Christmas Wish

Hm, Christmas is only a couple weeks away and my shopping is only partially done. Due to an infected toe nail that was cut off on Tuesday(I'm thinking pedicures for the rest of my life), I may doing most of my online. Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Leslie for delivering Tylenol PM's and cheeseburger the other night. So, my wish list is really not that exciting, iTunes giftcard, Amazon giftcards are good as I enjoy my tunes and books. I plan on doing work on my bathroom and outside of my house next year so Menards, Home Depot or Lowes gift cards would be helpful as well. Wishing all of my family the Merriest of Christmas' and Happy New Years'.

Love ya!
Laurie

We're waiting for your wishes

Hi everyone hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and for those who braved the crowds on black Friday, did you get some great deals? Jen and I started our shopping at 2AM in Walmart, then it was time for Starbucks. We saw Leslie at Penneys, did a little damage there then headed to Mernards where Jen got hit in the face by an elderly man who told her she wasn't getting in his door. No he wasn't an employee. Oh what fun it is to run through Menards on Black Friday!!! we also hit Lowes, Bergners, Staples then Panera for breakfast. After refueling our bodies we hit the mall again for Bath and Body. Then it was time to head home. The van was full and the wallet was almost empty.
We still need a WISH LIST from Laurie, Sherry and Sara. We would rather get something you are wishing for if possible, but will surprize you if we don't get a list pretty soon. I know everyone is busy Tis the season. Does everyone still want Cinnamon Rolls? Let me know.
See you soon.
Val and Jen

Ladeau Wish List

Skyler- he wears 2t or 3t shirts and is 18 or 24 month pant. He would love any toy that he gets but please make sure it is fairly small our house is overflowing with stuff because I never got around to that garage sale I needed to have. The only thing I would not get him is the Elmo Kareokee thing because I got that one covered. He loves to try and sing and dance.

Sara- clothes are always good I wear medium or large top and 7 pant in juniors. I also need new shoes the slip on tennis shoes preferebly.

Chris- he wears XL short sleeve shirts likes gift cards for Harbor Freights or Home Depot.

Sorry Im a little late to post I sat down many times to but had a hard time coming up with the lists.

Skyler is saying more words now- bye-bye, thank you, mine, more, papa, oh man- those last two I haven't heard yet but Papa Eric and Monica say he was when they kept him on black friday. Now if we could only get him to cooperate with his therapist lol.

Julie's Christmas List

Howdy!

My list:
Books-Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. It's a "Young Adult" series. I only have #1, so I need #2-#5. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Maruquez. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

DVDs: Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (the old one), Any season of the Office (I don't have any yet), and Season 2, 3, 4, 5 of Scrubs.

Gift Cards: Itunes/Borders/Starbucks

Is that good? I also love Harry Potter for those who didn't know.

:)

Julie

Christmas Lists

Bryan - Menards or Home Depot Gift Cards - Nice short and long sleeve shirts - not button down, and comfortable. We're going to be working on finishing the basement... slowly but hopefully surely so the home improvement items will be best.

Nikki - Menards, Walmart, Dress Barn, Kohls, or Best Buy gift cards are always good. Collage photo frame that says "Family" from Kohl's. If you can find one... a count down to Christmas lawn ornament. Can't find one that's larger than the snowman or child putting letter to santa in mailbox. =o\

If we think of more.... we'll post again. haha

Random Wishes

Sitting at the Thanksgiving table recording wishes:

Leslie- Omelette pan; sweaters or jackets XL; warm turtlenecks; one of those sweaters that drape

Eric-Chaps jeans from Kohls size 38X30; he'll keep thinking

Brady- Has a Wii, Ninteno DS & I-Touch; athletic gear (loves UnderArmor); size 12 in pants or Youth L or XL in shirts/ XL sweatshirts; fiction about sports; likes board & card games

Kenzie- Likes vampire books; shirts or hoodies (size girls XL or XS/S in juniors); loves warm & cozy clothes; has I-Touch; size 12 in jeans; earrings; nail polish or very subtle make up or perfume; Aeropostle sweats XS pants or S shirts; loves to draw, sew, scrapbook or crafts

Our love to all on this wonderful day!

Schonarth/Altgilbers are wishing......

