Swat Team in Alpine!

What a morning we had in our little, sleepy town! We had a neighbor's son who had some mental issues today and the Swat Team was called in.

Along with a firetruck and ambulance..

This was the view from Rick's office, the street just to the left was all blocked off for several hours and the families who lived down that street were stuck in their homes for hours... no school or work for many!

Here is part of the Swat Team and I'm guessing they were doing a de-briefing. The man was taken away to a mental hospital and no one was injured....thank goodness! They even brought in a robot into the home to find him! All in a day's report......Nancy Drew Smith

Hogle Zoo and Trick or Treating!

Here Rick (Bapa, to our Grand~darlings) is with Cannon at Hogle Zoo!

Cannon is the cutest Tiger ever...Cannon becoming one with his character! He loves the zoo!

All of us at the Hogle Zoo on Halloween! Kelsey was here for the weekend after her quick trip to Chicago for school.

Kelsey and the giraffe!

Mr. Giraffe...what a great costume!

Everyone was mezmerized by the giraffe!

Cannon and his tiger counterpart on the merry-go-round.

Jen and Cathy at the zoo.

Cannon loved all of the free samples of egg nog at the zoo. We got pie, chocolate milk, candy, string cheese to name a few.

Cannon loved the camera and I loved his egg nog mustache.

Cannon and his gorilla friend!

Kids and adults were all decked out in their costumes... this was a crowd favorite!

Cannon loved the Cheeto guy! and we love Cannon!

At the end of our day at the zoo Cannon was ready for his bottle! Notice his cute shoes!!!

Nicole and Zandy...

Nicole who is due with her fifth baby and Zandy who almost has her nursing degree from BYU! Love it when they come visit me! Nicole came from Enumclaw because her hubby, Paul was getting a big award for all of his hard work for his job!

Cathy and Nicole! We can laugh till all hours of the night! Thanks for the visit and for coming to see what new things we have done to the house!

Some our our Halloween Traditions!!!

One must carve a pumpkin! And place a candle in it & set it on the porch for the neighbors to see!

Here is a scarecrow face that I made year's ago and I added the Trick or Treat sign this year!

We always make my MOm's sugar cookie recipe....

Add "homemade" orange frosting...I tried to use the canned type of frosting but my daughter would not allow it!

Kelsey frosts the cookies..... and...

We have our Halloween cookie that I hand out to the parents of our Trick or Treaters! A tradition I started in Kalamazoo!

And one MusT toast the pumpkin seeds! I place olive oil on the cookie sheet then with the cleaned off seeds add garlic powder and salt, then bake....Love the smell and love the crunch!

More of Jacob's homecoming

My cousin Rick and his oldest son, Jacob. What good men they are. Rick was amazing in his help with my parents while my Dad was so ill.

Lori was also such a wonderful support to my parents while Dad was so ill. She would bring meals, pick us up and take us to the airport and be such a great support to my MOm. Thank you Lori and Rick for your compassion and love.

Here is a picture of their family (plus friend) their other children were unable to make it that day.

My cousin Trey, Cathy and cousin Rick Pettit. Their Grandma wrote the song, I am a Child of God....Mildred Pettit.

Jacob's HomeComing!

Here is the Rick and Lori Pettit family...Actually, part of them! The gal on the left is a friend they knew while they were in Conneticut. Elizabeth and Jacob are in the center and Jacob just got home from his mission in Brazil. We were all so excited to hear him give his remarks of his mission.

Leslie and I are the only girls in the Kleinman family. My Dad has two sister's and Aunt Barbara has four boys who you see here, Aunt Gay has two boys but they live in Arizona. It was great being together to celebrate Jacob's homecoming. We have from the left... Craig, DAvid, Leslie, Rick, Cathy, Bob and Trey. Birth order from the right!

Aunt Barbara had us all come down to the computer room to see Will's wife's music video that she did for a competition that won her a serger. The song is amazing. You can see the song on You Tube and put in Tabitha Pettit, her song is Stitch by Stitch.

Here is Aunt Barbara, Cousin Bob, Molly, John (who just left for his mission on Wed. to Guatamala, Will and Taylor. Will is Trey's son and the wife of the talented Tabitha!

My Mom and Aunt Barbara. Fun times! It is so great being so close to the family!!!

Fishing in American Fork Canyon

Today Craig and his kids drove up to Alpine so we could have a little fishing trip. I packed some food and Rick got the fishing gear together and we all loaded in our car to American Fork Canyon. This is Ella and Connor riding in the car with us.... Yes, Ella is a clown and we get along so well!

Colson and Ella excited about fishing at Tibble Fork.

Craig being the good Dad that he is trying to straighten our the line. It kept giving he and Connor problems. The fish were jumping high!!!

Uncle Rick showing Ella how to fly fish! What a beautiful evening.......

Connor, Aunt Cathy and Colson with no fish on our line but a great memory! We came home and had waffles and hot cider! It got a little chilly up there!! Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE living here in Utah???

Fall Memories

I found this picture today as Rick and I were cleaning and organizing and, most importantly, getting rid of all the cardboard boxes we have accumulated over the past few years! My new motto, "Own no carboard", not sure if that is possible but my promise is that I will recycle as much cardboard as is humanly possible!

Back to the "Fall memory"....one of my favorite times of the year is the fall and the chance to take my children to the local pumpkin patch. A few of our favorite things to eat were my MOm's sugar cookie recipe with orange frosting and a candycorn or two placed on top, later on it was the pumpkin cookies we would make. I will have to look for more pictures of the kids and pumpkins but this one is truly one of my favorites and it is of "the girl's", as we once called Kelsey and Cara. (Actually, we still do call them "the girls", but Kylie and Reese are getting to be known as "the girl's" now!) It is so "weird" to look back at this picture and to realize how quickly those last 14 to 15 years have gone by! These two little one's were always at my side and so totally opposite! Kelsey, the girly-girl and Cara was pretty much not one! Cara would take off the bows that Kelsey would love to have in her hair. They are two, pretty much amazing young women now and I'm proud to say they are both just as beautiful now as they were then!

Love your kids and enjoy every minute....they grow up quicker than you will ever imagine. Now, I'll have to write something soon about our two fabulous older two! Did I mention that Charlie Brown is one of my favorite memories of my childhood? Love the Charlie Brown holiday shows...

College friend dinner and game night!

We had our cousins Lindsey & Kelsey and some of our favorite "Elders" from Michigan...Mark Lierman and Dane Anderson over for Sunday dinner! Then we played one of our favorite games...Ticket to Ride. Rick and Dane won!

The Michigan gang!!! Mark, Dane, Rick and Cathy! Loved having them over so we could hug them!

Cousins! Although, I love it when they call me Aunt Cathy! Cathy, Kelsey and Lindsey Killian. Love these girls and so glad they are at BYU!!!

Football Season!

Number 6 is a special young man! He is my nephew, Colson Kleinman. He loves to play football and this is his first year playing!

Colson at the far end of the field!

Coming back onto the sidelines! Way to go Colson. He had an amazing play at the end of the game and made a tackle that saved his team from a touchdown from the opponents!

Colson being such great team mate! The Wildcats won their first game for the season today at Cottonwood High.

Colson and Aunt Cathy having some lunch after the game!