Happy Birthday, Beth!

I want to put up a quick post to wish my Mother-in-Law a happy birthday today! Beth has had a very successful year this year, and Dru and I are so proud of her! She won the SELF Magazine 2009 Women Doing Good award for her work with the Tierra Miguel Foundation, and has been featured on many news programs as a result, including the TODAY show. I am just so amazed by the things she does and how hard she works for a cause that she is so very devoted to. She is just wonderful. Besides being a remarkable woman in the world, she is also about the best Mother-in-Law and Mom anyone could ask for. She is so good to her son, and to me as well. No matter what we ever do, I just know that Dru and I will never be able to express to Beth how much her kindness and generosity make our lives easier, as well as inspire us to be kind and generous as well. To read about all the work Beth does, you can click here: http://www.tierramiguelfarm.org/
Happy Birthday, Beth! We sure love you!

90 Years

Remember a few blogs ago when I said that I couldn't wait to blog about my Grandma's 90th Birthday party? Well...here it is, a week later, and I am barely getting to it. I guess I could wait. Actually the reason for the delay of this post is not laziness. Every time I have started to write this post, I just haven't been able to do it. I think the reason is that there just are not words to describe how I feel about my Grandma. She is my absolute hero. I am so serious about that. She is an amazing picture of triumph over adversity, hard work, devotion to her family, devotion to her faith, devotion to her health, and just plain old all around good person-ness. When I look back on my life, many of my fondest memories involve my Grandma. She has never been a sappy kind of lady, but she has still always made me know I am loved. And possibly one of my favorite things about my Grandma, and one thing that I know I will ALWAYS remember and hold dear is the way she always makes me know that I am "special." She is something else, and 90 does not seem to have her in check quite yet! I think my Grandma had a great party last Saturday. In attendance we ALL four of her children, and MOST of her grandchildren. Possibly the star guest was my cousin Mandy's brand new little girl, London, who was born on Tuesday, and made the trip from Arizona to Idaho to be at the party on Saturday. It was a big surprise and I think that it made my Grandma's day to get to meet little London. This post will not be complete until I give a major round of praise to my Mom and Dad who planned, coordinated, and financed this party. They worked their faces off to make a special day for Grandma. I hope that someday I can be as good to them as they are to all their parents. They are just wonderful kids, and parents for that matter! Alright, enough is enough. Happy birthday Grandma! I love you!My cousin, Mandy, Grandma holding baby London, and my Aunt Jan

FOUR generations! Pretty awesome!Aunt Jan, John the Dad, Grandma, Uncle Jerry, Uncle Kevin

This is Grandma with all her kids!
This is all of Grandma's kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids who were at the party!
(Tabetha! You're not looking at ANY camera!)Grandma's cake...which I made!

Love this guy!

Our friend Matthew was visiting from Canada (without our other friend, his wonderful wife, Mona :( although we miss them so much we take what we can get and are delighted by it!). He was only here for a short time for work, but we were able to get an evening out with him, and we had so much fun! First stop = Super Sergio's for some burritos. Second stop = O'Brien's Pub for some beer and burgers. That is right, burritos AND cheeseburgers. Did I mention that our time was limited and we love Matthew?? Well, I will spare you every detail of our evening and get on with some photos, but it just made our week to get to see our friend who we miss so much! Next time we want some Mona too! We hope to get to Canada sometime in the somewhat near future so that we can see some more of those Canadians that we love so much!

What have we been up to?

Oh my lord! It has been a while since my last blog, but not because we haven't been doing anything! We are been going non-stop since we returned from Seattle. Work has been busy for me, and Dru is keeping a little too busy between work and school. He has so much on his plate...I really do not know how he does it all.
Last week we went to an Incubus concert. It was a really great show. We had dinner with some friends last night and it was so fun to see them and catch up! Now that we live so far out of the city, we just don't get to see much of our old pals :(
We have also been looking at a new car, and if all goes well, you will be seeing us driving around in a new car soon! With how much driving we do, we have been looking at fuel efficient vehicles. I cannot wait to post as soon as we get our new ride!
Other exciting news is that we will be heading to Idaho on Thursday to help my Grandma celebrate her 90th birthday. I am giddy. I love any opportunity to go home for a visit, but I am extra excited this time to be able to catch up with extended family, and to celebrate with one of the most extraordinary women I have ever known, my Grandma. Here is a photo of her and me at my wedding. I will post photos of the celebration when we return. I just love her to bits!