Random update....

My friend Linda updates her blog like every week or something crazy like that. Let's face it I will never be that dedicated or interesting, but she has motivated me a bit. And besides I am very bored right now. I have had the swine flu, but I think I am on the mend since I'm no longer sleeping non stop. Clyde came down with it first, and I followed right behind him. Bryan has been lucky... so far. Clyde was disappointed that he had to miss his last regular season football game, and I am a nervous wreck about my holiday open house it's only 18 days away.
Okay my last post was in March, and lots of things have happened since then. I think we will just go with the top ten... not necessarily in any order!
1. Ella! My wonderful little flesh and blood granddaughter, Ella, was born on July 30, 2009! She is the love of my life! Who knew being a grandma could be so great! You have probably seen all of the pictures her proud mom and aunt have posted on facebook! For more Ella info... see Heather's blog!
2. I was going to run the Wasatch Back in May, but I got a nasty stress fracture that kept me out of my running shoes for almost 3 months. I was terrified of gaining back the weight I'd worked so hard to loose, so I took up biking and swimming. What an experience. A comical one for the old men and the rec center who witnessed my attempts at self instruction night after night. (Believe me they made no secret of it) I finally signed up for some lessons, and by the time my swim team nieces from Texas showed up I was ready to learn the flip turn. I still need a lot of swimming practice before I attempt my first triathlon next spring.
3. Clyde started his senior year of high school! Yikes I am really getting old. He has had an awesome year in football! He plays D End and has done a great job of pressuring the QB's all season! He even made it into the Salt Lake Tribune and the Desert News a few times!
4. Homecoming... at the shop we had 3 weeks in a row of late nights making corsages and bouts for all the high school kids! It is a crazy busy time for us... the kids are great, but their parents can really make me crazy. (special note... let your kid order his/her own flowers for the dance. It really doesn't matter if the dress is aqua, teal, or pale icy green there aren't flowers that color anyway! We (or who ever your florist is) will do something wonderful to coordinate with it.)
Homecoming... Clyde had a cute date and lots of fun... for pictures check out his facebook page... His date posted-- not him. He is never on.
5. Byran and I went to Cancun-- it was the most random, spur of the moment thing we have ever done. Booked it on Tuesday left on Friday! We had a blast! We were actually just looking online for an inexpensive little get away for our anniversary-- thinking San Diego or San Francisco or something like that when we came across a great deal at an all inclusive resort including tips, taxi, airfare ect.
6. Marchele moved to Provo... she is going to UVU and having a blast with her new roommates! One is her best childhood friend Alex! For more detail see her blog!
7. Marchele got a new car! A shiny blue chevy aveo. She loves it! For more details see her blog!
8. Monica announced that she is expecting again! This will be grandchildren number 6 AND 7 for Bryan and I. Yes she is having twins. Yikes all under 4!
9. After 7 years in business, we have shortened the shops name to Willow, and updated our logo. We felt we needed to update and make it a bit more modern. Our sign, van, and website are all in the process of being updated. You can follow us on facebook now for the latest Willow news, sales, discounts and printable coupons. Our page on facebook is Willow.
10. After 6 floods in our basement, and almost a year of not using it because we couldn't decide what to do to keep the water problem at bay, we are finally moving forward! We are having a watergard system installed around the perimeter along with 3 sump pumps, 2 inside 1 outside. If all goes as planned it will be done in time for Thanksgiving. If we flood again, I will scream!

Vegas....

