John and Dixie

ARIZONA REMODEL

2012-01-02T19:40:00.001-08:00

We bought a little condo flat in the land of over 55! Yes, we qualify for reverse age discrimination in Sun City. We have the kitchen pretty much done......and here are a few before and after pictures.

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

2010-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

My sweet father passed away on April 29th, just a few weeks shy of his 85th birthday.

And then on May 21st we welcomed our newest, our 6th grandchild.

Elle Marie Grange

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN

2010-03-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

THERE WERE NO PHOTOS OF THE BIRTHDAY DINNER, THE CAKE

OR THE GIFTS...........

JUST ONE LATER THAT EVENING OF JOHN DOING WHAT

HE DOES SO WELL, SINGING NURSERY SONGS TO ISABEL.

JUST BEING GRAMPS!

LET'S CATCH UP!

2010-03-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

MARCH 9, 2009

HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY DANIEL

Daniel and his friend Seth, about 8 years ago.

Gotta love the melon shirt and great smile.

Now, a few pictures of the last few months.

CHRISTMAS 2009

I seem to remember another little boy who could not resist climbing into the toy box!

Daniel and Beckett.......Hey, I don't remember Beckett sitting this quietly!!

I'm not sure who won this competition, only that John was the

champion of the Grange men at the end of the day.

Grandpa Gill and Mabel

After an morning of sledding.

RYAN WITH GRANDPA GILLS NAVY UNIFORM FROM THE 50'S

A PERFECT FIT!

A VISIT TO ALBUQUERQUE

A wonderful day spent playing with Mabel and her brothers.

WHILE IN SNOWED IN DENVER, WE TOOK A QUICK TRIP

TO MEXICO, AKA "PARADISE"

THE END

IT IS SPOOKY TO HAVE SNOW IN OCTOBER......

2009-10-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

though not unusual!

We measured about 20 inches when it was over.

A LITTLE ISABEL TIME

2009-10-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

With Ryan and Teri working so much on their new home, we

have got to spend lots of time with Isabel.

She is a pistol!

Just the right color and size, and they

can be worn as a scarf! Who knew? Ryan and Isabel at a Rockies game.
They won.............obviously this was taken a while ago.

FUN WITH RYAN AND ANDREW

2009-10-24T16:29:00.001-07:00

Andrew and Ryan are keeping us busy while Mom, Dad and Mabel are

visiting Daniel, Anne and Beckett in Connecticut.

We went to the Zoo today.

and to the Ward Halloween Party, where Gramps

joined the parade with Buzz and one of the TMNT's.
Buzz is happy to see his Grammy come from behind
the fishing booth.

The wildlife experience proved to be no more wild

than what we have at home.

The boys seemed to be naturals at

climbing the giant spider web.........

Though Andrew said "I don't like it."

Of course the first thing we did was to build a huge fort on the

dining room table and added a few houses and tunnels for

good measure.

Ryan wanted to take a picture of me and I could not

get Andrew out of the fort for a photo op.

MEN DOING WHAT MEN DO

2009-10-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Of course this trip in August preceded John's month long journey with excruciating pain,

ending with neck surgery the first of October.

It was worth the view!

There was hanging on to the side of steep cliffs,
a little fishing.........good job Spencer.

and the eating of the fish.......I can't tell if that was a good thing?

Daniel was missed by the rest of the Grange men, and is

expected to show up next year!

I KNOW, I KNOW, I SAID I WAS DONE

2009-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

BUT I HAVE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART.

I tried facebook and it did not take.........so I am back.

Stranger things have happened.

Here is what has been going on the last few months.

JULY

THE GRANDCHILDREN CAME FOR A VISIT!!

John and Mabel caught a nap together

Isabel and Beckett saw a very funny animail at the Zoo

We spent time on the deck and in a tree!

Andrew and his very serious daddy!

Beckett and Isabel loved the pool!

Ryan and Andrew in the 4th of July bike parade.

In June, we lost John's father, Jim Grange.

We will miss Jim's smile and gentle spirit greatly.

This is John's family.

Then there was Grand Lake Colorado

and quilting with friends, LOTS of QUILTING!

and a little wild life.

Some of our handiwork, and the most wonderful friends to

"handiwork" with.

MABEL'S BLESSING

Mabel was blessed in a dress that I made from my old

wedding dress.

DANIEL GRANGE GRADUATES FROM BYU

Proud wife, Anne and son, Beckett

Older Brother Ryan and (even older) Dad was there

to cheer Daniel on.

MY DAD

He lost his sweetheart of 37 years, came out to Colorado for 5 months, returned

home to Bremerton, WA for a month, and will be moving back to Colorado

next week. This is him on his front porch in Bremerton.