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are busy making our list and our game plan for Shopping on Friday. Can't wait, but thought we had better make up our own wish list too.
Callie: She wears size 3T, and loves Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse and anything to do with the Princesses. If you ask her and its on a commercial it's Mommy I want that. She is taking her first year of dance and loves it so anything to do with dance is also good. She is very much the girly girl and loves "pretty" bows for her hair too.
Jen: She wants it to be May, if that's not possible how about being able to eat and keep it down? (You guessed it they are expecting again and so far she's had alot of all day sickness.) She also likes sweaters size medium, Lotion from Bath and Body or gift cards from Penneys,Kohls, Wal-Mart, Old Navy, Home Depot, Menards.
James: He would like anything Nascar. His favorite team Haas racing, driver Ryan Newman. Gift cards are also good, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Walmart, or gas cards and food cards.
Val: I would like a new 11" non stick griddle. Long sleeve tee shirts, sweatshirts, or light weight sweaters size large favorite colors pastels blues and pinks. No greys I look like a cement wall. Remember I do daycare and the kids like it when my shirts have Mickey, Minne, and so on
on the shirts. Gift card are also good. Kohls, Penneys, Target, Walmart.
John: Gift cards from Home Depot, Lowes, Walgreens (he likes shopping there) Flannel shirts. size large.
These are just some ideas but just being together is the best gift of all. Everyone have a safe Thanksgiving and we can't wait to see everyone that can make it to Quincy.

Utah lists

Hi all. Can't believe Thanksgiving is here. Wow. What a fast year. Hannah sent in her first college application--to the University of Washington. Many more to come by January.

Wish lists for us: Dave would like a small food processor, like something you would use for one onion or a handful of nuts, so he doesn't have to get out the big one every time. Or he would like a light or reflective arm band or something to wear when walking in the dark so you can be seen, probably found at a running store.

Hannah would love anything to do with Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings. She has the books and movies, but t-shirts, etc. would be great. See Julie S. for ideas as she has similar tastes, or should I say passions. iTunes or Barnes and Noble gift cards would also be a big hit.

Carolyn would appreciate any cold-weather running gear and like Dave, would love a reflective light or safety arm band so she can be seen walking home in the dark now that Hannah gets the car most days. I also love Clinique Aramatics Body Smoother lotion and long necklaces.

Mostly we can't wait to see you all. Dave is already choreographing his upcoming week of cooking mania. We have new neighbors and old friends coming over. It will be fantastic. Hope yours is as well.

Sue's Wish List

Wow! Hard to believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!! Hope everyone has plans to enjoy-I will be thinking of each of you and thanking God for such a wonderful family!!! Sara, Chris and Skyler will be here in Olive Branch with me as well as my good friend (and ex-sister in law) Nancy and her daughter Megan.
I will actually be able to go out and shop on Friday-for the first time since I can remember-have to work overnight that night to replenish. Looking forward to being on the other end of the lines!!
As for my list-I really need clothes more than anything! It was great to lose a hundred pounds (yea-I really did!!!) but it plays havoc on the wardrobe!! Sizes are: Sz. 4 or small in Misses. Also always love jewelry, bubble bath, CDs-like to have some Reba, new Taylor Swift, Uncle Kracker. Gift cards for Kohls always work too...
Hope to see some other lists on here soon-hint, hint!
Love and miss you all!!

And the winners are

Here is the list of who has who for Christmas. I the first column is the name of the person receiving the gift, the second is who is giving the gift. Please let me know if you have any questions. Christmas will be celebrated on 1/1/11, so if you have packages to put in the mail so they will arrive by that date. Also, those grandchildren who will be in Quincy for the exchange, please let me know if you are willing to help make Christmas dinner and what you might like to bring.

Name - Person who drew that name
Brady - Carolyn
Bryan - Sam
Callie - Tony
Carolyn - Leslie
Chris L - Laurie
Chris S - Skyler
Dale - Rocky
David M - Brady
Emilee - Grandpa
Eric H - Hannah
Grandma - David M
Grandpa - Chris L
Hannah - Sherry
James - Grandma
Jen - Chris S
Jessica - Patrick
Jon M - Dale
Jon S - Nikki
Julie - Sara
Mackenzie - Emilee
Kimber - Eric H
Laurie - Callie
Leslie - Susan
Nikki - Jen
Patrick - Julie
Rocky - Mackenzie
Sam - Jessica
Sara - Val
Sherry - Jon S
Skyler - Bryan
Susan - James
Tony - Kimber
Val - Jon M

Love you all!

