To the Women who've gone before me....

January 2012 My house feels so empty when the Christmas decorations go down, that this year I decided to decorate my table in honor of all the wonderful women who I have had the privilage to call Mom, Mother In-Law, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother.....I think it turned out pretty cute!

So, how all of this got started was......a couple of years ago I decided that I would like to have one tea cup and saucer from each of my Grandmothers....I slowly recieved tea cups from my Mom's side, then my Dad's side...and finally determined it wouldn't be complete until I had the Shaw & Stewart side also!

Lets start with me.....this is my tea cup with the pattern Todd & I picked out for our wedding some 19 years ago!

Then comes My Mom's cup, Shonya Norton Nelson, who's China I have always thought was the most beautiful and dreamed my whole life of having one day....(she wouldn't give it to me for my wedding & said I needed to pick my own....that some day I'd have it)

And then her Mother, Charlene Heaps Norton, who did not recieve china when she was first married, but was later given her Mothers original set from England.

Last on my Mothers side is my Great Grandma Heaps....she was such a character & lived an amazing life! Her delicute little tulip tea cups came across from England with her. There are only four in the set and I have each of them!

Then we move on to the Nelson side of the family...my Dad's Mom Anna Rae was given her China by one of the Grandmothers....I can't remember for sure but I believe it was given to her later in life, by Grandpa's mother Thelma. It's the only one I ever remember seeing, and it was always used at special family dinners!

This beautiful little tray of salt, pepper, sugar & toothpicks belong to Grandpa LeBaron...it set on my Grandmother Anna Rae's family table all while she was growing up. We aren't sure who it belonged to. It was Grandpa LeBaron who always used it, and we don't think it was Grandma's Mother Eliza's because she died at a very young age, and it wasn't her step mother Wilma's because Grandma remembers her Father using it before he was married again. So our best guess would be it was just his...or it belonged to his mother Mary Ann Openshaw LeBaron. Either way it is precious!

Thelma Rosely Nelson was the Great Grandmother I remember best.... she was quite a the lady! Full of it if anything...always playing tricks on Grandpa! I loved that about her! This Grave Boat belonged to her! The Shaw and Stewart side is full of equally Great Women.... We start fist with my Mother In-Law Rosolyn Stewart Shaw

Her Tea Cup fits her well if you ask me....classy, yet just a little flashy, which seems to work with her youth in Las Vegas and the the gold coloring.

For Rosolyn's Mother Afton Mildred Linck Stewart I don't have an actual tea cup, Rosolyn's Daughter has her China, but I do have the Child's Tea Cup she gave to Rosolyn when she turned eight and was Baptized. It's the teeny tiny clear glass cup by the hat box & flowers!

As we move over to the Shaw side of the family we have Todd's, Father's, Mother who was named Leah Henriette Albrecq Shaw, her tea cup is a very simple one with just a slight rim of silver and is very pretty.

Last is Todd's Great Grandmother who I adored....her name was Hazel Beatrice Sloan Albrecq....I remember her well from all the visits we made to Las Vegas! She had bright red hair and a big personalitly to boot! All of these wonderful women have been grand examples to me in how to love, live, and care for their families! I am grateful for each of them!

Christmas Decorations 2011

One thing I love about Christmas is the change me house takes on with all the decorations! As they say in the Sound of Music...this are a few of my favorite things....girls in white dresses with cream colored sashes, snow flakes that stay on your nose and eyelashes, brown paper packages tied up with string....these are a few of my favorite things!

Cute candy jars made by friends...

Red Wreaths

Mistoe

Stars

The smell of Christmas trees

Candles and Christmas lights And all the things that remind us of this special time of year!

It's a Girl! Bristel's Blessing....

November 2011 We are so excited to have another girl in the Shaw family.....

This sweet little gal is Bristel Shaw....she was born November 15th, and is so super sweet! Dark hair and eyes like her sister, and that famous cute little piggy nose! You could spend the whole day kissing her!

Mom and Dad aren't proud at all! Way to go you two!

Halloween Oct 2011

If we're going to take guts out, we have to take shirts off! Good thing this rule doesn't apply for mom!

