It's my birthday! November 7, 2013

For my birthday, Clinton gave me a day to do whatever I wanted.  I had him take me to Idaho Falls, and had a shopping day.  Clinton just followed me around to the different shops, carried my bags and wore a blister on his foot.  I forgot to tell him that you don't wear new shoes when you are having a shopping day.  We only took breaks for food.  Lunch was at Babes Bakery.

 

We did have a hot chocolate break at The Cocoa Bean.  Later for dinner we ate at Blue Hashi.

 

Brock and Carrie had this fancy cake waiting for me.  It is chocolate cake and frosting, surrounded by all this yummy candy!  It was so nice to have someone make me a birthday cake.

 

 

Payton got to help me blow out the candles.  Then we watched "Monster's University".  In this age of technology, I had lots of friends and family send me birthday wishes on Facebook.  By the end of the day I sure felt special.

 

To top it off, I found these cupcakes and a card on my back step when I got home.  They were from the Young Women.

 

Clinton gave me the beautiful flowers too.  I have enjoyed every minute of this day!

I Love Halloween!!! October 31, 2013

I just love Halloween!  It is a toss up between this and Christmas!  The YW had a Halloween Party on Tuesday, October 29th.  It was a dress up party with Halloweenie treats and a spook alley.

 

I dressed up as one of the Flintstone's characters. 

 

This year Halloween fell on our bowling day.  Our team and the Sunshine Girls were in charge of the treats.  We had quite a delicious sampling of festive foods.  These bone sandwiches, spider ice cubes and spider web dip have become such a tradition for me, I was excited to share them with the girls at bowling. 

 

                                                                 Bone Sandwiches

 

                                                                  Spider Ice Cubes

 

Spider Web Dip

The highlight of the evening was having 2 of our cute grandchildren come Trick or Treat us. 
Payton makes a cute fireman.

Braden was his side kick and came as a Dalmatian Puppy.  Then we kept up with tradition and watched "The Ghost & Mr. Chicken"!

Braden's Blessing October 27, 2013

     This little guy is the reason we went to Utah this weekend.  Brock gave Braden a name and a blessing.  He is starting to smile.  I just love it when you talk to these little ones and they smile back at you. 
     We went down to Utah on Friday evening.  On Saturday I got the fun job of playing with Payton, while Clinton helped Brock load up the trailer.  They are moving to Rexburg this week.  Brock is going to work in the accounting department at Agritech.  That means we get family close by, especially grandkids!

 

Payton is sure enjoying playing in the leaves!

 

It was fun to have Chelsi join us for this picture right after church today.

I am grateful for a son who is a worthy Priesthood holder so he could bless Braden today.

Stepping out of the box! October 23, 2013

This Halloween Season we decided to step out of our box.  We heard that the Playmill Theater group was doing a haunted house called "The House of 7 Gables".  My mistake was to think that it would not be as scary as a regular haunted house.  Well I was wrong.  I think I broke Clinton's hand and I heard myself screaming during the presentation. 

 

We invited some friends to join along in the fun.  The Archibald's and Zollinger's were good sports to go along with us.  I hope they are still our friends after such a frightful evening!

My busy week October 14-20, 2013

To start off this fun and busy week, we hosted our FHE Empty Nester Group.  We have enjoyed discussing the gospel in each others homes.  On Tuesday, I went to a district soccer game.  I have four of my laurels who play on the team.  Sadly they lost and are out of the district play.  Later that afternoon I attended the Temple with our youth for some baptisms.  It is always great to be in the Temple.  My Mom came to town today for an eye appointment on Wednesday and invited me to lunch.  We ate at Millhollow.  She just moved to Idaho Falls, so it was nice of her to look me up when she came to town. 

 

Thursday is my bowling day and to my great surprise I bowled a 205 game and had a 519 series.  My other games were 146 and 168.  Needless to say, I had a great day bowling!!!  Tonight I met Pam, my sister-in-law, at the Volley ball game to watch some more of my Laurels play.  They went neck n' neck with Shelley and beat them in three games.