This is me... fighting off the crowds at the Vegas World Market Center....
Ok, so most of you probably know that every Janurary I go to Dallas for "market". This is when I make most of the non perishable purchases for my store... for the entire year...including Christmas! So, it's a pretty important thing. Well this year we decided we were going to shake things up a bit a go to a different market. There are 4 major markets that showcase "Home & Holiday" Atlanta, Dallas, Vegas and LA. We chose Vegas because it was close, we could drive, and it was later in the year, thus giving us a little extra time to evaluate last year and plan our upcoming promotions. As we reseached the Vegas market, we found two sets of dates... one in Feb, one in March. Why in the world would they hold a major market in Feb? The week before Valentines? We concluded that the Feb show must be the small one, and the "real" event would be in March! UMMM... WRONG. VERY WRONG. So market was a bust. A complete waste of time from a business point of view; but, we decided to stay, and we still had a great time! And no worries, we've got all kinds of great stuff ordered and coming in throughout the year... we even have most of Christmas planned and purchased thanks to a few wonderful reps who have helped us out!

While we were in Vegas, we slept in, worked out, layed by the pool, walked all around down on the strip, lost our car in the parking garage, accidentaly used the men's room, and checked out the cool flowers, "snails" and "bugs" at the Bellagio!


We even tried our luck in Cesars Palace on St Paddy's Day! It was the best part of the trip for me because I put $2 in the penny slots and walked away with $150!

Seriously

Ok, everyone has been telling me that I "SERIOUSLY" need to update my blog... Actually I do have a bit of an excuse. Our basement, where our computer lives, has been an ongoing problem... It flooded in September, and I finally got it fixed and back in order just before Christmas, then the first of January it flooded again. We now have a lovely concrete floor that we are trying to figure out what to do with!





Seriously is my new favorite word... it can be used in so many wonderful ways! When Heather found this shirt for my online I seriously had to have it!



So whats been going on in my life for the last 6 months? Well I'll start with the kids. Heather and Tim are expecting a baby in August! We are excited about that and will be finding out if its a boy or a girl at the end of this month. Heather has a new job at the U hospital that she is enjoying, and should work out well for her even after the baby is born! Tim is busy with school, work and his Choir group. Marchele has decided that she doesn't want to be an engineer, pharmacist, or accountant, so for now she is just going to college to decide what she wants to be when she grows up... but that is okay. I still haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up either! Marchele has also decide that she doesn't exactly love Logan and USU either. Next year she will be living in Provo with her best lifelong friend Alex, and going to UVU! Jason, or Clyde as he would prefer to be called, is really missing his sisters at home. So much so that he now tortures me the way he used to torture them. Have you ever played the cereal game with him? Loads of fun! He is working at Cold Stone a few nights a week... wish it was more! He is on the track team and spends a lot of time working out and chasing girls. If only he would spend a little more of his time on math and chemistry, we would have it made! Bryan is one of the stake athletic directors and spends his Thursday evenings and Saturdays running time clocks and keeping score for basketball games. Work is about the same for him, but a larger company is about to buy out Scott Machinery, so evidently there will be changes ahead-- hopefully they will be good ones rather than bad ones! Me-- well I have become a boot camp junkie and I am actually beginning to call myself a runner. I am even going to run a 1/2 marathon soon! Work is ya know... work. Business is pretty good, a little slower than last year at this time, but not too bad. I didn't do my usual trip to Dallas in January for Market because we had weddings and stuff conflicting this year. Besides, it's really hard to pick out Christmas in January so we decided to try a different market this year. I am leaving on Sunday to go to Vegas for a week! I am excited about this even though I haven't been to this market before at least it will be warm!

Heather & Tim are married! It was a wonderful day-- perfect in every way! And, boy am I glad it is over! It was a lot of fun along with a lot of stress and work... but definitely worth every bit of it! I am so grateful for out great families and friends and for all of the love, help and support that was shown to us on Heather's special day!

I have photos I want to post, but for some reason they won't upload.... (Marchele, I need help again!) In the mean time, check out Marcheles blog and facebook, she has some posted!

Today was Carters baby blessing

I can't believe how much he has grown already! He is such a sweet little spirit, and we love him already!

