Hailey's Birthday and other fun stuff!

The sunsets in Arizona truly are magnificent.  They often happen when I'm inside cooking dinner.  But so often my Spencer will see some color through the window and he will tell me to go out and look! I'm so glad he shares my love of beautiful sunsets!

Tom and I are performing in a Christmas Concert for a neighboring stake.  We love to perform, especially at Christmastime.

I asked my mother if she was interested in coming to Arizona to perform with us and she said, Yes!!  It was so fun to do two duets with her!  We performed our classic "Sleigh Ride" duet on the piano then we did a fun piano/organ duet that combined a Sonata from Josef Haydn and Joy to the World.  We received many compliments on our duets and it was so much fun to have her there to perform with me!

Tom also sang a few duets with our dear friend, Jill Chipman.  My favorite was, "Mary, Did You Know?"  It rocked the house!

I snapped a quick photo of my new highlights in my hair!  (Tom in the background brushing his teeth, ha ha!) 

Oh how my mother LOVES to put puzzles together!

Happy Birthday to our 11 year old--Hailey!!!

She invited a lot of her friends and it was so fun that many of them could make it to her party.  It's hard having a December birthday but somehow, we had a great turnout!

Hailey made a fun scavenger hunt for everyone and at the end, they all got fuzzy socks!

It always makes me smile to see her so happy!

Dallin Everton dressed up as the Grinch and came to visit us! haha!

Had to give Tom a little shout-out for him being on Spotify this year!  I could listen to him sing all day.  I am in love with his voice!

Here is Tom's sweet mother, Mary.  This picture was taken when she graduated out of the heart center at the hospital.  We almost lost her when she had a heart attack and then a quadruple bypass.  She has stuck it out and been such a trooper!  We are so thankful she is ok.

We also had a private Girls Day Out for Hailey's Birthday and it was extra special because my mom and Kelsey were able to come!

We went to the American Girl Doll Store in Scottsdale and had a really fun lunch then bought her some clothes for her doll.  It was so sweet to see Kelsey and Hailey together.  Sisters :)

We also held our annual End of the Year Party for Chamberlain Orthodontics at our home.  I hosted a luncheon then we all went to get pedicures afterwards!

We feel so blessed to have such an amazing staff!

It's becoming a fun tradition of ours to go see "A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Center Theater.  We love the music and it just gets us in the Christmas Spirit!

How sweet to see Kohler hugging his little sister.  I love those moments!

I love this photo of my dad.  I'm not sure how it got on my phone but it's sure a keeper!  

60 Years of BYU Folk Dance and Grandma's Heart Surgery

Mom and Dad came up to Utah to head to Idaho for Keegan Fuhriman's baptism so they stopped and had dinner with us.  Steve came and it was so fun to see him!

 Sadly, while we were up in Utah, Tom's mother, Mary had a massive heart attack.  She needed a quadruple bypass so Tom flew in the next day to be with us (he wasn't coming until the weekend but he wanted to see her in case she didn't make it through the surgery).

 3 of her 4 children were there:  Tom, Colleen and Julie.  Lisa couldn't make it because she was still in Tulsa but she came after to help with the recovery.  Mary really has the most amazing daughters who love her and are there to help her.  We all took pictures and Tom offered a very sweet family prayer that we had together and I hope it brought Mary peace.

 It was a really rough surgery but she pulled through!  Her recovery is going to be a rough one but she is one tough cookie and will do what she needs to do.  We are all SO thankful that she is going to be ok.  What a blessing!

We visited our college kids at Utah Valley University and had so much fun getting a tour from them!

 The reason I say that it's fall, but "not at all" is that here in Arizona it is SO stinking hot still that it doesn't even feel like fall.  October is the month that we all are sick of the heat and want to see some fall colors and feel a nip in the air.  Sadly, it doesn't happen until November around here.  That's why we decided to head to Utah for our fall break.  I am the President for the BYU Folk Dance Alumni and it is the 60th Anniversary since the founding of the program.  Our founder, Mary Bee Jensen is 99 years old and planning her 100th birthday party in May!  So, we decided to have a celebration centered around BYU Homecoming and have both she and Ed Austin ride in the Homecoming Parade!  Jeanette Geslison, the current artistic director, was out of town and couldn't make the celebration but many alumni came and it was a fantastic event.  We gathered for the parade in the morning and then headed over to the Wilkinson Center for the luncheon.  I had planned a nice buffet lunch for everyone and we had over 200 people attend.  All the past directors and chairs of the folk dance division spoke as well as Mary Bee Jensen and myself.  

Mary Bee Jensen is the founder of the BYU Folk Dancers and she is turning 100 years old this May!  She is a remarkable woman and we have become good friends over the past few months because we are both authors!  I am also the national President of the BYU Folk Dance Alumni and it has been so much fun working with her to plan the 60th Anniversary!

Hailey had Crazy Hair Day at school and we made her hair into a chocolate frosted donut!  I think it looks pretty darn good!  The frosting is real but the donut . . . well, it's a little hairy, ha ha!

Here is my sweet Tom with our pets, Rider and Lily.

Spencer loves being in choir and this year he is in the Men's Chorus at Campo Verde High with Matt Flora as his director. 

Cute Hailey and Izzy - best buddies!

On a cool side note, we got our theater chairs for our movie room in Utah!  We are still missing two chairs from the order, but they are super comfy and we can't wait to watch a movie in these reclining beauties!

 I took Spencer and Hailey up to Deer Valley for a beautiful horse ride through the mountains.  The fall colors were gorgeous!

We got a new couch in our family room---new colors!  I love it!