New Annalisa Artwork

Annie has completed a new project for an art class this semester at UVU. She re-drew a colored pencil sketch she did before in 8x10 size (8th grade) and drew it larger, about 18x24 inches in acrylic. After I took the photo of the eye, she applied the heartbeat electrical line across the front of the eye in red paper and then a couple streaks of lightning coming in from the right side. It looked pretty cool. She did this sketch of the eye first on scratch paper, and the unfinished fish and flower was in her sketch book. I love seeing her interpretations. Way to go Annie!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Wishing the best of Valentine Day and celebrating the people who matter! I...er...forgot...cough... to send my Grandson a Valentine which has been a great example set by my Mom to her Grand-kids, so I took a photo of this handmade card from a Card Party I attended a long while ago, and presto...sent it to the little guy and felt pretty pleased with myself. Except the photo text got lost in space and I sent it again with victory. Happy Days little buddy, your Grandma loves you! (Isn't that weird....still amazes me to have a G-child.) To the rest of my favorite people.....Happy Valentines....even a day late!

Soldier Hollow Sledding Adventure 2-6-2010

Ethan lucked out and won a contest at his Orthodontist office, guessing how may lifesavers were in a jar. He won 4 tickets to sled at Soldier Hollow which is a controlled sledding hill with a tow rope to get you back up the hill. It's a $20 per person for a 2 hour session, so we were delighted to have the chance. The boys invited a mutual friend named Curtis and we all had a good time. The sun had come out and got us and the snow warmed up to prevent fast runs, but we had a good time anyway. We each had a good run that got the adrenaline going! As we were leaving I couldn't resist a shot of a great looking barn. Soldier Hollow is near the town of Midway, near Heber, UT up the Provo Canyon past the Dear Creek Dam.

New Year's in Blackfoot, ID

With two - four day weekends back to back, I had to take a trip to Idaho for New Years to see Michael and family. We were both ready for some R&R and a break from too much food, so we spent some time watching the first season of Heroes, a TV show. We also went on a venture to Idaho Falls. I took the group to Five Guys Burgers, a new favorite.

Christmas 2009

It's high time I get this blog updated and here goes a view of Christmas morning 2009, a first in this house in Cedar Hills. It was sure fun to decorate and place our familiar things about the house to celebrate the Season. Nick and David came down from Logan to share in the fun of opening gifts and eating lots of food. The holiday fare is fun to make as well as eat! I made my delectable fudge and I won't need to make it till next Christmas!

Curtis Miner Architecture Christmas Party 2009

This year our company met at a place in SLC called Bucca de Beppos. It's claimed to be Utah's most authentic Italian Restaurant. I will vouch for the fabuolous food. I brought Annalisa as my guest (also considered her 20th Birthday dinner celebration) and shared the meal with Dallas and Ashlee Nelson. Annalisa helped me find a company gift for the Miner's which they loved, and I really enjoy wrapping up the gifts!

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Birthday Dinner at Tucano's Brazilian Buffet

And a nice time was had by all! With a couple free-bee Birthday coupons, the boys and I enjoyed the fabulous food at Tucano's Brazilian buffet. The variety of meats are served to the table on skewers roasted over a flame. The crowning flavor goes to the roasted pineapple. The hot pineapple with cinnamon sugar seared into the fruit is fantastic. We also love the Brazilian lemon aide served there. It takes your body a couple days to recover from the insult of lots of meat and salt, but it's worth it!

Celebrate...times 3

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This time of year has many reasons to rejoice....5 birthdays in a short space and Christmas smack between them! We had David and Nick home from Logan for Thanksgiving and took the opportunity to celebrate David's birthday. Since Annalisa's and Morgans are this week, the 2nd and 3rd, we tossed them into the Brithday Bash! One of our favorite dishes is Pumpkin Pie, deep dish style so it served as our Birthday cake and Thanksgiving dessert. After finding no candles, I poked in some sparklers from last 4th of July and the pie was a glittering delight! It was great to spend time together. We shopped for an outside dog house for Bear, I played a game of Othello with David, we cooked and ate a great Thanksgiving meal, and watched a couple movies. Thanks Kids!