# 54 is my Favorite Football Player!

One week to go.... Heather is getting married on October 17! I can't believe it's possible! Seems like only yesterday that she was going to preschool, learning to ride a bike, and read and all that good stuff. If you still have little ones, savor the moments... life goes by so fast, and the older they get the faster it goes. I am so proud of Heather for the way she has handled the challenges in her life and for choices she has made to get to this point in her life!I love her so much!

Marchele is such a trooper! She had gallbladder surgery on Friday, but refused to miss Heathers bridal shower on Saturday, so she went... pain meds, ice packs and all! (What a great little sister!) We talked her into missing her Monday classes and then Heather and Tim took her back up to Logan Monday night. Monday she will get her staples out and hopefully she will be feeling pretty good after that!

Jason, or Clyde as he likes to be called is a little banged up too... he has been playing football with a broken hand and a pulled quad, but neither is slowing him down much. He is currently wearing his 3rd cast in a span of two and a half weeks---first own wasn't waterproof(a bad combination with football), second one was waterproof, but apparently not sturdy enough for football, because he broke the cast during his JV game last Thursday. Not to be sidelined, he taped it up and played the Varsity game Friday, then on Monday morning he got his third and hopefully final cast--- it will come of Friday for the wedding! Hopefully it's healed by then, if not then we will go for one more! He's been going to PT for his quad and we thought it was about better, but he re injured it yesterday in the JV game, and though he will be dressing for the game tonight, it's doubtful he will play... we will see.

OLD???

So, we have a theme going on here... I am feeling OLD, OLD, OLD... a kid getting married, a kid in college, grandbabies... I really don't think all of this is possible, I mean I am really not THAT OLD!
Am I?
To combat this feeling OLD thing that I have going on, I have taken up tennis again, and I have started working out at a gym called Boot Camp! My best 20 year old girlfriend, Marissa, talked me into trying it out with her! We have been going for about 6 weeks now, and it's beginning to be bearable! However, going with the 20 something girls is not helping me to feel any younger... I get a daily dose of rude reminders that a 20 year old body moves a little better than a 40 something body does... Oh well, I guess it happens to everyone sooner or later, but it just doesn't seem that long ago that I was on the dance team and running around in college!
On the college note, Marchele moved up to Logan on Saturday to get settled in for college life at Utah State! She is already making a ton of new friends and having a blast... Check out her blog! Jason, or Clyde as he prefers to be called starts school on Monday.. a big Junior this year, and he is feeling pretty cool about it. Football season is already in full swing, you can tell by the stinky shoulder pads he insits on keeping by his bedside... first game is this weekend! Heather and I have been spending all of our spare minutes ( which are few and far between) planning the wedding!

We had a blast on our vacation! They have a thing for totem poles in Canada... and so, we wanted to be part of one!

We have a new grandbaby!

Monica had a baby boy on Wednesday July 30th! He is so sweet, and cute and little! We are so happy to have this little guy in our lives! His name is Joshua Carter Jones! They will call him Carter!

Wow... I am officially OLD!

Heather is getting married October 17th, and that makes me officially OLD! I can't hardly believe that I have a child old enough to be getting married! But, she is happy and Tim is a great guy, so it's all good! I am so excited for her, and I love her so much! My little girl is grown up... it's crazy! You'll have to check out Heathers blog for the engagement details!

June was a blur... and I never posted the pictures that I promised, but I will...soon! We are leaving on vacation tommorow, so there should be some fun ones when we get back! See you all soon!

Life goes by too fast....

Well, we made it through May and it's already half way through June. It's been a while since I have updated. May was a whirlwind of activities, events and business at work...wedding after wedding after wedding, Heather coming home from Ohio, Marchele graduating from High School, football camp for Clyde, etc.

At work, we completed 28 weddings during the month of May, did flowers for 3 big proms, decorated for 2 high school graduations, 1 high school baccularete, along with the day to day stuff like funerals, birthdays, teacher appreciation gifts, dance recital bouquets, new babies, numerous consultations for the upcoming months...we already have weddings booked out a year, for next May. August and September look to be nearly as busy as May. That is both good and bad for me, but mostly good I guess.