BYE, BYE BLOG

2009-03-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have heard your complaints, pleas and insults and have had to agree that we are no longer 75% hipper than we once were, but in fact are less hip. And I'm o.k. with that!

But I have bowed to the pressure to post once more, but for the last time.

Here are a few pictures to go out on.

Happy Birthday, John! He turned 57 on March 13th and we celebrated with Isabel.

There are many things I would do over, differently, but I would want to do it over with John!

Intoducing Mabel Elizabeth, our 5th grand-child!
She was born March 1st, 9lb. 6 oz.
Beautiful!

I was in Albuquerque for 2 weeks and John came in for the last weekend.
I am so lucky to have been able to go help with Ryan and Andrew!

Andrew turned 2 on March 4th.
The boys and I made many Elmos.

Beckett turned 1 on February 21.

and Isabel Lyla was 1 on March 8th

We went to Mexico in January with the Hendricks.

Kathy, me and a sunset.

This was in Puerto Vallarta

BECKETT ROSS

2008-05-21T20:32:00.001-07:00

John with his friends, Ken and Dennis.

I think Ken hugged John, then Dennis got jealous and

tried to kiss him.

Well, this is the aftermath.

Beckett was blessed in Provo on April 27th.

All of Anne's family and most of ours were there.

(we missed you Erin, Ryan and Andrew!)
After, Daniel and Anne hosted a picnic in Provo Canyon.
Me, Daniel and Isabel.

BYU WOMEN'S CONF.

2008-05-19T11:38:00.001-07:00

Denise Wright, Janine Sherman, Michele Ballard and me.

On the path to Heap's, er, I mean Brick Oven. YUM
Waiting for a class to start.

A TOILET, SHOWER AND A COUPLE OF SINKS....

2008-05-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

and yet it looks so different.

BATHROOM UPDATE

2008-04-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

We still have a few things to do to the Master before it is "post worthy"

The next 4 pictures are of the hall bathroom.

These next two are of the downstairs bath.

Opps! I deleted one, and am too tired to repost.

THINK OF JAMES TAYLOR SINGING MEXICO......

2008-04-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

We met the Hendricks in Playa Parisio, Mexico,

it is about 1/2 hour south of Cancun,

20 minutes north of Playa.

The Resort was beautiful and very "jungley".

Ken and John

very happy after being seranaded by a marachi band.

Your eyes are not decieving you! Kathy played tennis with us!

And she is very good!

It only took me 15 years to get her on the court!

She must have been very bored!

We played a little hearts one night, and we are holding

proof that we smoked John and Ken, even though

they tried to cheat!

GETTING COZY

2008-04-01T11:29:00.001-07:00

John is returning to Denver today, Erin and Spencer will arrive home tonight.

I leave tomorrow, a little more tired than when I came, grateful that I had this time with the Grange brothers and a bit wiser.......

Ryan just shared this tid bit with me yesterday.

"When Andrew cries he wants his binky, and when I cry I want to get cozy"

Having a snack of raisins after a nice nap.

GRAMMY AND THE GRANDSONS IN SEATTLE

2008-03-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

I AM IN SEATTLE WATCHING RYAN AND ANDREW WHILE SPENCER AND ERIN ARE IN ALBUQUERQUE ON A HOUSE HUNTING TRIP.

This is my first day here and all is well, no melt downs, just dang cute boys!!

Andrew found a comfortable place to sit while watching

"Elmo in Grouchland"
A little climbing time outside.
And a wrestle before bed....

BURP AND CUDDLE

2008-03-20T19:51:00.001-07:00

I made a receiving blanket and some personalized burp cloths for Isabel and Beckett. They turned out so cute I made some more for a friends new baby.

The burp cloths are cloth diapers with the name on one side and fabric on the other side about 1/2 the way up. They are very cute.

I hope Emily likes them, and that she is so busy with Zachery that she is not looking on my blog!!

AN OLD WEDDING DRESS AND A PAIR OF SCISSORS

2008-03-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

I cut up my old, ugly wedding dress and made this blessing dress for Isabel.

Unfortuately, it did not fit her.

This is some of the detail of the bodice.
and the bottom of the dress.

I had about 14 buttons on my wedding dress,

and was able to salvage 3 to use.

I made a new, sweet slip. Awww.

It was fun to make and I only had to buy some new lace for the bottom of the dress.

Hopefully, I will have some more grand-daughters.

BLESSING WEEKEND

2008-03-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Isabel (in the pink!) was blessed this weekend.

I have my arms and my heart full with

3 of our 4 grandchildren here this weekend.
The proud mom and dad with Isabel.

Spencer and Andrew flew in from Seattle to

to be here for the blessing.

It was a surprize for Ryan and Teri.

Daniel, Anne and baby Beckett drove over for the blessing also.

IF YOU DID NOT CATCH IT ON ESPN....