Let's get those wish lists going!

OK gang- the Helds have targeted days to shop so must be very organized this year :). Can we get those wish lists up in the next week? We will work on ours!

Also- Do we have a food and/or drink assignment for Thanksgiving? Can't wait!!!!

Les & the others

Our Halloween

My cowboy

the cousins

Ty at the Daybreak celebration

us

Ty and his pumpkin

my chubby little caterpillar!

Daddy and Chloe tuckered out from all the festivities

We had a fun Halloween this year. Ty of course went as Woody and Chloe a caterpillar, just like Ty was around the same age. Ty went trick or treating with his neighbor friend Brook and he also went with his cousins. He was so excited, this year was a lot of fun despite the rain. Ty kept saying Happy Halloween and yeehaw! It was so cute. Hope that you all are doing well and had a great Halloween!

Love,

Benj, Ash, Ty and Chloe

Our numbers

Rocky picks 16 and I pick 5 cuz i looooove the # 5. (rocky thinks im silly, we will see if anyone else knows why i love that number so much...hehe) but just a note too...i sent laurie a text to let her know but it seems we have some duplicate picking....the schonarths and the midgets (utah) have both picked 7 and 13....and not that im an early bird shopper by any means, but as it is already november we may want to start getting things wrapped up so everyone can start their plannings :-)
rocky would be happy with any hunting items, tools, gift cards to car part places so he can continue (and hopefully someday end) his never ending job of working on cars, home improvement store gift cards....thats all he could come up with for now
ummm....me...i would like lowes gift card to contine (and hopefully someday end) the neverending job of working on our house to one day sell it, always happy with clothes, pretty low on jeans, cardinals apparel is good, oh sizes...umm...well it would depend, medium-large top, jeans...size 27x35, i dunno what size that would be in the other number sizes, ive been shopping at vanity lately and thats how they size'em. walmart gift cards are also good.
well thats a few ideas for us but really we are happy with just about anything :0)

Try This Again!

So, I guess the number I put in the comments didn't count, lol! Put me down for number 8 please.
As for a list, hmm, thinking on that.....

Numbers

Bryan will take #6 and I'll take #11.... If I read right no1 has taken those yet...

No wish lists at this time... that I'm aware of? Heh

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Here are Val and Jennifer's numbers: 4, 7, 12, 13, 29

Sherry and Dale's Numbers: 24, 30

Wish List and sizes will follow.

Hope everyone has a great week--hopefully, my big projects will be finished by the end of the week and I can get back to other things (first Alumni Quarterly Newsletter for school will have been printed and mailed--update of Alumni, Parent of Alumni, Teachers Past and Present and Friends of St. James database will be finally finished (for now at least) and Student Walk-a-thon 5K Walk/10K Run will be finally over and no I'm not running and yes, I am still teaching, too!!!! School board seems intent on keeping me busy, hm........

Thank You

I am really enjoying my new chair. Although it does not have the tilt my old one had.But, I'll get used to it .
I am grateful for those that contributed. Laurie, Grandma and I pick numbers 18 and 19. Here's a short wish list for me. Border's Gift card, a L.L. Bean or Pendleton wool shirt size xxl, Canadian Mist Whiskey, Subsciption to Linn's Stamp News. Love you all.

Ladeau #s

Hello! hope all is well for everyone.Everythings just about the same here in Arkansas. Skyler finally said bye bye this morning and his favorite thing to say for the week is uh-oh. Can't wait to see everyone for Christmas. We will take #s 2, 26, and 31.

Held #s

Here are our picks: 3,9,17 & 21.

Hope all is well for each of you. Iowa is enjoying beautiful post-Homecoming weather and life has momentarily settled down at the Held's. Football is done & basketball practice ensues this week prompted by one of the boys walking off the football field, over to the coach and asking "So... when can we start basketball practice?"

Time to Draw

Ok, So the list of names for Christmas is finally done. Please choose 1 number for each of your family numbers and post it on this site. The number range is 1 - 33. I will let you know if your number has already been chosen or if you need to choose a different number. I will also, let you know which names you have drawn. Please remember to post a wish list with sizes.

