Winter 2014

2014 is already going fast!  Valentine's Day is over and we're heading toward Easter. Good grief!  We have already had some fun things happen this year, like Scott and I both getting a winter bug! Mine took about two weeks to get completely over.  Scott was only down for a couple of days, fortunately. But we both recovered completely and are up and at 'em again! 

The Gilbert Temple Open House has been going on for the past four weeks and just ended on Saturday. Scott and I both had the wonderful opportunity of helping with the tours, Scott as a tour guide and myself as a tour follower.  Scott served on Saturdays and I served every Monday and Thursday mornings.  I felt very blessed to have been able to meet many people who were not members of the church and had many many questions that I was able to answer for them.  It was such a great experience that I will always remember and cherish.  They really outdid themselves on the decor for this temple.  It is breathtakingly beautiful. 

My parents and Scott's mom all came down on the same weekend to tour the temple.  It was really fun having them all here together.  So we all went on February 1, along with Cori, Benworth, Travis, and Brenda.  It was a great day.

So beautiful at night!

Yes, that is Scott checking his phone!

 

And of course, everyone got in their ping pong time.  I think that is one of the best things we have ever bought. We always have a lot of fun.

It looks like Scott and Benworth were really serious about this game!

That day was Cori's birthday and she picked Benihana's for dinner.  We had enough people in our group that we got a table to ourselves. Ashley had arrived from Prescott by then and she joined us for the evening. 

Here he is blowing up an onion.

I think he's starting to flip something in the air although it's hard to tell.

Much to Cori's dismay, she got sung to for her birthday and had to eat a chocolate sundae, darn!

......right before we went home to Chocolate Tuxedo Cream cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! Great choice, Cori!

I think Cori is wrapped in a blanket in every birthday candle blowing picture I have of her.

I can't remember what they are laughing about but it looks pretty funny.  If anyone can remember, please let me know!

 

 

 

 

 

We got some wonderful news from Jared this week.  He proposed to Cate and their engagement is official!  The date is set for June 21 in the Las Vegas temple.  Congrats you two!  We are so happy for you and can't wait to see you this weekend.  Here are some cute pics of the cute couple!

 

 Now we have Ashley getting married in May and Jared getting married in June.  It's going to be a fun and exciting year for our family!  Until next time.............

Christmas 2013

We had a great Christmas.  Here are some of the highlights:

First of all, I had made a goal at the beginning of the year to learn how to make strawberry jam.  Around Thanksgiving, I realized I had done nothing about that yet but was determined to accomplish the goal by the end of the year.  So I bought the supplies, relied on the Sure Jell recipe for my success and gave it a whirl.  It turned out pretty good.  I ended up making three batches and gave them as Christmas gifts to neighbors and ward members. It felt good to accomplish my goal!

Riley got an early Christmas present this year.  For the first time, she has her very own real bed.  She wasn't sure about it at first but she loves it now and goes right to it every night (and pretty much all day too).

We were so happy that we got to see all of the kids for Christmas this year.  Jared, Dan, Nicole and Camden came down from Utah and Ashley and Jason came down from Prescott.  Camden was in heaven having so many people around wanting to play with him!  It was so fun having all of them here.

On Christmas Eve, we all went to the Phoenix Zoo.  The best part, of course, was watching Camden's reactions to all of the animals.  He loved the monkeys the most.

I did take some pictures of the animals too.  I liked the giraffes!

We spent Christmas afternoon and evening with the Robinson's, friends from our ward. We had dinner and played Wackie 6.

The day after Christmas, Kevin, Becky and family came down for a visit.  The 26th was Becky's birthday so we were all ready with cake and ice cream when they arrived.

They had fun playing ping pong and other games....

But I think the best part for them was the warm weather!  Basketball in December was a big hit! 

Grandma Klundt bought us all tickets for a mini golf night.  So on Saturday, we all did a round at Golfland.  A great time was had by all, thanks Jo Ann!

Now, alas, the holidays are over, the new year has begun, and we are making our new list of goals for 2014.  Happy New Year everyone!  May it be full of good health, joy, and many more blog-worthy adventures!

November!

November was a super busy month for us and I can't believe how fast it zoomed by! I spent the first week of November in Turlock.  It was a fun week of sewing (my Aunt Susan was helping me finish a project) and visiting family and friends.  I spent one evening with my good friend, Barbara, and she showed me some mums that I had at our wedding reception that she has kept alive all these years!

