December 16, 2006 marks Ben's 29th, birthday.

I thought I'd write 16 things that I love about Ben.

16 He still opens my door for me.
15 He is smart, quick, and has a gift for language.
14 He is quick to forgive me.
13 He is obedient.
12 He always is thinking of my needs.
11 Great problem solver.
10 Dedicated to whatever project or task he has decided to take on.
09 Goal setter and achiever.
08 He is a good father.
07 I can still catch him singing German hymns to the kids.
06 He can build a great fort out of blankets.
05 He can bake and cook and does it because he likes to.
04 He knows how to put his family first.
03 Always learning, whether it be about CPR, cars, literature or other random subjects.
02 He can delicately put Rosa's tights on and laugh while doing it.
01 He loves me, an older woman.

We love EnglandEveryone knows that Ben and I love England. It was where we met and fell in love. Now we have yet another reason to continue to return to England. Our friends Karen and Jamie Gregson are leaving Utah to return home to England. The old ward at Wymount will never be the same without them. Luckily there is always e-mail and the dream of visiting England again soon. Tell William we are saving our pennies and nickels again. Karen, I must say, you always gave a moving lesson. Thanks for befriending me. Love you, Shazaa.

Christmas Memories from a Garage SaleI have been thinking about Christmas since summer time. I couldn't help it. My neighbor was having a garage sale where I purchased a Christmas tree, ornaments and lights for Shane and his room mates all for just $5. What a steal of a deal and I figured college kids could care less where a Christmas tree came from. In fact, knowing the tree is from a garage sale is what makes the tree cooler in the eyes of a college student. The cheaper the better right?

Later that same week an elementary school that was closing down was selling everything from globes to chalks boards. I know what you are thinking. Why the heck is Sharalee going to yard sales? Good question. I have no idea. I dislike looking at other people's junk when it is in their house, but for some reason I am mesmorized when junk is displayed on a lawn. Maybe, just maybe, I will run across some neat treasure. (Everyone knows I like to have garage sales more than I like to visit garage sales. I only went to these two the whole summer. I don't frequent other people's garage sales, unless looking for something in particular, I promise. I am my mother's daughter, I try to dejunk. Although my husband would disagree according to what is stored in our crawl space.)

Anyway, I bought a huge container of Christmas ornaments and lights at the school yard sale thinking that I would give them to Shane also. The way the garage sale went was that you grabbed a box and went to check out, regardless of what items were in your box. Once I was home I decided to see what I really had bought and was delighted to discover that I bought the perfect Christmas ornaments for Wiley and all of the ornaments still had the price tags on them (I don't know why they weren't used but I'm glad to have found them). As luck would have it the ornaments were stuffed penguins, (Wiley's favorite animal) stuffed birds, stuffed snowmen, all soft ornaments perfect for Wiley's tree.

We have a small Charlie Brown like Christmas tree that we put in Wiley's room. Shortly after Thanksgiving I laid out all the new ornaments and had Wiley decorate his very own tree. One of my favorite Christmas memories was laying underneath the Christmas tree and looking up at the lights and dreaming of magic things to come. So just after decorating the tree the first thing we did was spend the afternoon laying under his tree looking up into the lights and making up stories about penguins.

What are your favorite memories of Christmas?

Budding PhotographerSince Rosie was born and Grandma Shell bought Wiley a toy camera Wiley has been our little budding photographer. Being that our digital camera was a more recent purchase, I have developed many, many, okay I'll say it again, MANY photos similar to these shown unbeknownst to me until AFTER paying for the film photos.

His portfolio includes lots and lots of dud photos and then every once in a while, he actually gets one right. Thank goodness for digital.

Fruit Bats or Mischief?At one time this was a 1/2 cantaloupe with Saran wrap over it. Notice the teeth marks around the edges, and the fingernail scrapes down the center.

Neither child will confess, but due to the three apple cores under Wiley's bed and the banana peel in the hideout under the stairs I think I know who did this. No wonder he is so "regular".

It took me 23 years. . .

It took me 23 years to get a Grandpa. Well two actually. When I married into Ben's family I acquired two by marriage. But as fate would have it we lived near only one, Grandpa Lee. I've been thinking about what a grandpa is and what they do for us. Because I never had a living grandpa before, I had no idea what role they would play in our lives.

On Tuesday, 5 of December, we held a funeral for Grandpa Lee. I had a fantastic Grandpa for 6 very short years.

The absolute best part about his funeral was my desire to be more like him. To be better myself, to be stronger, to make more friends, to make smart decisions, to love more people, to be physically healthy, and to always be surrounded by family while doing these things. It was a great feeling to walk away with.

After my short stint with a Grandpa in my life, I can now say that a grandpa is the one that teaches us how to drive the off road vehicles. He is the one that lets you use his truck for moving. He is the one that shows up to your backyard with his special greenhouse tomatoes, ready to plant. He is the one that notifies you that your walk is too icy and recommends a solution. He is the one that enjoys a good meal with a short story to follow. Grandpa is the one that always knew the scores to the big games. He is the one that gives you all the purple cabbage, zucchini, cantaloupe you can eat out of his own garden. He is the one that holds my newborns carefully in his arms making sure his big hands don't let go. He is the one that pushes the kids in the tire swing in the backyard. He is the one telling us to pick the peaches out of the trees. (Grandma is the one telling us how to can them.) Grandpa never had to say what he thought of us Grandkids. He did it with his actions.

My mother-in-law, Michele introduced me to Ruby Chacon's artwork a few months back. Michele bought a piece to put up at the Welch Cabin. It reminds me of Grandpa Lee, so much.
You can find the painting on her website, in the slide show it is the fourth painting entitled Abuelo. It is wonderful.
http://www.rubychacon.com/ruby_chacon.htm

For those of you with Grandpas still living, I hope you have not taken for granted the fun role they can play in your life as well as your children's lives.

Our lives are continuing peacefully without him. Although we miss that he has not been physically to the recent concerts, games, and dance recitals lately, but there is no doubt in my mind that he knows about all that we are up to. He is watching over us daily, making sure that we are making the right decisions and caring for his little wife, Grandma Muriel.

Can there be a better Grandpa?
What a legacy to leave behind.

I do have one hope for him. I hope that he has met my two grandpas that have been in Heaven for a long time. I hope that they become friends. I hope that the three of them can find a horse shoe pit somewhere, eat sun flower seeds, and talk about their grandchildren and great grandchildren together.