Christmas will be held in Quincy on 1/1/11. The plan as of right now is to open presents around 10 am and have snackie stuff for lunch. The Grandchildren will be fixing dinner for later on that evening. Midget sibs are in charge of the snackie stuff. Grandkids, please see my previous post if you would like to help with dinner.

Love you all!

My Amazing Video!!!

I thought it was worth three exclamation points.

I'm a crazy Utah Jazz fan. I write on the SLCDunk blog about them (which is where I got quoted by ESPN last year).

Anyway, I put my summer to unfathomably good use and made this video of my current favorite Jazzman: Deron Williams. Best PG in the NBA. Sorry to any Chicago Bulls fans, but yes: better than Derrick Rose :)

I hope you enjoy. I was proud of it. It already has over 2,000 views.

Deron is NINJA

— Jon

Christmas Info and Requested Information

Ok, so after a great BBQ over the weekend. The sisters got together to discuss Christmas for this year. Hear's the plan:

By 9/31 - Please let me know if you and your family is in or out of the drawing for Christmas Names this year. I will attempt to contact you if I don't hear from you by that time. I will then assign everyone who is in the drawing a number.

By 10/31 (if not earlier) - Please post a number choice for each person in you family. Example: Nikki choose 5, Mackenzie choose 15. Also, please post sizes and wish lists on the blog.

As soon as I get everyone's number choices I will post the list of who got who. Also, new this year as agreed upon by the siblings, Godchildren/Godparents are no longer exchanging gifts if the Godchild is married. I hope this makes sense...

Christmas will be held on 1/1/11 I think maybe at Grandparent's house if not otherwise noted. Christmas dinner will again be made by the Grandchildren, there is a small menu below, please choose (if you would like) a dish to make and let me know what you will be making. I believe the dinner will be held around 2ish not sure of the location yet.

Menu:
Fried Turkey - Bryan
Baked Ham - Laurie
Potato Dish of some kind
2 Veggie dishes
Appetizer
Salad
2 Dessert dishes
Rolls/Bread - Brady
Pretzel Jello Thing - Nikki

Hope this makes sense to everyone! Love you all!!! Laurie

Graduation and Vacation

Since this is our first try at posting pictures, we hope it works! We all had a grand time as we filled the car with our luggage and went off to celebrate Sarah's graduation and then take a little time off for a vacation!
The pictures below show Sarah walking in to the center. Chris an Skyler joined her afterwards for a family "photo."
The next group is of the cabin that we rented in Sevierville, Tennessee where ALL of us (yes, Grandma and Grandpa, too) enjoyed the Great Smokey Mountains. The picture of Grandma and Grandpa outdoors was taken the day we took a motor tour of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We took a drive up the tallest point found in the eastern US and toured the Visitors Center.
The last picture is that of Grandma and Aunt Verna. On our way home, we stopped so that Mom could have lunch with her sister.
All in all the trip was wonderful and enjoyed by all. I can't tell you how thrilled we all were that Grandma and Grandpa could be part of it, too!
We've got other pictures to post, too--more of this trip and then, some of Dad's visit with Sharon Kathy, and Vickie, this summer. We'll try to do that later this week.
Have a good week and our love to all!

I say we had a great time! What do you

think?

Cyclones & Cycles

As summer vacation draws to a close, we'll recap some of the excitement at the Helds. We kicked off with Brady making it to the State Track meet in the 4X100 relay. He's #10.

As Laurie reported, his Little League team won the tournmament and he was thrilled to make the 9 year old All Star Team which did well in district playoffs. He and his buddies formed an AAU baseball team this year called the Indianola Lightning and it was great fun to watch this group of talented boys play together. Mom, you would've loved it.

Both kids did swim lessons and Kenzie finished her final level and will tell you she is done forever. Brady has one more level to go next year. Brady hit every sports camp imaginable while Kenzie "relaxed."

July brought on storms and two tornados to our fair town. Mackenzie rode out the storm at a neighbor's while Mom & Brady spent 90 minutes in the locker room at Simpson with the men's basketball team. (Brady used the time to schmooze and was asked to be their ball boy this season. I have no idea where he learned how to do this.) Laurie was in her basement. Meanwhile, Eric watched it pass by from our drive way. This picture is from our drive with Laurie's old apartment in the foreground.