They are still very pretty and have multiplied and I was just amazed.

I also spent some quality time with Jayde, my aunt and uncle's black lab.  She is adorable and really big and likes to hug and kiss and wrestle ALL the time.

Every once in a while she would wear out and fall asleep, but it wasn't very often.  She's so lovable that she wears you out!  But oh, so cute.  It was so fun being with my family....thanks guys!!

Before we knew it Thanksgiving was here.  Mom and Marlowe came down to spend a few days over the holiday.  It was great to have them here.  We cooked and baked pies and visited.  In fact, we cooked for two days and then sat down to dinner and were done eating in about 20 minutes.....so sad.  After dinner, we went to see Disney's Frozen.......IT WAS AWESOME!  On Friday we had my stepbrother, Travis, and his wife, Brenda, and her brother-in-law, Cory, who all live in Chandler (see photo below) over for a second Thanksgiving.  Corinne and Benworth joined us too.  Then we went to see the Christmas lights at the Mesa temple.  They did a couple of new things this year.  It was very pretty as usual.

After we got back we ATE MORE PIE and then tried to work it off playing ping pong.  Travis is really good and gave Scott some good competition.  I think they each won an equal number of games.

On Saturday, since Thanksgiving was over, it was time for the Christmas season to begin!  Scott put lights up on the front of the house and we put up the Christmas tree. And thanks to Jo Ann, we even had some gifts ready to put underneath.  One of the neighborhood girls came over this week, saw the presents under the tree and said, "Sister Klundt, if you don't mind me saying, it's a little early to have presents under the tree."  Well, she may be right, but I like having Christmas all month!

We put the tree in the family room this year which I really like since that is where we spend all of our time.  We don't have a fireplace anymore so we have been racking our brains trying to find a good place for the stockings.  This year we thought the entertainment center needed some Christmas cheer.

All this month I have been blessed with the company of neighborhood kids after school.  They come over a couple days a week after school, sometimes 4 or 5 of them, sometimes just one or two.  My good friend Agnes, who is 7, started the tradition, she has been coming over for quite a while, and she has recruited the rest.  They love to jump on the mini tramp, play UNO and Scene It, and take Riley for walks.  Before they do anything, they take all of the blankets out of the ottoman and spread them over the entire floor, along with all of the pillows from the couch.  Then and only then, are they ready to play.  I love the company as it is very quiet here during the day with only Riley to talk to, which conversations are very one-sided.  Yesterday they were fascinated with our tree and asked me about every ornament.

And of course, Riley still watches over all.....

Well, that's about it I guess.  It has cooled way down here although I know it's nice and toasty compared to the winter wonderland in Utah!  We are looking forward to having all of the kids here for Christmas!!  Until then......

Birthday Weekend

I got a wonderful surprise over the weekend.  We were traveling on my birthday so Scott said he was going to take me out for dinner on Friday to celebrate.  We went to The Melting Pot, which is a really fun fondue restaurant.  When we got there, all of the kids were there waiting for us!  Scott got everyone here to surprise me for my birthday and spend the weekend.

 

 The food was so yummy, especially the chocolate part!!

 We had a great weekend playing games and hanging out.  Camden loves Riley.  I can't say the feeling is mutual though.  Camden would look all over the house for her and then stand and stare at her.  Riley would just look at me with the most pathetic "Help me!" face.

We had a block party on that Saturday and Camden was helping Uncle Jared set up some games and he also entertained the troops by dancing on the garbage can.

 Camden looked so cute all dressed up for church.  But getting him to stay still for a picture was ridiculous!!

Here is everybody!  We don't get us all in the same photo very often.

Thanks to all who planned, organized, and participated!  And thanks for making turning 50 a lot of fun!  I love you guys.  I also received so many fun birthday wishes from friends and family letting me know that the good life starts at 50.  I can't imagine it getting any better than it is right now, but I'm excited for what's next.  Thanks everyone!

Cruise Part 2

We received a CD in the mail yesterday of all of the photos that our cruise director took and thought I would post a few more of the cruise.  This is our cruise ship!!

 

 If you can see past us, this is the theater where they had all the shows.

There was one town, I think it was Bar Harbor, that had lobster ice cream!  I don't think there was one of us that was brave enough to try it.

Here are a few more photos of the beautiful scenery.  I think these are mostly from Bar Harbor.  It was the most beautiful out of the four, in my opinion!