 

I found this cute book a couple of years ago and read it because I am such a Jane Austin fan.  I was pretty excited to find out that it is now a movie.  So we had a girls night out and had some much needed laughter.

 

Of course we finished off the night with a little "Cold Stone"!

On Saturday we went to the Baptism of Tim Fowler, Paula's Step Dad.  What a sweet experience that was.  And to top it all off Clinton was put into a Bishopric on Campus as the 1st Counselor.  The Bishop is Grant Hawks and 2nd Counselor is John Pocock.  Clinton is very excited for this experience.

Grandkids, Golf and the Broken Butter Dish October 2013

Courtnie came to Idaho to drive potato truck for her Dad during Spud Harvest.  Emma and Kimmi came with her.  On the weekends I have had fun playing with them.

We made chocolate chip cookies and took them to Grandpa at work.

Dress up is always a favorite.  This time Emma asked if I would share my boots with her.

A box is always a great toy!

We played a round of miniature golf with our good friends, the Lewis'.  Angie cooked us a great dinner also and we played some Hand and Foot.  Sad to say, the boys won this time.

I was very sad when my beautiful butter dish slipped out of my  hands into the sink.  I am now on the look for a new one.

Our 10th Grandbaby! September 16, 2013

Lucky me!  I had a fun road trip to Utah.  How could it not be fun with these two girls?!  They made me put on these funky yellow sunglasses for this picture.

 

Even though Chelsi and Hailey are cousins, they act more like sisters.
  

 

I got to spend a lot of time with this little cutie!  This is the face I got when I told him I wanted a picture.

 

Here is our number 10 grandbaby!  This is Payton meeting his brother, Braden,  for the first time.

 

I am the proud grandma!  There is nothing like a new baby!

 

Payton and I got to spend a lot of time taking walks and playing at the park.  I just love one on one time with my grandkids.

 

Grandpa came Friday night to meet little Braden.  He brought Courtnie, Emma and Kimmi.

 

I will leave you with this great picture of Braden Dayne Arnold.  He weighed 8lbs 10oz.  He is ready to conquer the world.

Bowling September 12, 2013

 

Our Early Riser Bowling League started up again this fall.  I have been bowling for the last 20 years.
Last year and this year I am in the bowling Presidency.  I am the Vice President, Allison Staker is the Treasurer, Angie Fadness is the President, and  Terrie is our Secretary.  This is one hobby of mine that I really enjoy.  I started the year off pretty good.  I bowled a 167, 166, and a 150.  Not too bad for not bowling all summer.  It is going to be a great year!

A Picnic in the Woods September 8, 2013

Clinton and I took a Sunday drive up to Grassy Lake.  This is where Clinton had his hunting camp when he was in the Outfitting Business.  We had a picnic in the woods and got some great photos.

 

We are on some rocks in Cascade Creek.

 

Clinton is standing by the corrals where he kept the horses for hunting.

 

 

On the way home I just had to have a picture in front of this cool rock formation.  We also saw two black wolves, just off the side of the road, pretty cool.

It's Fair Time Sept 5th & 6th, 2013

It is time for the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Black foot Idaho.  We love to go and eat the food.  Some of our favorites are the egg rolls, scone bites, corn dogs, and the brown cow.  On Thursday Clinton and I went to the Chris Young Concert with Ted and Suzanne Parkinson. 

 

What could be better than Fair Food and a Good Concert?  I really like Chris Young's songs.

 

On Friday, Clinton told me to get my girlfriends and go to the Trace Atkins Concert.  Again Fair Food and a Good Concert, it was a fun night.  Tonight I tried the Trout, Chocolate Peanut Butter Funnel Cake and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.  Yummy!

It was a good thing that we had our umbrellas, because it rained hard for about the first 30 minutes of the concert.  Then it stopped and we could enjoy the rest of the concert.  I loved Trace Atkins' songs too!  We had a really fun evening!

Niffty Niffty look who turned Fifty! August 31, 2013

We got to celebrate Clinton's Birthday Week.  On August 26th we went to West Yellowstone to see "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Playmill Theater.  Of course we told them that it was Clinton's Birthday so they could serenade him.  We went with our friends Bruce & Debbie Nyborg.