The end of July was the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) and Leslie's initiation into this cult-ish community of 10,000 riders making their way across the state. Simpson had a team for the second year which grew to 60. Always part of the planning, I was coerced to be one of two support staff for the first half of this year's ride. It involved me swearing off make up and morning showers, living in a tent which I put up and took down daily (no instructions), driving a van of supplies and loading & unloading a moving truck of gear twice a day with my boss. I discovered just how much I can really lift and how much I can sweat. A real bathroom was heaven even when you share it with 50 people and, when you are desperate, a hose suffices for a shower. The week started at another small college in Sioux City which graciously allowed us to camp on their softball fields. Unfortunately, they lied when they told us that the sprinklers were off and we started our week with a 2:30 am pelting by their sprinklers (which they couldn't figure out how to turn off for the 60 minute duration). Note the first head up was directly under the president's tent. Second up, the chairman of the board. Luckily, they kept their sense of humor ... and we kept our jobs.


The county fair & balloon festival is over. We'll wrap up the weekend at the state fair. School starts next Wednesday as Brady will be in 5th and big man on campus and Kenzie tries her hand at Middle School for 6th grade. Supplies are bought, fees are paid & new outfits are in the closet ready for Day 1.

Hope your summers were equally lively!

Vacation...

At the hotel.... can't wait for the vacation to start in Pigeon Forge! Onward and Upward!!! =o))))

Happy 4th of July!

We spent a fabulous Friday night to Monday at the cabin for the 4th. Hope you all had fun at whatever you did. It was a great weekend for wildlife. Buck and doe in the driveway and then a momma moose with twin babies by the stream. They were still fuzzy, very cute. They ate and frolicked in the stream and thickets. Dave was wondering why the hornets were bothering him and no one else when Hannah casually mentioned that she thought there might be a nest under his deck chair. Yup. He had been sitting on top of the nest for two days. And the whole time we just thought they liked his aftershave!

Pretzel Jell-O

2 C pretzels
1 C + 2 tbs sugar
3/4 C melted butter
1 med size cool whip
1 8 oz cream cheese
1 6 ox. strawberry jello
1 sm. can (8 oz) crushed pinapple
2 (10 oz) cut up strawberries (frozen bags work best)

1st layer: 2 C finely crushed pretzels, 2 tbs sugar, 3/4 cup melted butter. Mix together and spread onto 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 in preheated oven for 7 minutes.

2nd layer: 1 cup sugar, 1 med size cool whip, 1 8 ox cream cheese. Soften cheese, mix sugar and cream cheese together... fold in cool whip, spread on cooled first layer.

3rd layer: 6 oz package strawberry jell-p, 1 small can 8 oz. crushed pineapple (drained) 2 cups boiling water 10 oz packages of frozen cut up strawberries...

Dissolve jello-o in boiling water. Add drained pineapple and frozen strawberries. Stir and cool until set. (not hard, but thick...) pour gently over second layer -- refrigerate overnight.

I personally used 1 14 oz bag of frozen strawberries when I made it... also I recommend making layer 1 first... making layer 3 second.. and while 3 is almost a gelled consistency I begin layer 2, spread that on.. and layer 3 is ready to be poured on.

And there you have it... the NOT so low cal/low fat Pretzel Jell-O!!! =o) Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Nikki

Congrats to the Royals and Lighting!!!

Congrats to Brady on the great season with both the Royals in Minor League and the Lighting in the AAU league. The Royals finished 3rd during the regular season and won the Tournament. Brady pitched an excellent game Saturday night and made the 9 yr old All-Star team. The lighting placed 3rd in the Tournament on Sunday during an excellent game. I've posted a couple of the pictures from both games, the one where he is in Purple is the AAU team and the Blue is the Indianola league. Notice the big smile when he found out he made All-Stars (Leslie, Eric & I knew, but it was a total shock to him).

Happy Anniversy Grandma and Grandpa a little late

Sorry I'm posting a little late I came down with strep last week and spent the entire weekend in bed while Chris took care of Skyler. I'm getting anxious about graduation, it's getting so close, August 6th will be here before I know it. Skyler is really starting to walk on his own now and always on the move. I will try and get some pictures tonight so I can post them tomorrow. I have to get started on school work now. I hope you guys had a great anniversary and thank you for everything ! Wish we weren't so far apart. We miss all of you.