Levi agreed....he's not taking his shirt off either!

I think our pumpkins are some of the best ever this year! We just wanted to keep them simple....and they turned out great!

With this being Brock's last Halloween in Elementary school, he wanted a really cool costum...why not a taco! With his nick name being Brocko Taco I decided it wasn't a bad idea....

Crazy enough....Brock sold his Taco suit in our yard sale the following summer and made $20 bucks off it! There were 3 different kids in the neighborhood who wanted it and each bid a little higher then the next until he sold it for the $20 bucks....

Our traditional trip to the High School to see Dad....Brennan is the Ninja, Levi is Spiderman, Brock is the Taco and his best friend Nicholas Putnam is the Ghost!

Here are the boys on Grandma Nelson's back porch trick or treating!

5th Grade 2011 Football Little League Championship

October 2011

Here's Brock #51 with team mates, Zo #1, Reyo's #3...waiting to get in the Big Game! (you can see Coach Barney at the far left in Brown)

We have some amazing Team Mom's who not only take super good care of our boys on and off the field, but make these really cool posters also!

This is Brock's good friend Ammon Ah Quinn....

This is Brock's friend Solo Katoa...who plays for Dixie, but will be with him next year at the 6th Grade Center Fossil Ridge and play for Pine View.....he's so excited!

Great Job Boys! What a fun year! :)

Confrence Tradition

October 2011 As a kid, my Mom started the confrence tradition of putting a puzzle together while we listen to the talks....it is something that I have continued with my children.

This confrence we found a really cool stampl puzzle at Barnes & Noble...

All of the colors made it super fun for everyone....even our littlest Levi

This is the super cute and thoughtful Confrence basket my Visiting Teacher Charolette Stevenson brought me for the boys....What a fun idea!

Annelise's Wedding, Visiting Grandparents & our Cousin Mindy's Farm

The end of August we took yet another trip North...This time Levi, Grandma & I were the only ones who went! Everyone else is in school & involved with Football....

Our first stop was to visit G.G. (my Mom's Mom, Charlene Norton) She got the name G.G. from Brennan when he was about 2 and couldn't say Grandma Great... Here's Levi styling G.G.'s Hair as she resting on the couch...

Brock requested that I take a picture of the house I grew up in...it sits next door to my Grandparents home in Bountiful

Here's Grandma & Grandpa or Anna Rae & Gilbert Nelson's home next next door....

This is what Levi calls the "steps to Heaven"....really they just lead up to Grandpa's gazebo in the back yard...you can kind of see the gazebo at the top of the stairs, you have to cut back & forth along the mountain to get to it...

Grandma Shonya, Levi & I stopped and picked up our little Cousin Ethan (Dustin's son) and took him with us to go see our Cousin Mindy's farm...she lives in the Roy area and we passed fields and fields of pumpkins growing on the way...Also, Mindy warned us that it could be pretty muddy at the farm so we stopped at the D.I. and purchased shoes and shirts to get dirty....Grandma & Levi loved they're shoes so much they kept them...I kept my shirt...we did get a little dirty but not much....

Here's Levi with a baby goat..

These two beautiful Turkey's have adopted this little Grass Hen...when it's siblings hatched the mother got off her nest to take care of the chicks and the Turkey stepped in and set on the nest...when the egg hatched the turkey's decided that the chick was theirs...my cousin said the mother tried to get her chick back for a couple of days, but the turkeys would chase her off...and the turkey tom was extra protective....pretty soon the chicken gave up and they turkey's have been a happy family ever since!

These two cute little pigs are quick...and know how to stay away from curious boys! Levi informed me they feel scratchy!

I was very interested in seeing the chickens because of wonting to have them myself, but they were not interested in me.... Next it was lets get cleaned up and head to a Wedding!

Annelise is one of my oldest and dearest friends....we meet in High School and have been friends ever since....she has long awaited the arrival of the perfect guy in her life and I have to say Heavenly Father couldn't have hand picked a better one!

Congrates Annelise LeCheminant....It was a beautiful wedding!