Vacation to Utah...Continued

The remainder of our time in Utah was met with much mixed emotion after the sudden passing of my Aunt Susan. My mom, Laurel, Judy, Bart and myself were able to spend some time grieving with her dear family as well as my immediate family on Wednesday, the day following her death.

That Thursday was a day of appointments....dentist and hair salon....both must-stops every trip home. What would we do without our dear Aunt Emily who keeps us all looking so good! Thursday night was a great dinner at Union Station with Todd's mom, dad, sister Jennifer and her darling little boy Ashton, as well as my mommy and daddy, Jocelyn, Laurel and Brady. So sad that I don't have any pictures, especially since I had my camera with me!



Friday was a fun day spent with great families! We lunched that afternoon at a place my family kept raving about right along the Ogden River with Mom, Grammy, Todd, me, Jocelyn, as well as with Jennifer and Ashton. The food and atmosphere, especially the company, was great...too bad it was too cold to eat outside and really enjoy the scenery.

How I do so love and absolutely adore these two fantastic, beautiful ladies!!!

On our way home from lunch we had to drive along Fruitland Drive and admire the handiwork of Laurel and Mom as well as a few men from the ward. One of the ward-members husband's has been deployed in Iraq for 18 months and arrived home to a welcoming flag-lined street!

18 flags in the yard, one for each month Brent was gone.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture the flags along the road....

Friday evening we had a nice dinner at my favorite place, Maddox, with Todd's family.

The Grunander clan...minus me

Saturday Todd and I were able to sleep in and then watch the BYU--New Mexico game with my mom and dad. We all had tickets to go, however Dad was on call and couldn't leave Ogden so we decided to not brave the cold, snowing weather and all watch it on tv. That night we had a great game of cards...too bad my husband has to cheat and win every time!!!

Mom and Laurel enjoying their good hands!

This picture isn't too far off from the truth...CHEATER!

While we played cards, Brady took the following poll:

"Who would you rather break their leg: Max Hall (BYU quaterback) or me???"

I think his feelings and ego were a little bruised when it was a unanimous vote for Brady to break his leg....and without question a very easy choice! Although, that was before this last BYU-TCU game. Maybe you should redo that poll, the answer my be different...

Sad but True...fell asleep at the table after the last hand of cards.

Thanks Wolthuis and Grunander families for all the great memories!!! Already counting down to the next vacation....December 26 isn't that far away!!!

Susan Wolthuis Williams

My dear aunt passed away unexpectedly on October 7, 2008. She will truly be missed by her family and friends. She was a beautiful woman inside and out. She was a wonderful and loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend. She was a shining example of Christ-like love. She knew what was right and always stood up for her beliefs. She was a peacemaker. She was kind, thoughtful and generous. My love and prayers go out to Richard, Richie and Julie and Ruby, Whitney and Steven, Micah and Chelsea.

Vacation to Utah...The Return to Sanity...

After the past 3 weeks straight with no fewer than 4 calls/pages every night leading to an extremely tired and very cranky SICU fellow, combined with not having spent no more than 3 hours total with Todd in the past month, we are off on a week of vacation in Utah and it could not have come at a better time!

Todd and I left LA for home on Friday, October 3. No excitement on this flight unlike my last...Danny Glover sat in front of me last month from LA to SLC and was causing a scene fighting with the flight attendant about turning his phone off and taking out his earbud in order to listen to the rules about sitting in the exit row. Todd and I actually had a row to ourselves and within minutes I was asleep not to awaken until we landed.

Todd's dad picked us up at the airport and we headed to South Salt Lake for a visit with Ed and Ila, Todd's grandparents.

Three generations of Grunander men...

Saturday we enjoyed a nice day of conference. Greg, Emily and the boys were down from Idaho Falls and it is always so fun to be with their family.

Cannon and Crew were both sporting black eyes. Crew had pulled himself up to a chair and then fell hitting the corner of the chair. Cannon's story however is much more interesting. He was playing catch with two other little boys at Colton's last football games. One of the boys became angry when Cannon didn't throw him the ball, walked right up to him and socked him in the eye.

Although hard to see in this picture, the entire area under

Cannon's right eye is black, blue and an awful color of green.

The shiner Crew has looks more like bad purple

eyeshadow gone wrong all over his right eyelid.

We were able to give Laurel a baby shower on Saturday night while all of the men were at priesthood session of General Conference. We spent most of the afternoon preparing with all of the girls...it made me very grateful for my sisters and the fun we are able to have together. We quickly learned that any Martha Stewart recipe that Emily has shouldn't be used unless she has personally made the item at least once before. However, two cupcake and icing recipes later, all of the salads and desserts were delicious!

Emily never fails to be the life of the party.

Could little Laurel just try to look pregnant...she is 6 months along after all!

The shower was fantastic. It was fun to be with so many family members and visit. Laurel got some great presents....we all can't wait for little Paisley to make her appearance!!! Once all of the guests were gone, the stress of the day led Mom to hit the bottle!!! An intervention is currently underway, however with little success...

Now Jocelyn wasn't dressed this fancy for our party. She went to Fremont High's Homecoming Dance that night with her boyfriend Cameron.

Sunday was completely relaxing and peaceful again enjoying all of the General Conference talks. Todd traveled to Idaho Falls with his family to visit his Grandmother and Aunt.

We spent Sunday evening eating a wonderful meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy thanks to my dear mom. Todd's friend from medical school and his wife were able to join us for dinner and our favorite past-time....playing cards with Grammy Char.

