Turning 60

Well, I did it. I turned 60 last week. My loving husband did the most wonderful thing...He took me to Las Vegas for my birthday. AND to the first restaurant we went to as man and wife on our honeymoon, a mere 41 years ago. We went to Binnions, on Fremont Street, when we were married and then again last Wednesday night and it was just as wonderful as I remembered it 41 years ago. Our waiter was a fellow named Pat and he was very good to us and treated me to my very favorite desert--Cream Brulee'. We stayed at a beautiful hotel called Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon. (Don't let the name throw you.) It was truly beautiful. We had a great time and would go back to that same place in a heartbeat. (Provided that now I'm 60 my heart will still beat!)

Another decade has passed and life goes on.

Introducing Jadea Lynn Taylor

Yes, yet another party. We had the best time welcoming to the family Jadea Lynn. She is the granddaughter of my sister-in-law, Becky. Here are several pictures from the baby shower that we gave for Becky's daughter, Nicole and her new little one, Jadea Lynn. It was quite the party, Jadea's Great Grandma Shanna doesn't spare anything for the new babies in the family. We started with a salad with greens, fresh raspberries, fresh Roquefort cheese, toasted pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Next on the menu was glazed chicken breasts in a white wine sauce, green beans with almonds, wild rice and lovely dinner rolls from our favorite bakery. After presents we finished off with cream pies.

As you can tell from my blog, we do party hearty and eat well. Hope you enjoy the slide show.

Another week has passed on...

It has been a little while since I have talked to you all. I have seen the weeks go my too fast since all our partying. I have taken to needle and thread and pushed the adhesive and card stock aside for a little bit. Here is what I have been working on. I'm involved with a group of ladies that are doing a fundraiser and I am giving these baby quilts as a donation for their boutique on October 10th.
The needle and thread will now be given up for culinary skills as we are having a big baby shower this weekend, so maybe after that I can get back to adhesive and card stock. Have a good week.





PS-We went to our grand-daughter Sydney play volly ball last night. She is very excited to belong to the team and they did super. Check out Angie's blog stampingsoftheshug.blogspot.com to see Syd in action.

New Cards

When we haven't been partying, I have managed to make a few new cards. Most of the products are Stampin' Up, I'm sure you can tell. They were fun.

More Family Family Family

Well, it has been one week since our party with the Madsens. Now it is time to party with the Reeces. Every year we hold our "Spaghetti Annual" around the 25th or so of September. It began way back when--Shanna and Tom (the original grandparents) would take the six little Reeces in the car to the canyon to look at the pretty leaves in the fall. Shanna would always prepare spaghetti and the essential accompaniments and they would enjoy the fall weather and eat spaghetti and look at the leaves. Then when everyone grew up, Grandpa Tom always got his condo in Park City and kept up the tradition of the "spaghetti annual". Grandma Shanna would always prepare the spaghetti and the rest of the family would provide the accompaniments. This year, we kind of broke tradition and had the party at a home. Not just any home, it was at the home of our cousin Bruce in Kamas. That made it feel like we were in the canyons or the mountains. It was such a fun time. Here are some pictures of us all eating (which is what we like to do best!). It was pretty windy, so that is why we all look so prim and proper. (not enough room for captions on the photos--sorry)

Family, family, family!

This past weekend we had a Madsen Cousin's Party. My mom had 11 brothers and sisters. She and five sibblings came from Denmark to the USA when she was a child. Six more were born in Provo. Needless to say, I have lots of cousins. 40 in fact!! In years past we tried to all get together with our children, and such, but obviously it was a HUGE undertaking and was way too much to handle. After a few years of not seeing the Madsen side of our family, Cousin Jim thought it would be a good idea to start a "Cousin's Party" and have been doing that for the past few years, usually in the fall.

It was very fun to see our cous's this year and here are some pictures of the party. The fun thing about this year is that it was held at one of our aunt's home--Aunt Oggie. Aunt Oggie is no longer with us, but her granddaughter, Debbie, purchased the home and we are so glad that it is still in the family. In our younger years, my sister, Susan, and I spent a lot of time at Aunt Oggie's house--the one with the swimming pool!! That was a big deal years ago. We only have one remaining sister left in the Madsen clan, Aunt Aggie and one sister-in-law, Aunt Marguerite. They have lots of great stories about the "old" days in the Madsen home. Hope you like the pictures.