2008-03-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

and you missed it on the scrolling on the bottom of Sports Center,

I bowled a 202 today!

For those of you who need proof (because I often exaggerate my sporting accomplishments) my score is on the top, DG, feel free to enlarge for detail!!.

P.S. Jan, aka JK, would like me to tell you all this was not her best game In 20 years of bowling this was my first 200 game. For you non-bowlers a 300 is a perfect game. I was 2/3 perfect, which is much better that the 1/3 plus 30 perfect I usually am.

Made even sweeter because a few weeks ago I was just 3 pins away from a 200 game,
and bowled a 84 on the same day.

My bowling friends.

A VISIT WITH BECKETT

2008-03-02T17:59:00.001-08:00

We went to Provo last week to meet our new grandson, we had a great visit with Daniel and Anne.

I spent some time with Kathy, saw Kari's new house and even fit in a few quilt stores. We even had lunch with the Hendrick's on our way out of town.

Sleeping with his "suckie"

Awwww.....

Looking at Gramps.

Introducing our fourth Grandchild...

Beckett Ross.

GRANDPARENTS X FOUR!!!

2008-02-22T17:38:00.000-08:00

Our newest grandchild was welcomed by Daniel and Anne yesterday, Feb. 21st, around 1:00 p.m.

His name is Beckett Ross

9 lb. 3 oz., 21 1/2 inches long

Unfortunately we have to wait until next Wednesday to meet, hold and kiss him! I have seen pictures and he is beautiful, but pictures will have to wait until next week, as I don't want to steal Daniel and Anne's thunder by posting one first. Daniel has indicated that pictures should be up on their blog soon.

Gramps and Isabel

2008-02-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

Isabel - 5 days old...............cute, cute, cute!!

John got down from Winter Park as fast as he could to meet his new Grand daughter!

Introducing......ISABEL LYLA

2008-02-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

ISABEL IS HERE AND SHE IS BEAUTIFUL!

Isabel was born this morning (Friday, Feb. 8, 2008) just before 9:00 a.m.

She weighed in at 7lb. 11oz.

& 20inches long

Grammy with her little princess!

A beautiful new family.....Ryan, Teri and Isabel.

P.S.

2008-02-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

OOPS!! Of course we love Spencer too!! The good thing is that he is the middle child and is used to getting whatever attention, praise and strokes that are left over. Oh, that is sad. I guess my excuse is that I heaped so much attention on his cute family, he was included in spirit, and in hopes he might forgive me.........he gets his own picture.

IT'S FEBRUARY, AND WE LOVE.......

2008-02-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

ANDREW

He is a sweet, happy boy. He has an easy smile and such a pleasant disposition

While Erin and the boys were visiting, Andrew was feeling kind of puny....but he still smiled most of the time.

RYAN......he is a funny boy.

While setting the table for dinner "ninner" last week, his Dad was on the phone, and Ryan wanted a cookie, I told him to talk to his Dad and we would discuss the cookie when he was done. He talked briefly to his Dad, said "Bye", handed the phone to his Mom and looked at me and said "Now, I want to discuss having a cookie"

ERIN

We are blessed to have her as the daughter of our hearts. She is an exceptional person and a wonderful mother.

We love being grandparents and are looking forward to doubling our grandchildren and our joy in the coming weeks!!

We also love RYAN, TERI, DANIEL AND ANNE.......
Our oldest and youngest, their brides, and our daughters.
Pictures to follow SOON we hope, with the new additions.

Wii HAD FUN!

2008-02-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

When Ken and Kathy came to Denver in January they brought their Wii game and a whole lot of fun.

There are several things I quickly learned about Wii.

Ken plays all games with his tongue out.

The flash of a camera throws off his concentration and he does not like it at all!!

He is really only 27 years old.....or 64 depending on the night.

Next up, we have...........

Debra and Kathy are bowling and though I don't remember any scores, it is obvious that Debra is having much more fun.

The next two shots are of Mark and John boxing. They both look like they are not taking it to serious. All I know is that I felt it the next morning after being knocked out a few times by John.

JANUARY PEACE

2008-01-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

Coming out of the Denver temple last Wednesday I was struck by how peaceful and beautiful the grounds were.

I was fortunate I had my camera in my car...

A SHOWER FOR ANNE AND TERI

2007-12-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

Friday, Decmeber 28, 2007

A sweet welcome for the Grange babies!

The quilts I made for Isabel and (Jack......)

Teri, Dixie and Anne

Teri, Kathy Naifeh, Anne and Mimi Fuselier
Kathy and Mimi hosted the shower for the girls.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

2007-12-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

A White Christmas!

When we woke up on Christmas morning it was snowing,

and when it was finished there was 16 inches

WE ARE NOT GETTING OLDER, BUT HAVING MORE FUN!