Monday my mom and I spent part of the afternoon in the DMV so that I could renew my license. I am proud to say that I have yet to get nor will I claim myself as a California resident by getting a drivers license there. The time at the DMV was quite entertaining as we joined the ranks of all of the finest in white trash that Ogden has to offer. You will be glad to know that Mom and I were the only ones in nice clothes, with a full set of teeth...our own of fake...and who didn't smell like smoke and alcohol. The best show was the illegal Mexican girl that spoke no English trying to obtain a license. She approached the desk and rattled off something in Spanish only to have the worker respond, "I don't speak Spanish." The same dialogue occurred a few more times before the Mexican girl finally called her friend up to the counter who spoke only a few broken words of English. Unfortunately for the girl, No VISA = NO LICENSE!

We then met up with the family for dinner at Texas Roadhouse and an evening of shopping with the girls. When we first ventured into the Newgate Mall...aka Ogden's only shopping area...I commented on how difficult it would be to leave LA shopping. However, I then discovered the shoe store with great high heels and flat, as well as the the deal of $17.99 for one pair and get the second for FREE. Two pair of shoes later, as well as a great purse and fishnet tights and I was reconsidering...

"Don't even think about eating a peanut.

These are mine, all mine!"

No trip to Utah is complete without a day of card-playing. Tuesday was spent eating junk food and playing cards until we dropped. Unfortunately, Todd killed us every game!

Emily was able to join in the fun from Idaho Falls via I-Chat.

Grammy, Aunt Emily, me, Aunt Jeanene and Mindy, Mom

We couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the initial days of our vacation...more posts and pictures to come!

Happy 5th Birthday Cannon!

Happy Birthday Cannon!


C--charcteristics you can't help but love...miscevious, smart, funny, sweet, athletic, lovable!

A--adorable...who can resist those dimples and that smile!

N--nice to all those around him!

N--naturally athletic and determined!

O--outrageously fantastic big AND little brother!

N--never fails to bring a smile to my face, always greets me with a hug!

Fashion - - Challenged...

This picture was taken this past weekend while in Seattle by my mom. After seeing it on her blog, I just had to have it on mine as well. For those of you that know me well, my motto regarding my husband's fashion is..."If you don't look good, I don't look good!!!!" So, to see my darling hubby walk through the hotel and into the pool area in the above attire was mortifying to me. Little did the poor guy know that I had packed him flip-flops, he just didn't see them in his bag. And yes, I packed his bag because he was on call the night before we left. Plus, it leaves me with entire clothing control! So, here's to gym socks and dress shoes coupled with swim shorts...in the words of Project Runway fashion gurus Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn..."That is BUTT UGLY...but Make It Work." Good my sweetie has great legs to distract us all with...check out his calf muscle in that picture...not bad for a 30-year old orthopaedic surgery resident who works 80+ hours a week..Coach Hislop would still be so proud!

Seattle--Whirlwind Weekend of Family Fun!

The Wolthuis Family...all 14 of us...plus Grammy Char and Cousin Andrew headed off to Seattle this past weekend for some family bonding over the BYU-University of Washington game. We absolutely had a blast...BYU winning...questionable call or not...definitely didn't hurt either! Everyone flew in sometime on Friday and we then all headed to the Mariner--Yankee baseball game that night. The Mariners won 3-1 which was sad for Colton who has become a huge Yankee fan after watching a movie about Babe Ruth. My husband on the other hand was not disappointed at all...his motto is "We love the Dodgers and who do we hate...the Yankees."

Safeco Field. If you look closely, you can see downtown Seattle

and the Space Needle in the background.

Dad and Todd ready to catch a fly ball.

Me and Grammy...my favorite traveling companion and roommate!

Crew baby...always a treat to travel with!

A-Rod...one of a few strike-outs

Cannon has become a Yankee fan through Colton. Here he is with his "Rally Cap" on.

Yankee fan through and through...however with the Mariners winning, he decided to sport his souvenir T-shirt.

Saturday morning we all awoke early and donned our BYU gear. After a hearty breakfast, we headed to the stadium. The area is beautiful with Lake Washington running beside the Husky Stadium. Too bad I can't say as much for the fans. We heard the "F-word" and were flipped the bird more that day than in our entire lives combined. The sad part was they actually increased the level of their bad behavior once they saw young children. However, I can happily report that everyone within the Wolthuis group, Dad and Johnny included, were extremely well behaved.
The Cougars were victorious 28-27 with what ESPN is debating as a call that never should have occurred in the last 2 seconds of the 4th quarter...

View from our seats...Max Hall awaiting the snap...

The Wolthuis Family after the hard-fought battle and win!

Todd, Cannon and Crew displaying their matching shirts...

The weekend was absolutely fantastic and we loved every minute! Can't wait for Tempe, Arizona next fall!

Happy 34th Anniversary Dad and Mom!!!

San Diego June 2008

Happy Anniversary! Couldn't let the day pass without letting you know how much I love and adore each of you! Thank you for the wonderful example of a happy marriage and companionship that you have set for all of us. It is a true picture of eternal marriage and we all definitely have something fantastic to strive for! I admire Dad's effort to work so hard to support our family and think it is so cute that he will still give you a phone call at lunch time just to check in. Mom never fails to have a home-cooked dinner on the table, a spotless house, running kids all over town and still have time to impeccably iron clothes for dad to wear to work. Thank you both for all of your love, support and endless generosity! Thank you for the wonderful memories of growing up and that still continue today...amazing holidays, BYU football and basketball games, boating, and especially family vacations! Thank you for always making your home so welcoming...I am know that I am truly home when I walk in your front door! I am blessed with the most fantastic parents and family! I love you both and hope you have some time to spend with each other!