Happy New Year

Who's staying up late! I wanna hear all about it!

Happy Holidays!

Doug and all the girls on Christmas Eve!

Baby Jane got in on it too!

Here's a pic of our caroling party earlier this month. I can't believe we all fit!

We heard some amazing recital pieces, too. Go Cameron!

Finally, it wouldn't be complete without the 12 Days of Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has had a great day so far!
Merry Christmas!

December 21 - I like it because............

Why do I like December 21st, the first day of winter? Because from now until June 21st the days keep getting longer. Spring is right around the corner - on its way - almost here.

Happy Birthday Nikki!

I hope you are having a great day!

Wailea Lights

After a complimentary dinner at the Four Seasons, Don and Jill and I cruised the Christmas lights at the entrance to the Grand Wailea Hotel. It is a very enchanting sight and we'd like to share a little holiday spirit with you from Maui.

We've been busy with many things and have been told that the stars forecast even more busyness, especially for Don. Of course this all relative. We know that we are not very busy when compared to all other members of the Gilroy family, but it sure feels busy to us. One of our projects has been the design of our home to be in Pukalani. We're still at the designing and re-designing stage. We even went so far as to make a model of a recent version which is posted on Don and Lynne's Blog.

Have a fun Christmas Party at Jacque's and Happy Holidays!

Christmas party is almost here!

Here are the facts:

JACQUE AND KIMBALL'S HOUSE
SUNDAY NIGHT
6:00

Come ready to sing
Bring recital pieces if you have them
Bring something yummy to eat!

See you there.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to tell you all how thankful I am today for our family. I'm also thankful for all of your wonderful blog posts that keep us connected. It feels like life gets more and more busy with less time to sit and chat. I love it when I can take a moment and read everyone's blogs and know how things are going in each of your lives. I think about you all often and wish we had more time together but it's nice to know everyone is well, healthy, and happy (most of the time). I hope everyone has a wonderful day today wherever you may be and that you know how much I love you.

Christmas party

I'd like to propose having our annual Christmas caroling and recital night on Sunday, December 11, at 6:30 p.m. I'm just not sure about the location. I'm fine doing it here, I'm also fine driving somewhere else if someone else would like to host. Opinions?

The times, they are a-changin'

Michael was able to get a new schedule from work, doing "swing shifts."  This is definitely a cause for celebration, and just like a girl I have to go and fret about it.  We are definitely happy for Michael, who was dying a slow death on graveyard shifts, he really couldn't have kept doing it much longer.

But, at least for the next two months, Michael now works four evenings a week, and I work the other three.  We don't have one day together where we are both together for the whole day, and I am really sad about that.  It makes me especially sad that it's the holiday season and with so many things going on, Michael and I won't be able to enjoy the majority of them together.  (Or... at all?  We only have one car and if one of us takes it to work in the evening, the other person is stuck at home.)

I feel guilty about complaining, because if this helps Michael, I should be grateful, right?  And the alternative, keeping Michael on graveyards, is simply unacceptable.

Anyway... that's the big new change in our lives.  I hope I see some of you this Christmas =)

For You Dad

Dad's been asking me about my race last Saturday and since the details won't post on my blog for a few weeks (since I'm catching up) I thought I would post a summary here, just for Dad.

Last Saturday Adam and I ran in the Halloween Half Marathon.  It started at Aspen Grove, went down past Sundance, followed the highway to Vivian Park then followed the Prove River trail to the Riverwoods mall.  It was a total descent of 2200 feet most of that being in the first 4.5 miles.

I've been training for the race with these girls, my friend Kelly, her sister in law Tricia, and her neighbor Kim.

The morning of the race my neighbor Kristin picked me up at 5:00 am.  We drove to the University mall where we got on a bus that took us to the race start.  We got up to Aspen Grove at 6 am.  They were supposed to have a heated tent where we could all hang out until the race started but when we got off the bus it was dark and there was no one to show us where to go.  It was below freezing.  The crowd eventually made it's way along a dark path that did indeed lead to a tent but it was not very warm.  My friend and I huddled in her blanket until a few more thousand people showed up and the tent got warm.

