and oldest children.  Tamra was always like a second mother to Johnny and still is.  They love eachother beyond measure.  They also have 4 other Lefler brothers who they were raised with.  They are all a bunch of great, fun loving kids.  Just adorable and cute!

But there is a very special bond between Tamra and John.

Here they stand with John's new bride Amanda.

Jeremy Lefler, Jason Lefler, Darrell(Dad), Johnny, Amanda and Tamra.

(two brothers missing)

On Friday night we had a dinner for the bride and grooms families and I was caught off guard as I had the privilge of introducing myself as Johnny's aunt and his mother's sister.  I became very emotional and could hardly speak.  I felt Linda there and thankful that we had taken the time to be part of this important event in Johnny's life in her place.

Tamra has become a loving wife and the beautiful mother of 3 adorable children.

She is so much like her mother.  She is loving patient and kind.  She gives everyday to the raising of her children and leaves very little time for herself.  However, she loves the Lord and it shows in who she chooses to be and how she chooses to use her time.

Linda was a great example of motherhood to her daughter.  And I am sure today she looks down upon her only daughter with awe and wonder!

The Cool Family

Here she is again with her husband Joe(yes, Joe Cool), Joey, Layla and Rex.  Tamra is a beautiful source of spritual strength in her family and I am sure they all feel this strength as Tamra emulates this through the life she lives.

They are so blessed to have her!

And here is Johnny and Amanda Lefler as a new married couple.

I am sure Linda was beaming down upon them that day. 

 Amanda is a beautiful girl and someone

I am sure Linda would be thrilled to call daughter!

On behalf of my sweet sister Linda, I am so proud of these two kids and the choices they are making in their lives.  I know that as their sweet mother looks down upon her children she feels a sense of peace.  And I am sure that Tamra and Johnny will continue to make their mother proud! And I am proud to be their Aunt!

Time with Aunt June

A couple of weeks ago I took a trip down to Moab Utah with a friend of mine.

She had always told me that she had a grandmother there.  I knew that Mike's Aunt June also lived there.  But I had never been to Moab.  My friend, Sandy, and I have been friends since we were teenagers.  So, it has been many years since she had told me about her grandmother.  When we got there we asked her grandmother and her Aunt if they knew Aunt June.  They both said, oh yes, she just lives a couple of blocks away from her.  They are in the same ward and Sandy's aunt is her visiting teacher. We also found out that they worked at the same drug store for about 30 years!

 Wow! That was so fun to find out! 

So, Sandy's Aunt drove me to Aunt June's home and I surprised her with a visit. 

 I love Aunt June because she is spunky and fun to talk to.

Aunt June is 86 years old!  She took me to dinner and we had a girls night!

I got a chance to take a tour of her home so I took a bunch of pictures.

This sits in the front entry way of her home.  This is a picture of Grandpa Nelson

and Grandma Nelson when she was a baby.  Only picture June has of her Mom.

I loved this little corner of her dining room. Just thought it was sweet.

I also loved her beautiful dining room.  So much woodwork.  Just like a Nelson!

I learned that Aunt June is very sentimental ( i love that about her). On the fireplace mantel sits several porcelin figures, mostly flowers and butterflies, that were given to her over the years from her grand daughter.  They are beautiful.  Wish I had gotten a closer picture of them.

She has also saved her corsages from family weddings she has attended

which adorn her hall bathroom shelf.

She showed me a beautiful picture that hung in the living room and then later told me that it was a cross stitch!  I was shocked.  I believe her daughter in law did this.

In fact she cross stitched several of the beautiful pictures that hung in her home. 

Including this one that hangs in her dining room.

This is also a cross stitch that belonged to Grandpa Nelson.  It is one of the few things June has that was Grandpa's.  It was given to him by a friend long ago. It hung above the bed where I stayed that night.

Then there are the many bird houses that sit in various areas of her home, which were made by her son Kim (I believe).  They were all just adorable!

Here is another one.  She said "my son knows I love bird houses"!

What a sweet talented son she has!

This one sat in the bedroom where I stayed.

I have a friend who loves bird houses...I bet she will love these!

Then she took me into her sitting room where she says she spends a lot of her time looking at all the pictures and photo albums of her children and grandchildren.

  This is just one view...

Here is another...

And another....I love this room...so cute.

Okay, I saved the best for last. 

 This was my favorite room in Aunt June's house!

This is the right side of the bed.

This sat in one corner of the bedroom.

Here is the other side and corner of the bedroom.

I loved all the pink and white.  So pretty! 

And the bathroom inside the bedroom too!

And I loved this cute picture above the bed.  Such a little girls room!

I decided that one day when my kids are all gone I am going to decorate the cutest little girls room ever!  I better have some grand daughters!!!

This shelf is dedicated to Edward...June's late husband.

And here is a book shelf full of family, kids and grandkids.

And last but not least is a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Nelson

studying the scriptures together.  So precious!

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they decorate their home and you can tell what is important to them.  I feel like I know Aunt June so much better now.

Aunt June is a very sentimental, sweet and beautiful woman!

Doors!

So, the latest update on the house is that we are finally getting our doors in!

Of course they still need to be painted.  As we get further on the front of the house, we will have a front gable above the doorway as well as stone on the front of the house around the door way.

Here is a closer look.

We also got the side door to the back patio and the french doors to the side patio.

We debated back and forth about putting that side door in or just having another

window there, but Mike really wanted another entrance into the house.  Not sure how I feel about the way it looks....I guess it will grow on me.

Here is the outside view of the french doors.

And outside the side door.

And here is the door from the kitchen that goes out to the garage.

And here is Dad working on getting the electricity hooked up to the house now.

Just look at him....isn't he cute?  He is the 81 year old Bionic Man!!!

Our Super Hero!!

A front porch and a garage floor

We now hav a garage floor!

  Here is my father in law and brother in law finishing it off!

And a front porch!

This is our neighbor Curtis and his wife finishing it off!

Dad enjoying a place to sit finally!

Here's a close up view directly down the street looking out from our front door!

Loving the view of the mountains.

Here's a wider view.

Lovin' it!

One week down

Here's the latest look at our new house.  Finally getting that roof shingled, and that huge mound of dirt that has been sitting in front is finally being moved!

Of course this is what Mike is most excited about...the garage!

  It stands about 12ft. tall and 27ft x 34ft. 

 He is pretty dang excited about being able to fit his truck inside!

Here is another view from the inside.

And the inside looking out.  One garage door for me and one for him!

And this week we will finally get the outside doors to the house installed. 

Looking forward to that, as it will start looking more and more like a house!

We celebrated our 22nd Wedding anniversary Friday night by going to the temple with Mike's folks and doing sealings for some family members.  Mike and I were able to seal my grandmother and grandfather on my dad's side together.  Then we sealed 5 of their children to them.  Mom had about 70 other names of which we did about 30.  It was a great experience.  There were 2 other young couples who helped us out.  It was a wonderful way to spend our wedding anniversary.  We usually go the temple on our anniversary each year but doing sealings for family was a special treat!

I did something for Mike that I haven't done in years....made homemade bread for him as an anniversary gift.  You would have thought he had died and gone to heaven.  He loves when I go out of my way to cook something special for him....especially bread!

I also took all of his favorite recipes and put them in this binder for him. 

Mike loves anything made from the heart. He is a happy man!

And guess what he gave me?  Actually this tub is pretty tiny.  But the great thing about it is that the tub we have now is so huge that it takes up too much water and swallows me when I bathe.  I love to take baths and Mike knows it, I was excited to see that we will have a bathtub that is just my size and I can actually relax in, in our new home!

Oh, and Bryce got a new fishing pole, fishing lisence and gear for his birthday.  He has been wanting to take up fishing for a very long time now.  He is hoping his Dad can tear himself away from the house this Saturday to take him!

Stephen's two favorite loves these days....baseball and texting!  

Actually we attended a fundraiser dinner for baseball at the high school on Saturday night and then Stephen went rollerskating with his friends and while he was gone the doorbell rang at about 10:00 pm

and this was delivered for him...

A special invitation...

This will happen on April 1st.  Stephen turns 16 on March 29th so this will be his first date.  Let me just say that my Sophmore boy

 was not at all dissappointed

to find out which Senior girl sent these yummy muffins

 and this cute invitation....he is a happy boy!

Well, one week down and 3 more to go!