More Pics!

Jon asked me to try to post a few more photos from their great dinosaur adventure. Hannah really enjoyed spending the day with the gang. She was exhausted last night, probably from learning all about dinosaurs from Sam!

P.S. It was totally an accident that I uploaded a photo of The Sibs here, but really pretty hilarious given the subject is dinosaurs, don't you think? Ha ha ha, I couldn't bring myself to delete it. OK, you can forgive me now.

T-Rexes, Sharks, and Turtles ... oh my!!!!

I would generally start out a post like this saying "Well, we decided to take Hannah and the kids on a little excursion to the Dinosaur Museum." Sadly, I can't say that. Oh, the tragedy of working for a year-round school.

So here's the accurate start:

"Emilee and the kids took Hannah for a fun day at the Dinosaur Museum while Jon got to go to school and try to keep some semblance of order in his classroom full of rowdy, ready-for-summer kids."

It looks like they all had a good time. According to Kimber, they got to see dinosaur bones, but not dinosaurs because "those dinosaurs aren't real." Patrick also had fun, and was really excited to show off a green rubber seaweed thingey he bought for $2.50. He says it's really a centipede, but my first guess was seaweed.

There was also apparently a big group of kids who were there together. It was obvious that they were a big group because they were all about the same age (7-9) and all wore matching bright green shirts that happened to look exactly like the shirt Patrick wore. So the leaders of the group kept calling Patrick, chastising him for wandering off, and admonishing him to "please, stay with the group."

Sam kept telling me, in excited tones and with some vocal nuances that implied I should be stunned by the news ... even after being told several times repeatedly — that Hannah came along too. Sam enjoyed telling me, over and over, all the cool things he showed Hannah—and that he helped her learn what a dinosaur was.

I guess she didn't know beforehand. What do they teach in schools these days?

So it all looked like a blast. But it's okay that I missed it, because I got to laugh at a student who thought Tremonton, Utah was the ideal vacation spot (5th graders are putting together a PowerPoint on their dream vacation, and that's what he chose—seriously come on ... everyone in the universe knows that Kaysville, Utah's the greatest place in the world to visit). So it all evens out in the end.

Happy Anniversary

Happy 61st anniversary grandma and grandpa. And may there be many more happy years together. :)

Happy 61st anniversary grandma and grandpa Midget. love ya Rocky

Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary Grandma and Grandpa, hope everything's well back in Quincy and you get to have plenty more to celebrate.

Happy anniversary

Happy anniversary!

I'm so happy for you. You have done so well and raised such a wonderful family. 61 years sounds like a nice number to spend with the person you love.

Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa

I just wanted to wish you both a Happy Anniversary and say Thank you for everything you've taught us over the years.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Lucky me! I've celebrated 60 anniversaries with you...of course, I don't remember the first ones but I do remember some of the earliest. When I was little, I can remember the few times that Dad and Mom would actually get dressed up and go out to dinner together. It was a luxury that they could only afford on special occasions since they both were quite busy trying to raise, at that time, three young, energetic children at the time. I can remember Mom putting on her pretty black pleated dress, Dad putting on his tie and jacket and off they'd go to Club 21 on the edge of Sparta for a dinner together. I can't tell you what the Club was like. I don't think I ever was in it. Later on when we grew to be five, those special "dates" would continue even though the expense of raising five children was tremendous and required Mom going to work and Dad getting a second job.
One thing I know for certain is that over the past 61 years Mom and Dad have shown the rest of us what love and devotion to each other should be. I can close my eyes and see Dad very carefully lifting Mom up and carrying her outside to set in her lounge chair to get the sun when she was bedridden with arthritis. I remember Mom standing over a hot iron in a hot house pressing Dad's shirts and pants so that he looked his best when he went off to work, cooking a beautiful lattice cherry pie or making some divinity or fudge for him. I also remember how BOTH of them were always there to take care of us when we came down with the measle, or chicken pox, or mumps, or whatever else we seemed to get into. And I also know how important it was to them that we saw how God was very much a partner in their marriage and how they turned to their faith during bad times (Dad I even remember when you and Carolyn went to classes together to join the church.) I also remember the lessons learned about forgiving when you disagree, learning that its all right to disagree and have your own opinion and that you would always be there for your family no matter what the problem might be.
Sixty one years of lessons learned through fights and tears, love and laughter are ones that I hope the rest of us can pass on to each other. It should be easy, we were blessed to be given parents who loved each other so much that they showed us the way to do it!!!!
Happy 61st anniverysary Mom and Dad!!!