There were about 4,000 people total that ran in the race.  They had two groups, one started at 9:00 am and the slower group started at 9:20 am.  We were in the 9:20 group.  The first 4.5 miles flew by.  I could tell it was hard on my legs but we were going so fast and I felt pretty good so I didn't worry about it.  The next 8 some miles were pretty brutal but I managed to run the whole thing without stopping.  I had my Gu and my water while I kept running.  I stopped to walk once but some lady asked me to keep going because she was following me.  That was just the motivation I needed.  I got pretty tired after mile 11 and around mile 12 Ryan called and asked if I was about 5 min. away.  I almost lost it and started crying but I managed to squeak out that I was maybe 15 min. away.  As I was coming around the last turn and saw Ryan and the kids I felt like all the tears I was holding back would come bursting forth.  That was the longest part of the whole race.  There were so many people crowding the finish line and I just wanted it to be over.

When I finally made it across my legs felt like jello.  I was afraid to even walk because I thought I would collapse.  And I was starving!  I grabbed a handful of oranges and then I saw the kids and my sister in law Joy (who also ran the race) and I lost it.  She hugged me while I cried and cried.

My friends came in about 5 min. after I did.  They have a tendency to stop for water breaks and I was afraid if I stopped I would never get going again.  I kept thinking they would catch up to me because they're pretty fast but they never did.

The strangest part was that I kept looking for Adam at the finish line.  He and I ran together for the first mile and then he took off.  He looked like he was feeling great and I thought for sure he was going to finish way before me.  When he came limping up after the race I was really worried but it turned out he just had sore muscles like I did.  I guess he got stuck at the bathroom.  It was fun having him there, though, and even better to have someone to commiserate with on Sunday when I felt like I couldn't walk.

It was a pretty cool race and especially fun to see all the funny costumes people ran in.  I finished with a time of 2:21.

Happy Halloween!

Animations provided by MyspaceAnimations.com

Family Pic

My new kitchen

Somebody wanted some pictures of our new kitchen and I found a way to oblige today. For some reason, we haven't been able to really see the surface of things in our new house yet. I guess until there's a place for everything, everything sits on the kitchen countertop.

Very pleased with my new appliances. Little things like a water dispenser that works, a quiet dishwasher, a microwave door that doesn't slam, and burners that heat up quickly just make me smile. That and the song my dryer sings when it has sensed that the clothes are dry. It makes me want to sing too. No more 3 and 4 runs through the low heat cycle because high heat is broken . . . .

One of these things is not like the other... ah, well, it's going to be a while before we can afford a new table, we weren't planning on such pretty new cabinets, and now my table is feeling bashful.

The view from here is wonderful. Pink sunsets, shimmering tree leaves, birds (even hummingbirds!), and lots of blue sky and puffy white clouds. I think when it snows I'll feel like I'm in a snowglobe!

I'm excited to spend lots of time in here and make many yummy things. So far, it's been limited to what I can make without a recipe and in about 20 minutes since my recipes are packed somewhere and I usually realize the kids need to eat when it's past time to feed them.

Part of the reason I'm slow getting things unpacked, getting pictures taken, getting anything done at all . . .

We now have 7 child locks installed and a nice big latch over the trashcan. Unfortunately, there are still easy to open bathroom cabinets and lots of unsealed boxes with exciting things to get into . . .

Ian is not often found in only a diaper, but when he refuses to eat with a bib or sit down in a chair and ends up sitting in squashed banana or smearing tomato sauce all over him, well... we might be seeing a lot more of this. =)

The end.

Happy Birthday Erika!

Most of us joined in for the Heber Valley Railroad Ride.

Here's our Happy Birthday Girl!

YOU ASKED FOR IT

I'm pretty sure you've seen this before. This is the Vase that I made and gave to Brad's daughter, Roxanne, as a wedding present. I gave it to the newly weds in April and asked if I could have it back for entry into the OC Fair. They were happy with that. Of course, we were all hoping it would win an award. And it's pretty cool that it won First Place in it's catagory (embellished turnings).

OC Fair

OK, so I lied. The pinecone vase didn't get three blue ribbons; it got four. 1st Place, Division Winner, Best in Show, and Juror's Choice. Turns out "Juror's Choice" is an option for an individual juror to make an award separate from the other judges, if he sees fit. And the placement of the piece is nicely in the middle of things. I'm basking in my 15 minutes of fame. I worked at the fair today. Some people just really wanted to know how it was done. So it was fun to explain the process.

WHERE IS NIKKI?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Karaoke voting

I picked up a bunch of CDs of Disney songs and kid songs at the library, but I'm going to buy some new ones for the adults on iTunes to add to what we had last year, yay!  Please vote for any songs you like below.
Add a comment if you don't see something that you think would be good.

Heber Updated

Here's the new schedule.  We could do the crater tour on Thursday morning instead of Wednesday afternoon, but the tours don't start until 11:30. 
Is anyone bringing frisbees and footballs and things like that?

