Sunny and blue skies

Sunday afternoon the sun came out and it was a beautiful site. Fresh snow with only the tracks from deer. Oh and remnants of snow angels on the deck!!!!!

What do you do in the snow?

Between friday and saturday we got about 8 inches of snow. Jamie played in it and Mick and I worked in it. Mick learned several things in using the snow blower. Ist and foremost, you must wear a hat while operating. Mick spent hours getting the LONG driveway cleared and scraped, only to have snow again sunday morning. There was a big debate on whether to have church, but the Bishop and 2nd Counselor, aka Mick,decided to have sacrament meeting and then decide whether to have the rest of the block at church. We had a slippery drive there and very few in attendance. Jamie thinks it is hilarious how the Jersians don't go anywhere. "What is the big deal" she says, "it's like they haven't seen snow!" I was the main speaker in sacrament meeting. Told the family story of Christmas in 1920 where Dally got a doll and toys from here sister Ida (my grandmother) and brother. Also the tradition of the orange in the sock. Christmas means giving was the title of the talk.

Oh It's Beginning to Look like Christmas

Jamie flew in last night , thursday the 18th,and the snow immediately started on friday morning. In Jersey the norm is to not go outside. So we decided to put the ornament on the tree. Doesn't our tree look great. The Smiths when they moved back to BYU for MBA school donated it to our family who was treeless. It looks great in our 20 foot ceiling familyroom.

It started snowing tuesday night while we were eating dinner. janelle went outside and started catching snowflakes. It only lasted a few hours and by the next morning it was an ice storm. Yesterday janelle and I ran to the store for the Christmas doorbuster of Prime Rib. The parking lot was jammed and they had to direct traffic with the shopping carts. You would have thought hurricaine Katrina was blowing through. Well little did we know that we are suppose to get 6 inches of snow, so everyone panics and runs to the stores to empty the shelves. I looked pretty silly with one prime rib and two cartons of ice cream in my cart compared to everyone around me with canned goods, milk, eggs, and other essentials. We woke up this morning to frosty and crunchy grass but that was all. They cancelled school last night in anticipation of the storm. Well we shall see if it comes through.

Ok as most of you know I love collecting and pinning bugs. It all started when my kids were in Honors Biology and the big end of year project was the classifying or ordering of 50 insects. I would collect them all year and the students would call me to see if I had any bugs. Even after my kids didn't have Honors Bio I continued to collect these little creatures. side note....can't tell you how many A's I earned. Well my best assistant is janelle. She sees those little buggers and calls me for the capture and kill. One morning she announced, very boldly, that there was a really cool, HUGE bug on the screen. Oh, I told her, I don't collect them out here in Jersey. But after viewing this huge praying mantus I just had to get the collection jar and go to work. Sunday was a youth fireside at the house and my pinned project is now on the phone desk. One of the leaders started to get all flushed and upset. He asked me where I had gotten the mantus and I proudly told him the story. He promptly told me it is against the law in Jersey to kill a praying mantus. Oops!! Well the word got around the ward and the primary president made me this apron. I have to let you know, that I proudly wore it at the ward Christmas party.

Christmas in the City NYC

Thursday evening Mick and I went into the city to attend the Manhattan Temple. When leaving he took the scenic route passing Radio City Music Hall, the store fronts, and the famous Rockerfella Plaza Tree. It was absolutely beautiful and 49 degrees. It has me very excited for our big New Years Bash where my family and 14 other guests will be in Times Square for the ball drop and Jamie's 21st birthday. Watch for us on TV, and hopefully it will be another 49 degrees. We had a Christmas party at our home last night with 10 couples. I laughed so hard I went to bed with a headache. A light snow was falling last night and we woke up to a dusting on the ground. Oh it's beginning to look like Christmas.

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week was spent at the desert house. Graig and his roomate from Rexburg pulled in friday the 26th and I picked up Jamie in Orange County on tuesday the 25th. The boys got three games of golf in there on the course at the house. The picture of them is taken from our backyard on the 5th hole. They also went in the hot tub every night and then would jump in the cold pool. We enjoyed swimming and working out at the clubhouse and enjoyed the sunsets and even had a huge rainstorm complete with rainbows one day. We had the Wise's and also Karen Blatter come out from Brea for Thanksgiving dinner. We had fun visiting, eating, and playing games. I got up on black friday and was to my first store at 4 am. Did three stores and home by 5:18, went back to bed and then headed out again with the family for a couple of hoursat 9:30am. It was great fun. I've never had my family go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Well the girls maybe, but not the boys. My mom flew in friday after Thanksgiving and we shopped and visited and swam. The college kids left early sunday morning and the Jersey gang left tuesday. Randy and Cathi Miller came for dinner on monday night. Mom stayed another week and enjoyed the desert with her girlfriends from HS for their annual Christmas get together. I am so grateful for so many things, especially being together!!!!

How did you spend your Thanksgiving Vacation?

One of the many appointments while in California was going to the dentist. Oh what fun that is when your old and need dental work. I went to a new dentist that puts a dam on and then flosses between your teeth to work. Isn't that a sight!!!!

California and Disneyland

Janelle and I flew out to California on Nov 13th for our quarterly trip to check on the Ca house. It was a great trip filled with dr appts, ultrasounds, dentist, hair, and I even got a little work done at Cranberry to get ready for the Road to "California Show" in

January. Janelle and I stayed at the Brea house a few nights and I even got to attend a ward party held in our home there. Johnny and Emily, our house sitters, were the host and hostess and they invited me. While there the California fires were blazing and several families in our Brea ward were evacuated. Our home remained safe but, johnny and emily had all the things I wanted to evacuate ready on the livingroom floor if the call came to move out. Thank goodness it was not necessary. I also attended both of the book clubs I attended while living there, church on two sundays, dinner with the old YW stake presidency group, and dinner and breakfast at the Guzik home. And as you can tell from the pictures, Janelle and I spent a day at Disneyland on Nov 20th. A big thank you to Brother Tukuloff for signing us in. Mick flew in on friday the 14th so we headed to the desert house on saturday morning to start the cleaning from it not being in use all summer. What a job that was. But it is sparkly inside and out. Mick had a hotel in Anaheim while working the week of the 22nd, so Janelle and I spent some evenings with him and I got to have my Marriott big breakfasts in the mornings!!!

First NJ snow experience...

When I left the house on Tuesday, Oct 28th it was pouring down rain. I dropped Janelle off at work, headed to the mall 11 miles away to do returns, and then planned to go to Costco. I shopped casually around mall as I had 3 hours to kill before getting Janelle at work again. Dilly dallied for 1 hour then passed a window...HEART ATTACK!!!!! There was snow on the cars. It was snowing, snowing big flakes. Panic! I found my way to car and my phone rings. It's Mick. "Are you ok?", he says. "I guess, I'm inside the mall and just looked out window". "You should be ok", he says, "it is still a wet snow". OK, I decide to do the Costco run and then head back for Janelle. I have my book so I will just wait for her at Burger King. I get to the car, wipe off the snow with my bare hands. Brrrrrrr! I get into the car, start the engine and fire up the defrost. I wait for window to clear and take picture to send to Jamie and Graig. They laugh at me. Graig says, "you'll be ok mom, looks like a wet snow". I put the car into gear, look over right shoulder and the back window is completely covered with snow again. I get out to wipe off the snow. Brrr! I get out of the parking lot. That's not so bad, just a slushy mess. I'll go to Costco I think to myself. I quickly discover that the locals don't observe white lane stripes when they drive in the snow. I guess they think since it's snowing I can drive where I want. I get to Costco, shop around. After all I have 2 hours to kill. I am having many of the delicious samples, when a fellow shopper says......"I just drove down the 15 and there are cars and trucks off the side of the road. It is a mess! It took forever to get here from Sparta. Panic! Janelle is working in Sparta and I have to drive the 15 to get back to her. I put the shopping cart in 4 wheel drive, pull a wheely and get through the check out in record time. I've got to have a drink - a sparkly, as they say at Cranberry. I get to the door to checkout and a little birdie says, "go potty!". Nah, it's only a 10 minute drive I think. The parking lot has water about 2 inches deep with slush and snow. I say to self, "glad I'm wearing my cute polka dot rain boots I got at Mervyns Super Clearance in Brea". Ha ha, my feet are warm and cozy and dry. Get to car, open trunk, the two inches of wet snow splashes into trunk. Wipe off windows, start car, start defrost, get out wipe off windows again, pull out, slip and slide around parking lot, pull out onto 15. Drive under overpass of 80 and a HUGE, did I say HUGE chunk of slushy snow falls off overpass onto windshield. Heartattack, Scream, and after checking out windshield to see that it is intact, drive on. Go 4 miles no problem, other than heart attack from windshield incident.Traffic stops. Dead stops. Snow falling.We crawl, stop, crawl, stop. In one of the stops take pic with camera phone send to Jamie and Graig say see what 1 1/2 hours can do. Graig text, momma, be careful you don't have snow tires, leave lots of room for breaking. Semis, cars, off on side of road or more like one of the three lanes of traffic because we are only using one. To make a long story shorter, took 2 hours and 15 minutes to go 6 miles. Scary1!!!3 lessons learned. 1. Don't open trunk with 2 inches of slushy snow on it. 2. Listen to the little birdie that tells you to go to the potty. 3. That big cup that Costco drinks come in, they can be emptied and used for emergency potty breaks. Oh and maybe 4. Be sure to carry your camera at all times, because there will be awesome pictures that no one will believe, like where is our driveway.....tree fallen down blocking 1 1/2 lanes of 2 lane road and get a snow scraper with really cool brush on the end!!!!

