Weldon & Felicia

What a delightful day! Well, except for the ride into the remote location in the forest they had chosen. haha

Weldon and Felicia were married...I don't think marriage + Weldon had ever crossed my mind before. He's always been the aloof loner. Not alone, just loner. It was so much fun to be there and celebrate such a special occasion with them.

In the end, we learned Felicia's grandmother is Mary Rose Rush...I'd worked with her years and years ago at the power plant. Wow. Small world.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday, Quentin! It's hard to believe my baby is 25!!! By the look on your face, it's hard for you to believe, too! Have fun but stay out of trouble on your special day! Love you bunches. ♥

A Great Day For A Blessing

Today was a special day. Jodie had made plans for Mia to be blessed today and it is so good to know she now has a record in the church. I am so glad Jodie did the planning and follow-thru to make sure Mia was in fact blessed on this day.

TJei was a mouse or something when she greeted us on arrival. :)

Look at all that hair! Mia's hair is so thick.

Mia was having fun with Uncle Quentin. So glad he could come up. :)

Uncle Quentin was having fun with Mia, too~!

Bishop Jackson blessed Mia and after she shook hands all

 around, she hopped down from that chair and ran for hugs. :)

Sweet little Daphne, the first picture I've gotten of her in a long time. :)
Still haven't gotten a picture of Davis lately. He stayed off to himself
with so many people around. Turkey.

Elder Sypher (today's his birthday) and Elder Gunter were there' too. :)

Jodie with both girls. Thanks, Jod. It was a nice get-together and the taco soup was good. :)

I don't remember why TJei was crying but I told her I wanted a picture and couldn't take
one with her crying. She immediately stopped crying and flashed a smile. What a character! :)

Three of the six girls. Sure wish the others could have been here, too.

Missing the others bunches. :(

Sunday Morning

Totaled

Quentin wrecked last Saturday morning and totaled the Sonoma. While the body doesn't look too destroyed the frame and undercarriage are wiped.

Impact on the vehicle itself is evident when viewing the cracks and splits in the hub. Both airbags were activated and filled the space inside the cab.

This was probably the most somber sight for me - seeing barbed wire wrapped across mirrors on both sides of the vehicle and the realization that Quentin could have been decapitated if either frame had given way at the side of the windshield.

I am so grateful Quentin was not injured.

Coloring Eggs

The girls had a super time with Uncle Quentin teaching them to color eggs. Quenting used instructions on a box of food coloring to make the egg dye because I tried locating a coloring kit all over the place and couldn't find one. Quentin did a super job with what he had and the girls had an "eggs"tra special time with this activity.

Ouch!

Quentin went to the doctor today to check on the progress of his knee. It looks so yucky but the surgeon indicated it was doing real well. Just three more weeks and he'll be able to start bending it somewhat.

A Lousy Day!

What a contrast to my earlier post, eh? My heart is breaking right now. Quentin called earlier - he had an accident and seriously injured his knee/leg. He was on the way to the hospital as we talked.

A bit ago he called again. It was apparent he was in a lot of pain. They had gotten the x-ray results. He broke his knee cap in two and dislocated it. They were admitting him to the hospital and he'll have surgery tomorrow.

Along with the pain and anguish of his injury ... Quentin was scheduled to start a new job tomorrow. A job with the same company Mike and John are working for. He was so looking forward to this new job - so were we.

I am so grateful for Kelly. She called to let me know she'll watch the girls if I want to come down to be with him tomorrow. Oh, she'll have her hands full. I love and appreciate her so much!

IMAX Theater

I just love this picture! Quentin and Felicia took TJei to IMAX for an undersea adventure. This picture is adorable and if you look at TJei's eyes through her glasses, she is looking up to her best friend, Tio Quentin. I just love it.

Christmas Day

This picture isn't necessarily about Christmas, just it was taken sometime on Christmas Day. They both have such cute - and contagious - smiles!

Two Pretty Smiles

TJei just adores her best friend, Tio Quentin.

Felicia and Quentin

Long Board

This picture should have been with the others back at Thanksgiving time. Quentin was so sweet to spend time with the little ones while they tried the long board and skate board. Devina (Glenda's granddaughter) was on the long board and she managed to do it pretty quickly. Glenda even considered getting her one for Christmas. :-) TJei gave the skateboard a try and Uncle Quentin ran along with her holding her steady and avoiding a fall. Mia had fun just running and playing.

Happy Birthday Quentin!

The other day I was looking for pictures of Quentin and Jacob as little kids (didn't find what I was looking for -sniffle- ) and came across this treasure. I just knew Quentin would appreciate a flash back to this little dress-up scene. He's so cute ... even when trying to hitch a ride in the living room wearing a Rainbow Brite mock-up!