Happy Fathers Day!

I know this photo does not correspond with the post heading, I just thought there should be a picture attatched. Ha! "Thats Nikki for ya, isn't it"... I know dad would say something like that.

Anyways, heres a couple things I like most about my dad...

#1: He's a Storyteller... Dad comes from a long line of story-tellers. They really know how to set the stage, build the plot, pause for effect, and basically - tell the story.   I think he's a dying breed because these days we kids just spit things out and have lost the art of story telling in conversations from the days when people sat down and spent more time staring each other in the faces than we do.

#2: Dad is Self-confident. Even though lifes thrown dad a few curve balls, he's always gotten the job done, and learned how to do it better the next time. Thats the true sign of a stalwart person in my book!

#3: Dad is a hard-worker... and he's instilled in all of us the gift of working hard. But not without taking a little time to play hard too. Dad would take us hiking, backpacking, sailing, you name it, he's done it - and somehow gotten one or more of us involved in the process.

#4: Dad gives great advice... Any place, any time, any where, dad will give a helpful word or two! It is so reassuring to know that we've got someone in our lives who helps us out so much, who cares, and believes in us.  Thanks dad for all you do, and all you've done, to bless our lives and give us the best of you!

Theres probably much more to add to the list, but those will suffice!

Sick?

Did anyone else get the flu after getting back to Utah?  Or did I pick it up after getting back here?

ALL SMILES

Everywhere you looked there were smiles. This was a great day! Congratulations to Lynne & Don.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Sorry, all I had was this picture of Keala! Happy Birthday anyways!

Kai's School Program

I was really impressed with the level of difficulty in the songs Kai learned this year (as opposed to 1st grade and Kindergarten.) It was a really fun program to watch!

All the kids learned different beats to the drum. I was impressed.

I missed Keala's program this year but her dad got to go.

I haven't heard any complaints from her, but I wish I could see a recording.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some...

Heber Updated

I just took a bunch of the suggestions you guys made and threw them into a schedule, so it is ALL tentative and completely open for negotiation.  Including the dinner plans.

As far as the magic show/comedy night, if you have a little darling who wants to tell jokes, you could pick up a joke book at your library and they could choose their favorites to tell.  The Dewey call number for joke books is 818 or 818.5 or 818.6.  I'm going to pick up "The Skit Book: 101 Skits from Kids" and have it up there in case any kids want to peruse that and make something up for that night. 

Please add comments with thoughts and suggestions.

Heber Stuff

Hi everyone,
I thought I'd get the Heber planning underway.  It sounds like this year a few of us won't be able to be there the whole time, so I've made a little chart so that we know who is going to be there and when (click to enlarge).  If any of this info is wrong just let me know and I'll update it.

As for activities, I'm sure lots of you have ideas.  Last year I got really tired if we did big outings right after another, so I thought it might be a good idea to do big outings alternately with "days off" or low-key days.  So one day on, one day off, one day on, one day off.  Does that sound like an okay idea?

Deer Creek State Park is in Heber, and it has a big reservoir that people can boat and jet ski on.  I read online that there are businesses that do watercraft rentals at Deer Creek State Park, so is that something you guys would like, too?  The boat was fun last year, but I've kind of been dying to rent a couple of jet skis for a day and have people take turns on them - do we think that the kids are still too young for jet ski rentals?  If so, then that's fine.  I just thought I'd throw some ideas out there (although I've already reserved a State Parks Pass from my library for that week - just in case!).  There are also hiking trails through Deer Creek SP, and Wasatch Mountain State Park is nearby in Midway.  What other ideas did you guys have for activities?

One thing that I'd like to host myself is another karaoke night.  I thought that was really fun last year.  I'm not sure if the kids wanted to a magic show/comedy night since they didn't get to do it last year, too.  We should probably do those on the "off" days, since last year we were all so pooped after days in the national parks we couldn't gear up for a family night.  Does anyone else have any other ideas for nighttime entertainment?

Also: food.  Do you like how we did food last year?  Everyone brought up their own breakfast/lunch items and then each of the girls took a night for dinner.  I remember there was a little problem with mealtimes - sometimes not everyone was back when dinner was ready.  I don't mind that too much, maybe we could just make things we can keep warm in a crock pot for people to eat when they're ready?

So here are the questions summed up:
1. Do I need to change the schedule (above) of when you'll be in Heber?
2. Do you have ideas for activities already?  Do you like mine?
3. Do we want to do family dinners, and if so, what night do you want, and what do you think you might make?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!