'Tis the Season to be Jolly.......fa la la la...

'Tis the Season to start the Holiday magic and start the Christmas cheer. It has been fun to adorn this new house and place our favorite things about. I especially wanted my Holiday decorations out when my college boys came for Thanksgiving. For all of us, it makes the new house feel a little more like home with the familiar Christmas stuff around. Merry Christmas everyone!

Morgan goes to Preference Dance

American Fork High School had it's Preference Dance 2009 (girl asks guy) and Morgan was asked by his friend Brittany.

Morgan and I both forgot to get a corsage and at the last minute on Saturday afternoon went hunting for one. Not to be found! Finally found a place that would make me one for $20. No way, too much! So, I went to Albertsons and found the components and made it myself for $5. Ha! This happened to be during a white out snow storm to boot.

Morgan looked great, as you can see and so did his date. He wore the Tux to church today and looked quite dandy.

I would have to agree with Oma's adage, that I have the best looking children!

Target for Egger - Football Banquet

Friday, Nov. 13th was a pretty eventful day. We discovered the house had been hit again by an egg throwing idiot. This is the third time in 3 weeks. I called the local police and an officer came by and took a report. I decided to make a flyer and I put it on 200 houses in my area calling for a Neighborhood Watch! Later Ethans team held a football banquet and that was alot of fun to see the comraderie and the coach took time to tell something great about each boy. (28) Morgan came and we enjoyed some great food.

Sunday Drive to Logan, UT

With the weather being warm and the time available, Annalisa, Morgan, Ethan and I headed to Logan to see Nick and David. We got to see Nicks apartment, had some lunch together and then went to Davids house and test drove his sweet and nearly done Mustang. He has taken this car from a junk yard disaster to a great sounding and nice looking car. His last investment is to get it painted and his lifelong dream car will be complete. It was terrific to spend the afternoon with my children. Michael and Bridgett wanted to join us, but Bridgett has been plagued with chronic headaches the past week and even had an overnight stay at the Blackfoot hospital. Initially the doctors worried about a Aneurism being the fault, but later, after a CT scan, found a probable deep tissue sinus infection. Even with multiple kinds of drugs, she still is suffering from the migrane level headaches. Wishing you well Bridgett!
A parent loves the little things when time with grown children is possible. Thanks Annie for your company and conversation in the car, and the terrific gift of 'Planet Earth'. Awesome! Thanks Nick for sharing your place and spending time with your family. Thanks David for sharing your sweet spirit and your super car and I especially like your hugs! Ethan and Morgan were great sports and Thanks Morgan for going to the Dr. with Nick and finding out what the rash was on his face. If you recall, Nick had pnenmonia last month and was given anti-biotics. These doses lowered his auto-immune system and he was found to have Shingles! Yes, he had a good case of Chicken Pox as a child, but the Dr. told him a shot of steroids last month probably brought the Shingles to the surface. Go figure!

Friday Night Date

What an eventfull weekend this has been! Friday night I took Morgan to get fitted for a tux and he look quite dashing in his fancy get up! Next weekend is Preference at American Fork High School and his date is Brittney and her twin Stacey will be going with Morgans friend Tyler! Nice double!

Saturday morning I requested Morgans help to put up Christmas lights. With a new house this season, the planning was fun to get the house lit up nice. Ethan had his last Championship game with his Freshman team, and they won 45-12. They were on a 10-0, winninng streak. Even though Ethan still couldn't play he supported his team by going to practises and games for the remaining two months. The last game was as exciting as the others with 80 yard runs/touchdowns, and several interceptions from the AF team.

Saturday night Morgan was again my companion and he went with me to the American Heritage School (private LDS/patriotic school grades K-11, and coincidentally, my employeer, Curtis Miner architecturally designed the school.) A concert was being held there that honored the WWII Veterens through original song & student orchestra and video display. It was very moving and I was so grateful for Morgan coming with me. A family who recently lost their son in Afganistan attended and were honored as well. Curtis and Janine graciously got me tickets and it was such an amazing event with how well the student orchestra performed and the original songs that followed the lives of several real soldiers and their families.

