They're all coming...

...except for Jeff and Amy (dental school is getting in the way).

It's another Tobler excuse to get together .

The Las Vegas Marathon.

Kyle and Kim are running the full Marathon...It's Kyle's first marathon and Kimberly third this year!

Rachel is running the Half-Marathon...And we are hoping for top honors. (She just place second in a half Marathon in Phoenix last month) Way to go Rach!

The rest of us will be there cheer them on and over the finish line.

And the best part of this get-together is...We get to hug and love and play with 3 of the cutest Grandkids ever!

So much still to do before they arrive!
See Mother run...Run Mother Run....
Today is my pre-Marathon work-out.

Love, Mom Tobler

Pie Tricks...or should I say damage control.

I love to bake pies...I love to eat pies and Karl loves to eat pies even more. So consequently I only bake pies for special occasions...one of my feeble methods of weight control.

Here's few tricks I found that make pie production a little easier.

First, I mix my pie crust in the Bosch...it's so fast. Use the whips (not the dough hook) and just use "pulse" to mix.

Next I roll out the dough between 2 floured layers of heavy plastic.My two pieces of plastic were originally Malt-0-Meal cereal bags twenty years ago (If the two same pieces of plastic works why get new ones.) I just shake off the flour and dough crumbs when I'm done, fold them up and store them in a corner of the freezer until I need them again.

I am mentally challenged when it comes to apple pies. I can NEVER remember to "dot" the apple filling with butter before I put the top crust on and seal it. NEVER!

So my pies always have big ugly slits where I try to slide chunks of butter in.

Thus I have to decorate my pies... to cover up my boo-boos

I also use leaf cut outs when I don't have enough dough left to cover the entire top.

I also bake a few leaf cutouts separately to put over that center spot on the pumpkin pie where you test it with a knife...you know...if the knife comes out clean it's done. Of course I ended up stabbing this last poor pumpkin pie four time. Thus the little leaf cut outs neatly covered up my damage. (My pumkpin pie before being brutally attacked.)
My favorite pie crust recipes...I'll add those tonight...I've got to get ready for church.

Love, Mom Tobler

So much to be thankful for...

Happy Thanksgiving

It's been alot of years since this 1978 Thanksgiving. We had just moved to Kennewick, WA. and it was our first Thanksgiving alone without any other family to share it with. (Note the Cornish game hen. It seemed a little more special than just a chicken since a turkey was way too much for our little family.)

Our family has been so blessed since that little Thanksgiving...
And I am so grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you where ever you are at. We miss you....We're almost back to just needing a Cornish Game hen!
Love, Mom Tobler


P.S. Just for fun...


Here's Chad in his first Halloween Costume that same year in our little Kennewick apartment. Okay...those were lean years and we could only afford a paper bag costume...but it came with happy memories!

Happy Birthday Steph

Are there days that you wonder

why you hung in there


even when you felt like you were paddling up stream


and joined the Tobler Family?

We're so glad you did!
You help us hear the music

Enjoy the dance

and make life a ball.

We Love you!
Happy Birthday

The Palmer Reunion????

Friday we traveled north in to our first snow of the season, to Provo for the Palmer Sibling Reunion. A yearly gathering with my four brothers, my mom and a few brave spouses.

It was kind of a blustery weekend
so we spent most of the time holed up at my brother Craig's house...
Cooking

Eatting

Visiting (and being distracted from visiting)

Watching family history slides

...until most of us were, well, no longer paying attention.


A FAMILY REVELATION!
Through some recent family history it was discovered that our great-great grandfather Palmer...wasn't a Palmer but a Hobbie! He just took his step-father's name of Palmer.
So we aren't who we think we are.
Oh well...
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

Thanks big brother for letting us all invade your house. See you again, next year
...for the Hobbie Sibling Reunion.

A recap of the past year

I put this slideshow together for my extended family.

Warning: Only true family can survive this slide show. So if you watch it and survive...you're officially family.

Happy Birthday Rachel

Happy Birthday to someone who is... Beautiful
TalentedAn amazing runner

Loves hiking


And signed a contract to take care of Clark!
Happy Birthday Rachel
We love you!

Wow...that sounds old.

Friday we drove up to St. George, Utah for Karl's Dixie High School Class Reunion

The Class of 1969

The year of the Moon Walk, Woodstock and Richard Nixon became President.
You can do the math. Yeah...it's old.

But Karl never has looked or acted his age!

Sleepless in Seattle

On one of our Fridays at Kyle and Kim's, we loaded up the Expedition to capacity and headed to Seattle for some fun.

We picked Kyle up at the Swedish Hospital
and headed to the University district.
(At this point we had Kimberly and Janet in one bucket seat!)

We picked up lunch on The Ave

and headed to the UW Campus to enjoy it. The Campus was beautiful. This kind of Fall weather is something us folks from Las Vegas really miss and those folks from Florida only read about in books.Enjoying carry-out in the middle of Red Square on Campus

There were a few gusts of wind and something painful blew in Chad's eye.
Dr. Tobler at work.

Like father like son...
Charlie was imitating Kyle like a little monkey.

Chad connecting with Joseph.

Off to drop Kyle off so he can head to Madigan for a long night at that hospital.
Then we were off to meet Joseph...
after we do a little browsing at Williams Sonoma!

It was a great day...
even if we were all too tired to go to the ward Halloween party that night :)

Charlie's Birthday Celebration

The preparation...

First sighting...
The Anticipation

The celebration:
The Gifts
The Favorite...Dollar store dart guns
Bulls eye!

Okay, Charlie's birthday was September 11th,
But when you're only 3 years old your parents can pull a fast one... like
not celebrating your birthday until November 1st
and get away with it!