Working on New Things

Now that my daughter has me a new banner, my second son, Mark, is here helping me with the images. Here goes:

This is a birthday card I made for a card party. Question: Does it look like a lady bug or a fly??

My New Look

Well, Angie felt sorry for me and made me a new banner. Isn't it great. I wish I had her computer skills! She is the best daughter a mom could ever ask for.

Is anybody ready for the new season of TV. Personally we are tired of re-runs and political stuff. (can't say bad words on the internet!) It's been a long time since we were LOST, had view of our HEROES and had any new love twists on GREY'S ANATOMY. What's up with 24?? Welcome back to the new TV shows.

It is time to update

I have been very bad at updated my blog. Partly because I don't quite know how. I need my daughter to help me. When she gets time, we will post some new cards I have made and I will be better at postings.

More cards.

Here are a few more cards that I made for the craft fair. This one I made from an idea from a card for my daughter.

This card we made at stamp club last year.

Here's one I created that mathces the baby girl card below.

Here is a cute card that when you open it up, it has a tear out bookmark.

New Cards

I know, it's been a while. Here are a few cards I made with my daughter for our craft fair (that was a disaster!). More to follow...now I'm off for a much needed vacation for a week!!

New Beginning

Well, the parties are over and I am embarking on a new experience. Two Words: Weight Watchers. I was kind of nervous going to my first meeting, but there were 6 other ladies there and I felt better when I left. Hope I can do it! Need to quit those late night tootsie roll binges. But what is cardmaking and scrapbooking without chocolate???

40 years and counting

Angie's blog was so cute when she wrote about our anniversary. She is a very clever and thoughtful daughter. I also received two wonderful e-mails my sweetheart this morning when I was checking my e-mail. Today is our 40th wedding anniversary, if you hadn't already figured it out from Angie's blog, and my hubby sent me an e-mail greeting with my favorite piano piece on it that I used to play when I had a piano. He also said that he was looking forward to 40 more. (Who wants to be married for 80 years!!! Not that either one of us will live that long anyway.) We are going to Lake Conroe, Texas in June to celebrate.

Anyway, I wanted to share that bit of thoughtfulness with you. And it goes to show that the tiredness may be worth it. (Card made by Ang)

The Weekend's Over

Do you ever do a bunch of stuff for your family and when it is all said and done, wonder if it is worth it? Please tell me that some of you have worked like the dickens to please your family, feel exhausted when they leave and wonder "what was I thinking!"

Oh well, it made the weekend fly by and my 16 year old granddaughter only has her 16th birthday once in her life.

Maybe this week I can work on some cards. I love reading your posts and hope to hear from some of you soon.

Tired Grandma

Previous Cards

These b-day cards were created out of necessity to use paper on hand. I think they turned out pretty good. What do you think? The dragon fly was cut by my Cricut.

The stars for the Make a Wish were made by Coluzzle.


(Sizzix, Cricut and Coluzzle are a reslut of my former days at Provo Craft--that's how I got started in all of this.)

Hawaii cards

Madi

We went to Hawaii this past February and I gave each of the grandkids a card with spending money in them. Each card is geared for each kid's personality. Fun.....

Syd

Jory

Hello again

I hope that everyone's weekend was as good as ours. We had lots of family and great food. It was kind of different though, as we didn't have anyone under the age of 18-there were no Easter Egg Hunts or games of any kind. It was fun, though to visit the older kids and especially have them do the dishes and clean up. That being said, it is time for me now to show you some cards that Ang and I have worked on this last week or two. It has been really fun for me for Angie to be at home lately because I get more time with her. But, on Thursday, we will go to the Dr and hopefully get some answers to why she is so sick. Cross you fingers everyone--we have to find an answer and get her well.

On a brighter note, here a few cards:

This little boy and girl will make a fun crayon card for the birthday kids to color on their day.

Here's one that I did last fall:

There are more that I have, but I need to learn more. It has taken me two hours just to do this much. Angie--where are you?????

Practice make perfect and I need a lot of practice. Later.....

Mary

Thanks

Thank you everyone for sending me your greetings and your links. It will be fun to get to know you all.

Cherish

Check out this card for a bride and groom.

Got links?

Hello. I'm just starting out making my new blog. It will be a blog about cards, scrapbooks, and life in general. If you want to have a link to your blog, please post a comment. I will add your blog to my list. Please add me to your blog links if you like.

Thanks!