2007-12-11T13:51:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday

We go to lunch often, but this gathering was to celebrate the birthday's of

Candy (left, center) and Kathy (right, center).

I am sworn to secrecy on their ages, but they are older than me!!

I am blessed to have great friends to enrich and bless my life.

CHRISTMAS IN SALT LAKE, OR LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

2007-12-11T13:19:00.001-08:00

We went to Salt Lake to attend the marriage of (John's nephew)

Bryce and Alisia Mahuika on December 4th.

It was a wonderful trip as we visited with many family members.

Temple Square was lit up and so beautiful it was breathtaking!

Daniel and Anne were able to come. Daniel is holding his cousin

Kristen O'Rielly's son.

This is Chelsea and Kyle Mahika and their son Michael.

I know it is amazing, but we did not get one picture of the newly weds.....

ANGEL'S LANDING

2007-11-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

John and Ken hike Zion's

A shot of the moon on our return from

Kolob Canyons section of Zions National Park.

Ken and I had a great day doing 3 hikes.

This view is from the top of Angel's Landing.

This hike is one of the most exciting hikes I've done

due to the shear drop offs on both sides.

THANK O RAMA

2007-11-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Yes, that is right, Chuck A Rama!

The Hickman's and Hendricks were happy to pose in front of the sign.

John and I still have our pride and most important, no visible proof that we actually ate here.

No, this is not a joke, and it was in fact surprisingly good!

The scones are excellent!

This is us waiting in line to get in.

Once inside there was a Disneyland type line inside.

You might notice that we were some of the younger

people in line. That is good, to go somewhere and feel young!

Rainy Seattle

2007-11-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

You cannot tell it by any of these pictures, but, Seattle lived up to it's rainy reputation while I was visiting.

It is bedtime for Andrew, but he is happy and smiling as he listens into...

Story time with Ryan and Dad.

I spent some time with my Dad in Bremerton. We had a wonderful visit.

ALOHA

2007-11-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

We went to Kauii.

I lost my camera.

I don't want to talk about it.

But, I did get a few pictures from the Hendricks,

and they are pictures with a story!

Do these look like happy couples??

The waitress at Duke's thought so!!

Ken had asked for separate checks at the start of dinner.
At the end of the meal she brought the checks,

one for me and Kathy and one for

John and Ken.

We wondered if she just messed up or if

she really thought Kathy and I were lesbians and we were out with our gay friends.

We asked.

She said yep, that is what she thought..."alternative lifestyle".

So, I won't bore you with all the stories of the great pictures I took.

I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT

GO BRONCOS!

2007-10-30T05:20:00.001-07:00

Your Denver Broncos!!
This was my view for much of the game, a very large Packer Bumble Bee.
He was a good natured sort of bee and high fived us when the Broncos tied the game in the last few seconds.

Before the game, when everyone was happy.

It was a beautiful fall evening in Denver.

UNDER THE HARVEST MOON

2007-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

John and I at the Clement Park Harvest Party.

Gotta love the chili, cornbread, pie

and square dancing.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO

2007-10-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

John and I went to San Antonio with the society of actuaries. Now, now, don't laugh or feel sorry for us. Although it did rain, was very windy and cold, and was not good weather we managed to relax a bit. I do not have any pictures of us together because John went to classes from the hour we arrived to the minute we left. I did get to see, but not walk, the famous riverwalk (I was on a barge tour), spend a little time at the Alamo, and ended up at a Mexican Market, where you could buy all things Mexican, that you don't buy in Mexico, so why would I buy them in Texas? Anyway, it is where the tour went, and other people seemed to enjoy it....
Oh, the weather was nice and sunny the evening we arrived and the morning we left.

Somewhere between Fruita and Palisade....

2007-10-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Colorado National Monument on the way home from Utah last weekend. Beautiful!

JIM GRANGE TURNS 90!!

2007-10-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

John, Tom and Jeff

John's parents, Jim and Betty Grange on Jim's 90th

HIKING WITH THE BOYS

2007-10-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Ryan and Spencer and John

hiked up Berthoud Pass to the Contenintal Divide mid September.

John, Ryan and Daniel hiked to Herman's Gulch on Labor Day weekend.

I want s'more, please

2007-10-06T14:09:00.001-07:00

Grammy with Ryan and Andrew enjoying s'mores on the deck.

Ryan is saving a litte on his face to enjoy later.

September 2007

Grange's at Gearhart 2007

2007-10-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

John and I are old and boring, so we will use our children to make us look like we have things going on in our life. That sort of sounds pitiful, I know.

Meet Ryan and Teri, Spencer, Erin and Andrew, Daniel, Anne with G. Ryan. (Spencer and Erin's oldest) This was taken at the Grange Family Reunion in Oregon in July.