 

Afterwards we went to this great restaurant for dinner.  Bruce & Debbie secretly told the server it was Clinton's birthday and they sang to him and brought him this yummy apple desert.  At work on Thursday August 29th, Mandy brought in black balloons and I brought Cold Stone German Chocolate Ice Cream to surprise him for his birthday.  The guys even sang "Happy Birthday"  to him.

 

On Saturday, August 31st, it was Clinton's real birthday.  Jamie & Darla came to Jackson with us to celebrate.  Here we are on the top of the Jackson Pass.

 

We also went on the Alpine Slide.  It is so much fun!  For dinner Clinton picked The Merry Piglets as the place to eat.  It is really good Mexica food.

 

On Sunday, September 1st, we had the "traditional" cake and ice cream with the family.  I made Millie's German Chocolate Cake.  It went really good with the Cold Stone German Chocolate Ice Cream.

Our great-nephew, Ammon, helped blow out the candles.  Clinton has finally arrived.  He turned 50.

Young Women's Pinewood Derby 8-20-13

We decided that the boys should not have all the fun.  We had a Young Women's Pinewood Derby.  Our theme was "Your Favorite Movie".  We had some very creative entries, such as:  Despicable Me, Spiderman, Miss Congeniality, Pirates of the Caribbean and many others.

 

We had 14 entries.

 

As you can see, the treats were definitely made for the Pinewood Derby!

FHE with the Empty Nesters Aug 19,2013

Our Empty Nester Family Home Evening Group went to the Idaho Falls Visitors Center to view some great films.  The Spirit was strong here, it was a great experience.

 

Our group in front of the Temple.

Louise Ricks was in charge and she had delicious refreshment for us.  We had a picnic in the church parking lot afterwards.

Mud Lake County Fair August 9, 2013

     It has been a tradition for years to go to the Mud Lake County Fair and look at all the great quilts, especially the ones that my nieces do.  This year Janet was in town.  We picked up my Mom and drove out.  We met Kathryn, Hailey and Hannah there.

.

     Hannah was the only one to have a quilt to display.  She did not disappoint.  As you can see, she won a blue ribbon and Judges Choice.  Well done Hannah! 
     Another reason we go there is the food.  We were lucky this year because we got the Raspberry
Cream Pie!  The four of us split 3 pieces.  It was a sacrifice we were willing to make.  A few years ago Kathryn got us the recipe.  I am going to have to make it.  It was delicious!

Girls Camp Aug 6 - 9, 2013 at Rock Creek

     This is the second year I have had the opportunity to go to girls camp with the Sugar 4th ward Girls.  We had 24 girls and no drama.  These girls are very inclusive.  They make everyone feel welcome.  They are such a great example to me.  I came home inspired and tired.  It was a great week.

     One of the highlights was the Iron Rod Activity.  Wow!  It was profound.  Sad to say, I was deceived and let got once.  But repented and got back on. 
     Our Camp Leader, Tamara Dayley, really does a great job.  She made all the activities fun and they learned too.  You can see the girls wearing their sashes.  As they completed the activities, they earned pins to put on them. 
     Another highlight was Clinton cooking dutch oven food and the testimony meeting.  The Spirit was really strong here.
     I heard such positive feedback.  We had such a great time!

Barret Family Reunion August 2nd & 3rd 2013

Welcome to the Annual Barrett Family Reunion!  This year all of my siblings were able to be here!

 

The food was delicious!  The great thing was Janet (Mollat) and Anna (Barrett) were on the same wave length with the deserts.  Janet made this incredible Peanut Butter Pie and Anna made these yummy Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes!  It was a match made in Heaven!

 

Grandma Barrett sitting with some of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 

(Back L to R) Susan Fitzgerald, Jimmy Barrett, Brad Barrett and Janet Mollat
(Front L to R) Kathryn Egbert, Mom - Phylus Barrett and Rochelle Arnold

 

Here we are with our Spouses.  Mike & Susan, Stacey & Jimmy, Brad, Janet & Martin
Kirk & Kathryn, Mom, Rochelle & Clinton.  We had a fun time catching up and enjoying everyone's company.