Heather is home from Ohio, and getting settled back into a routine---kinda....taking the CNA class (again, to re certify and actually get her license this time), and looking for a job. In the meantime she is spending a lot of time with Tim and making up for the monthes she was away from her best friends Jaclyn & Kylee!

Marchele graduated from High School with high honors and wore 6 honor cords! The last couple weeks of May were busy and fun for her with seminary graduation, bacculareate, senior banquet, senior sluff, scholarship assemblies, completing the yearbook (she was one of the yearbook editors) and of course the all night party on graduation night! Being the wonderful( read sucker) mom that I am, I volunteered to do decorations and clean up for the all night party in between the 8 weddings we had in 4 days... I don't think I sleept for 10 hours all week... seriously!

Jason had spring league basketball games all through may, completed the swim instructors course, bought a cute little red scooter, worked as a lifegaurd and attended footballl camp. Somehow he fit in a couple of lawn mowing jobs, and a couple days of snowboarding as well.

Bryan has been working diligently on rebuilding a car for Marchele...we bought it for a bargin, but it came with a lot of work...actually a bit more than he anticipated, but he claims it will be like a new car by the time Marchele actually takes the wheel. It passed the state saftey inspection, but it has not yet met Bryans saftey and reliability standards yet. The emissions test was giving him problems for a while, but now it has passed that too, so I have decided that he secretly just likes working on it. Anyway, Marchele should have her new wheels in the next week or so! I guess yardwork will have to bee his new hobby for the summer!

Pictures will be following soon!

Marchele & Jason suffering through

moms photo shoot after the Prom!

Marchele and Landon
Senior Prom 2008!

They looked great and had a blast!

Heather & Tim

They met in Ohio, but he is living in Utah now...

Five days at a time...

Well, I've survived the first 5 days of May, which included 2 high school proms (which means I spent 36 hours straight making 187 corsages and 204 boutioneeres), 3 weddings, a funeral, a basketball game, a tennis lesson, prom dress shopping, tuxedo shopping, very little sleep and only a couple diet cokes! (I quit drinking diet coke on Valentines Day, but I had a small relapse... LOL!)
I had sunday to recuperate, and now I am hoping to survive the next 5 days of work which will include 5 weddings, Mother's day and who knows what else...

Things that make my world go round!

It's that time of year...

It's that time of year when things get really crazy for me at work... we have proms, weddings (22 in May), graduations and memorial day to worry about, and at home I have umm, lets see... proms, graduations, track meets, basketball games, but hopefully not a wedding (at least for a while) to worry about... Heather is still in Ohio being a nanny for Jolene, and taking two online college courses. She is enjoying her time there and the new friends she has made, but she is missing her friends at home... Heather met a boy in Ohio that she really really likes, but...he has now moved to Salt Lake City to go to LDS Business College. Heather will be home the end of May, and we are all looking forward to having her around again. Marchele is graduating in May and is busy accepting scholarships, finishing up her Pharmacy Tech class and all that fun graduation stuff! Shell works at the shop with me, so she gets to share the joy(ha ha!) that I feel all through May! Jason, or Clyde as he prefers to be called (don't ask me why?) is on the track team, in a spring basketball league, working as a lifegaurd, and taking classes to become certified as a swim instructor. As for me... I just try to keep up and smile! Tennis is my therapy... as long as I make it to my lesson on tuesday, and everyone gets home in one piece everyday I am happy!

Well, I have learned the basics and it's pretty simple to add photos, music, links, etc. I think this has the potential to be a lot of fun and a good way to share information, show your personality and document the happenings of day to day life! That is, unless you feel like my niece, Maddi Caldwell who says, "it's a little too much like writing in a journal." But hey Maddi, who says you have to write a lot...pictures are worth a thousand words!