Ok, I'm gonna be a day early, but I don't wanna forget!!! (and I figure it's late enough this won't be read til tomorrow :-) ) BUT Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa!!! I thought that Aunt Chrissy must have had a typo when I read 61st wedding anniversary, I was SURE my grandparents couldn't be old enough to have been married 61 years! But then I realized I've got you stuck in time at like the age you were when I was 15 soooo....hehe. Congratulations on 61 years!!! You definitely have a marriage to look up to and are a great role model for all of us to look up to. I can't imagine what it's like to have been blessed enough to spend 61 years with the person I love and raise a family as you two have, but I can only hope to one day be standing in those shoes looking back at a lifetime filled with love. Love you both!!
Jess

Skyler's First Birthday

A breezy day at the park, but we had a great time celebrating Skyler's first birthday! It is hard to believe he is a year old, and looking more like a toddler every time I see him!!

Pretty sure that homemade vegetable soup and snickerdoodles are nearly perfect on a cold rainy night. Brady declared the cookies awesome and noted that we need to make them more often.

More Choe Pics

A photographer took some pics for our beautiful little Chloe here at the hospital. Here are some of our favorites:

If any family is interested in ordering a specific print. Login to this site using password: 0409cloemidget

Meet Chloe

Jon's quoted at ESPN

Here's a bit of craziness.

I post stuff about the Utah Jazz at the fan site SLC Dunk. On Thursday I wrote a piece about Jerry Sloan and the NBA's Coach of the Year award.

Well, today, it turns out the article has been quoted and linked to at ESPN.com.

It's right near the bottom of the page — quoting "Yucca Man" (My SLC Dunk alias). So now I'm famous. It's too bad my real name isn't used (since, as a teacher, I'd be insane to post on a blog using my real name), but it's still rather thrilling to think that what I said struck this strong of a cord with people.

Check it out and enjoy,

Jon Midget

First Communion

Look at our beautiful young lady celebrating her first communion today. Enjoyed having Mom, Dad, Alta May, Sherry, Dale & Nanny Laurie here. Wow! Time flies!!

Spring in Utah

It is snowing outside and I wore flip-flops to work. Ha ha, pink toes! Hannah finished her finals this morning and hopped on a bus to southern Utah to play in a softball tournament. What a busy life that girl leads. Finals all week, softball practice, study sessions for Latin and chemistry, and a special chemistry olympiad test Wednesday night. We managed to squeeze her birthday in there too.

And speaking of birthdays, Emilee celebrated hers on the 15th. Happy Birthday Emilee! And we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Benj and Ashlie's baby girl on April 7th.

Happy Spring to you all.

Hannah Rose

Happy, happy 18 from the Held's! What an amazing year it's going to be. Everyone says they'd go back to high school. No way. But I'd go back to college in a hot minute! The best part is about to begin!!

Happy Birthday Hannah!!

I am one day late but you were in my thoughts yesterday!! Hope you had a wonderful "17th" birthday!! I wish we were all going with you to Boston. The one vacation we had that Julie and Eric still talk about. I cannot believe that you are looking at colleges....should you be almost ready for that.....I think not.
Enjoy the rest of your birthday week!!!!!!
Love Aunt Chris and Uncle Tony

To be posted all over Quincy

Well Skye is a star... she will be posted in stores all over Quincy advertising the 3rd annual Mardi Pals Parade that goes on as a fundraiser for Paw Pals. I got a copy of the flyer that will be going up from a lady that is sending them out for Paw Pals. She recognized Skye at Doggie School and asked if she had worn the feather mask last year. We're so proud! Hehe

Champs!

Here is Brady & his team after finishing his league undefeated and winning the tournament. Go Indians! To keep them humble they played a couple of AAU tournaments and met their matches and then some. A team of great kids.

AAU Baseball practice starts tonight with Little League tryouts on Sunday.

Kenzie has a meet Sunday but we are monitoring a sore back so will see if its better by then. If not, she'll sit this one out.