I love you Quentin. You mean the world to me. You are such an awesome young man and you have enough patience for four men. TJei has been missing her BFF so much today - she woke up wanting to make you a cake and wanting balloons to give you a party.

I hope your day is wonderful and wishing I could be there to spend some time with you on your special day. I love you, sugar. xoxo

Disturbing the Peace

Sunday is usually a pretty quite day here in St. Johns. It's not one of the days where you'd be likely to awake to the sound of a lawn mower or weed-eater or anything. This past Sunday, yesterday, the peace was definitely shattered ... right here in our driveway.

TJei and I got up and got dressed and headed out for church. She was saying the opening prayer in Primary so she was quite enthusiastic. Quentin headed out sometime after we had left. He went to Springerville to attend the missionary farewell of a friend he met at EA.

Later in the afternoon when Quentin got ready to leave, TJei had a hissy - big time. She didn't want Tio Quentin to leave. She cried and cried, and cried and cried. Mike remedied the situation by telling TJei she could climb into the back end of the truck and cry there. That worked, for a while. She wailed away ... until a neighbor came to the door, TJei in tow, after rescuing her from the truck.

It was quite embarrassing to tell Jamie that she had been left there intentionally. So much for quiet Sunday afternoons.

Guess Who

Mike and Quentin were able to get together for an overnight outing (Friday night) featuring a live concert with the Guess Who, a 1970's era Canadian rock band. The biggest surprise was that Quentin knew about Guess Who! It was actually his idea to attend the concert and Mike, who routinely misses all the good performances because his deadbeat wife (that'd be me) isn't really into live stage shows, was keen on attending, too.

The two of them met in Globe, Arizona and had dinner at a Mexican food restaurant before the concert which was out at Apache Gold Casino, a few miles outside Globe. Their dinner was good, the show was good and they had a lot of fun just bumming around together. They took a drive out to Roosevelt Lake - Mike said it is looking real good again - and then they traveled back up the mountain.

I took the two girls, TJei and Mia, and drove over to Show Low and met up with the guys over there. That wasn't really part of the plans, it just worked out that way - my typical late starts and all.

TJei loved visiting with Tio Quentin and he was really great with her in spite of her being tired and irritable. Her Terrible Twos are making regular appearances now that she's approaching four. Quentin handled it all well and all of us had a good time and a great dinner at another Mexican food restaurant over in Show Low before returing back to SJ.

I am so glad Mike and Quentin were able to get away together and spend a bit of time doing things they like to do.

Silly Face Wink

TJei loves chatting with Tio Quentin using Instant Messenger. Most often, it is just a few icons and silly faces being exchanged although at times, she does tell me things to "say" to him for her. TJei especially loves the Silly Face Wink, an animated graphic of a face stretching out the corners of the mouth and doing a raspberry. This is the face she does back for Tio Quentin but this'll be his first time seeing it!

Luckily, she only imitates the sound of the raspberries, she doesn't actually spray everything and everyone!

No Phones

Quentin called earlier to let me know that he and a couple friends will be going camping tomorrow night and they all agreed - no cell phones. They'll be turning off phones for the overnighter. I think that is great and I hope they're able to actually do it! :-)

They'll be going out to the same area where our family camped recently.

I really appreciate Quentin letting me know ahead of time about the plans to turn off phones. Dang, I still can't believe they've agreed to turn them off! Too cool.

Wednesday Visitors

Wednesday brought many visitors to SJ. Robert Lewis and his friend Morning Star stopped by to visit and see how Philip is doing. Robert has been in touch regularly and has tried to be supportive of Philip. Robert was in SJ for a hearing on his young kids, he has been working hard to increase visitation and time with his youngsters and be reunited with his young daughter who is now living in Texas. He's making progress and we're wishing him well!


Our precious little 3 month old Mia came up for a visit along with her Mommy. They arrived late Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Friday afternoon. It was great to see her and spend some time cuddling and playing with her ... good to see Jodie, too. :) TJei went home with her mom and sister when they left. :(


Quentin came up late Wednesday evening. He stayed in SJ just overnight and returned to Pima after a long day of snowboarding fun at Sunrise with Tom Tanner all day Thursday. It does look like they had a lot of fun playing in the snow!

Christmas Morning

Jodie and TJei both seem thrilled that TJei received her own little skateboard from Uncle Quentin.
TJei helps open baby sister Mia's Christmas gifts. This one is a "CD" player from Grandma & Grandpa.
Sweet little Mia. :-)

TJei had a *wonderful* time playing with her karaoke machine and watching/hearing herself on their little TV.
TJei is all dressed up for going to breakfast. Yes, we're deadbeats ... we went out to eat on Christmas Day. The brunch for lunch was tasty though!
And, of course, I was *thrilled* to have *my* baby home for the holidays, too. This is Quentin's first Christmas home from his mission. I love him bunches - red hair and all.