30th Wedding Anniversary

Mick and I celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary on an alaskan Cruise August 9-16th. We left from Vancover Canada and sailed the inside passage. We took a river raft trip at the Mendenhall glacier, a train ride up the Alaskan passage and saw all the glaciers at College Fjord and Glacier Bay. We also experienced a calving glacier. We had rain and clouds everyday, but still had a great time together.

Orlands from Brea come for a Visit

Three weeks ago Phil and Penny Orland our friends and neighbors from Brea came for a visit. They went to three broadway shows, visited the Statue of Liberty, shopped in NYC and a couple of days I was able to tag along with them to some historic sites. On monday we did George Washingtons encampment in Morristown and on Friday we spent the day in Hyde Park, NY visiting Franklin D. Roosevelts home, summer cottage and Eleanor Roosevelts home. It was an awesome tour and we could have spent two days there. There was so much to see and we just didn't have time to do it all. For December they decorate the homes for Christmas in the time period. There is a Vanderbilt mansion also in Hyde Park that we didn't get to. So when the visitors come in December we are headed off to Hyde park again. I've got to see those Christmas Trees and decorations. Oh, the picture at the Farmers Market, Phil said it was the highlight of his trip. It was a little roadway stand where we had fresh apple cider, cobbler, and home grown apples freshly picked. They picked the prettiest fall week in New Jersey. Since they have been here it has been cloudy and overcast. I'm ready for some California sunshine.

And the winner is.......

I was totally surprised and ecstatic at how much the pumpkins weighed. The small one weighed in at 51.5 pounds and the large one at 88.5 pounds. My scales only weigh in 1/2 pound increments. There were 22 entries and the winner is Orlando with a guess of 40 for #1 and 100 for #2. She was only 23 pounds off the total weight. Orlando is a computer friend of Janelle's that lives in Conneticut, and NO Janelle did not help her. Cherie came in second with a guess of 126. I have to admit, I laughed when Cherie sent her guess in. I was thinking, no way, it would be totally cool, but no way. I grew 140 pounds in two pumpkins and that doesn't even have the 7 small ones I grew. Watch out next year. I've been reading about growing pumpkins and how you need to water twice a day and all the great fertilizer. Next year I'm going for the largest in Sussex County. This year the winner had a 600 pound pumpkin. I would be delighted with half that weight!!! Thanks to all who entered and Have a Happy Halloween. Thought........what do you do with 140 pounds of pumpkin.........Penny said I should can it!!!!!! She left too early for that to happen. One thing for sure, they will not be carved!!!!

Guess my weight contest!

No, not my (Joni's) weight...my (the pumpkin's) weight!

I'm having a contest!!! You know how I love pumpkins and plant them every year. Well this year, I have two really big pumpkins, well the biggest I've ever grown. Guess the weight of them both, the closest guess gets the New Mars candy bars Mick brought home this week. The smaller pumpkin is #1 and the one with my hands on, is pumpkin #2. Good Luck. They are still growing, but will probably be harvested this week because the frost is arriving in the mornings.

Falling for Autumn

Here are some sights of Fall in Jersey. The deer are in our backyard. Sorry didn't get to the camera fast enough for the momma bear and her two cubs crossing the road. Oh, and just today when we were out getting the pics for the pumpkin weight contest, we heard a boom and then a Dodge Ram truck hobbled to the side of the road. He had hit a deer right by our home.

This is the pumpkin patch down the road. Wish it was mine!!!! I just got the two out front and 7 little ones in the back.

Ok, these are the sights I get everytime I get in the car. This road on the right is the one I travel to take Janelle to work everyday.

WE woke up monday morning to 31 degrees and frost everywhere. My neighbors think I'm crazy taking a picture of frost, but hey, I haven't had frost at the home I live at in over 27 years!!!! My excitement about Fall here is overwhelming to the natives. They just roll their eyes and say, "wait till you live through a winter!!" But I have to say, I am LOVING JERSEY in the Fall.

Guziks come to Jersey

Historic Bond home we stayed in in Philly

Mark and Cindy Guzik came to visit us here in Jersey. They were are second visitors from Brea. (The Sheffelds came in August and stayed with us for a couple of nights). We went to Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and spent a day in New York. We also took several little day trips around the area. It was great fun having them here.

Guziks on the front porch at Jersey home.

Graig turns 25!!!

Graig turned 25 on Sept 29th. We celebrated in New Jersey when he was out for his first visit to our Jersey home the end of August. His Aunt Sharon also gave him a "25 times three" party while in Washington for his Grandad that turned 75 on Sept 8th, his uncle Mark 50 on Sept 7th, and Graig 25 on the 29th. They had a fun party.

Graig has always brought us many laughs and continues to amaze us with his talents and abilities. Hard to believe that my little boy that rolled over at 3 days old and walked at 7 1/2 months, rode a bike at 27 months without training wheels, is now 25!!! I'm trying to get a u-tube of Graig surfing behind his Uncle Mikes boat, but so far no luck. I'll keep trying.