Sunday Drive - Battle Creek Falls

The weather was so great, staying indoors was impossible! After church we packed up the dogs and went to a canyon nearby called Battle Creek. Ethan's dog, Bear loves to fetch anything you throw so the boys had a great time throwing sticks, and discarded water bottles. Bear climbed the steep walls of the canyon and amazingly didn't tumble down. Gretchen did a good job keeping the pace, though she doesn't like to fetch. On the top picture you can see Gretchen walking towards me to Ethans left and Bear is behind Morgan looking for the plastic bottle.

Ethans Halloween Masterpiece

Ethan did a great job of carving his Halloween pumpkin. Our ward did a 'Trunk or Treat" at the church with a chile dinner for the kids and adults. We decorated the back of the Jeep and handed out candy. Saturday Annalisa came over with Chance and Zoe and we had my famous BBQ Baked Beans & bread. It was terrific and later we awaited the throng of kids. Ethan and I set a stuffed spider to drop from the porch overhang when I open the door to greet tricksters. It was pretty funny to tease the kids for their treats. My house didn't get as many kids as anticipated, but enough to make the Spider a hit!

A Walk in the Park

Wild flowers were planted in the park across the street and with the season getting cooler, the Cosmos' have gone crazy! Of course I had to snap a few shots of the awesome colors. I was tempted to post all 2 dozen shots, but I opted for just a couple.

Nothing more beautiful than a face full of flowers.

Ahhhh....the aroma is fantastic.

Sunday Pearls

While sitting in Church this past Sunday a thought came to me that I wanted to share the messages on any given Sunday that touched my understanding. A high counselman spoke and he talked on the subject of obedience. His favorite Old Testiment story is that of Samual, and he gave the ancient prophets biography. Bro. Brown is from Austrailia and it is interesting to hear him speak, but his message was so inspiring. He said relating sacrifice to obedience, "Sacrifice is not doing something hard, it is sacrificing your will to Heavenly Father." If you know me at all, you know I love photo's of nature and capturing the colors that have been painted by the Masters hand. This photo was posted on the internet in a place on KSL.com, called PictureLine. I cruise through the photos people have taken and am so grateful for snapshots of places I'd love to be at. I welcome fall and the glorious season of vibrant colors.

Gave a talk in Church today

A midweek call from the Sunday meeting coordinator put me on the Sacrament Meeting lineup behind a returned missionary. Ok, cool... The topic was a YW theme, Individual Worth. With a little help from the internet I put a talk together. With the missionary giving his report and a musical number, I had 5 minutes remaining to deliver my talk. I gave the 'Cliff note' version and it still came off ok. Lot of people told me I did a great job and they appreciated my message. I'll paste my favorite phrase.

"Individual worth is simply knowing you are a child of God and then acting accordingly. Individual Worth is knowing that you are worth the price the Savior paid for each of us on the cross and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Individual Worth is accepting the gift of the Atonement into our lives. It is telling the Savior that we are indeed worth the price he paid for each of us. He thinks we are worth it, or He wouldn’t have done it. I hope that we can all remember who we truly are, sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father and Mother"

Nick and girlfriend Michelle - Ethan, Annie & I

Nick is feeling the bite of the Love Bug! He recently met Michelle in Logan and they've been fast friends and spending lots of time together. I got to meet her this weekend and we met Annie at her work and then went out for dinner at Red Robin. Annalisa recently got promoted to a FYE management position and works at the Provo Town Mall location. Michelle is very nice, very pretty, and has a great sense of self. She seems very solid and know's who she is. She has my vote!

Morgans Wheels

Morgan's giving his new car a wash down. We made it a family affair and we all detailed it together. I did the vaccuming, and Ethan and Morgan wiped down the interior. The car is a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix. Morgan worked a deal with his Dad and will be looking for a job. A friend worked on flat ironing his hair. It looked pretty cool, but WAY too much work for him to do.