Catching Up!!

I must apologize.....I have no idea how to get these pictures in any kind of order or where I want them so you'll just have to muddle through......

There are two wedding cakes here. The chocolate one is one I made for a very dear girlfriend in July. Her name is Gail and we have been friends since our days at the University of Georgia. Her cake was chocolate with strawberries. The groom was allergic to wheat so when it was time to give him a bite of cake Gail gave him a strawberry!!!

The yellowish cake is Julie's rice krispy cake!!! I never did get a picture of the original cake.


It has been a wild and frantic year, but I will try to catch up and not be so delinquent in the future. We had b'days this year and Grandma had a new cake pan and everyone wanted a cake from that. (Grandma's not going to get any more new cake pans!!!)

Alex and Walker had another litter. We gave one of the puppies to Wendy and Paul.......and then end up puppy sitting her from time to time......I am not going to give Wendy and Paul another puppy. Alex had four with this litter. I would like her to stop and sit a few times out but I don't want to have Walker fixed........and it's impossible to keep them apart. Litters are a lot of work. By the time we got rid of the last puppy I was ready to neuter Walker myself.

Sandy got an engagement ring from boyfriend Kent in July. Wendy tried out for "Deal or No Deal" here in Salt Lake City. I could not believe the number of people at the auditions. Had to see it to believe it. I looked all over for a picture of Wendy with Paul and couldn't find one.....it's not easy to get a picture of Paul. Also Paul's second son, Jeremy, graduated from the Salt Lake City Police Academy in November and Paul's oldest son, Brenden, got married that same week end in California.

I did some engraving for youth conference and for our Stake Relief Society. I still enjoy my engraving.

Julie got married in September and I made the wedding cake ..... twice and the grooms cake (which sadly I didn't get a picture of) The first wedding cake I drove up the mountain to the wedding venue the night before the wedding and when we got there about 11:30 pm and went to unload, the cake was broken, split right down the center of a couple of layers. Still good enough to serve but there is no way I was going to have a ruined cake for Julie. I went back home, stopping at Wal Mart on the way. There was no time to bake another five tiered cake, so I bought rice krispy's and marshmallows and headed home arriving about 2:30 am. I baked one tier of real cake and made all the other "cake" layers out of Rice Krispies and marshmallows. I then decorated the whole thing and finished by about 9:00 am the day of the wedding. Vicki and I took it back up the mountain (around Sundance) and no one was the wiser. We still served the original cake and the grooms cake.....and of course if you were in the mood for rice krispy treats, there was plenty. I have never seen Julie happier. It was a wonderful day. Always so good to have the entire family together.

The end of October came and I went with Vicki to St. Louis to the Missouri Auction School. Yes, there are now two "Colonels" in the family. Vicki and I both graduated from auction school and I must say, we are quite impressive as auctioneers. Vicki has her own auction company called the Golden Girls Auctions........I will probably just use my new "talent" for cub scout bake sales etc., But it was sure a lot of fun........and I even engraved my gavel!! The picture of me with the mike is me doing my first auction. What fun. It was a big crowd and I auctioned off two items. This was done during the school in Missouri.

The end of October and first of November brought another surprise. The owner of the Utah Pet Center where Rick was Chief of Staff, and a multi million dollar facility CLOSED!!! We couldn't believe it. It was the craziest thing I have ever heard of. They were seeing over 100 patients a day after being open only four months and the owner just said CLOSE. Thankfully, Rick can do relief work for other clinics and surgeries until something permanent comes along. Life is good and I am anxious to see what miracles are already on the way for us.

Rick's mother came to live with us on May 8th and seems to be liking it here.

Preston continues working on his black belt and doing well in school. He has also taken horseback riding lessons this fall, which he has thoroughly enjoyed.

We have been able to go to a couple of Little Big Town concerts this year. We love OUR band.

Granddaughter, Amanda, got engaged a couple of weeks ago and we are really excited for her and David. They are a darling couple and it does the heart good.

Well, that's about it for headlines.....don't want to bore you with details, but some are doozies. It wouldn't hurt to remember me in your prayers .....that's always a good thing.