Today is Kathy's Birthday. She trooped off to work like a good little soldier this morning. When she gets home there should be a few special things waiting for her and the usual hugs and kisses (maybe a few extra ones).

Medical Update

Doug's had a little setback, but hopefully one that will be resolved quickly. He went in to the doctor last week because of a bladder infection. They found that they couldn't catheterize him. He had some kind of blockage. So they performed a "dilating" procedure. They claim it's the most painful thing they do there, and Doug concurs. Afterward they told him that he needed to keep the catheter in until he could meet with his doctor, which happened to be 6 days later! So he missed the last week of work and laid around the house here--mad and frustrated. (I don't blame him one bit.) This morning he finally met with his doctor and (hallelujah) the catheter was removed. But the doc says he needs to go in and remove the blockage--which is probably scar tissue--and he wants to do it soon. So Doug will have a small surgery next Tuesday. It is an outpatient procedure. He'll need to have a blasted catheter in for 2 or 3 days after to keep things from swelling shut. But the doctor thinks once that comes out he'll be good to go back to work. So, hopefully only two weeks off and hopefully he'll feel even better when it's done. The End.

Happy Womanhood's Day!

Happy Day today to all the women I know who've nutured a dream or realized a hope. I honor  those who've experienced a loss or suffered painful heartache.  I commemorate all who've trudged the trenches in their lives and still kept pushing through the exhaustion with faith for a better day.  I celebrate all woman today for their successes as well as their failures. I celebrate the inspiration you all are in each of our lives! Thank goodness for womanhood, thank goodness for women! I love you all! 

Wedding

Hi Everybody, We're getting married!

At 12 noon on June 14, 2011 at the Wayfarer's Chapel in Portuguese Bend, Palos Verdes, CA.  Yes, it's happening all of a sudden and Yes, it's very short notice . . . (we almost eloped!)  You are all warmly invited.  We'll post pictures on the blog.  We'll have a party at the Gilroy Family Reunion.

Yay!!

Happy birthday Adam!! I hope you have a great day!

L A Trip

We took an adventurous, fun and stimulating art trip to LA. Saw lots of museums and galleries (Margo Leavin, Regan Projects, Gagosian, Blum & Poe) plus a covey of galleries for emerging artists along La Cienega Blvd and Washington Blvd in Culver City. We enjoyed our visit with Ross and Kathy including a royal wood shop tour, and we visited some friends of Don at their studio in South Pasadena. We even ran into a friend from Honolulu on our first day and a couple of friends from Vancouver on our last day. We also loved the music at Disney Hall and the architecture was fabulous.

A mural in progress, Culver City

Don zeros in

Lynne takes a stand

A painting by Ed Ruscha from his Psycho Spaghetti Western show. 

An artisan in his Fullerton garage

Latest Work

This piece is Box Elder Burl from Utah, which I purchased in LA. The wood is dull white and not very pretty, so after shaping the outside form and then hollowing, I added color. First, a reddish brown to the inside, the top and bottom, and a little around the holes. Then bright red over the brown and beyond onto more bare area. Then orange beyond that, and finally yellow. Some of the brown sprayed to the inside bled through the wood and created streaks that highlighted the grain - that's called dumb luck. Applying all the color to the outside took about 15 minutes - then I realized adding more would not be good - more luck. Anyway, I'm really pleased with it and plan to enter it into the county fair this summer.

Some Recent Work

Some months ago the club had a challenge to make something that would fit inside an 8" cube. So I made this Pine Cone Vase. It is much thinner than the last one, so it is translucent.

Happy Birthday Breanne!

Welcome Spring!

The day before yesterday we hit our first 70 degrees of the year. I was almost in tears! It was so beautiful! I sat outside with the kids (and the rest of the neighborhood) - who could stay in!

By mid-afternoon yesterday clouds rolled in covering our beautiful blue skys, and by evening it started to rain!  But what happened next I never suspected! (Who believes the forcasters around here anymore!)

So I got up at 1:00am, looked out the window and saw the biggest snow flakes ever ....falling falling falling!  I feel like Dorothy, or Alice in Wonderland, or anyone else who's been lost in a crazy world!

And this is what it looks like this morning! I sware the dog is as perplexed as we are!  Sisters, what time should this all be melted by today? 3:00pm? Maybe sooner! Its just the way it is out here!

Don & Lynne visit the Fullerton Gilroys

Don & Lynne came to Fullerton yesterday for a visit. They will be spending a few days in the greater Los Angeles area visiting various galleries and architectural highlights. They will also be taking in a concert at the new Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA.