I have the Best Mother...ever.

Really...I do. You all should be jealous.
She's my mother, teacher, role model and best friend.
I hope I can be just like her when I grow up.
She's amazing!

She's 87, has worked at the temple for 26 years, loves to dance, does a mean "Minnie Pearl" impression, plays the harmonica, walks like she's on a mission to somewhere, would sacrifice everything for her family and has the more self-discipline than anyone I know.

She's taught me:

• to sew, cook, and be thrifty;
• that if you respect your children, they will respect you;
• that relationships are more important than things;
• and if you're feeling ugly, just smile more and nobody will notice.

I love her!

My Mother's Day Presents?

These were waiting for me when I arrived home from hiking with the Young Women. (They got moved to the patio to see if Karls sneezing and runny nose would ease up.)

Then we put together this.
Then one happy and excited fellow quickly turn a garbage can fill of yard clipping

(note the mask is a feeble attempt to avoid the allergy inducers.)

into this
So we can put it into thisSo this
and thiscan have the best dirt ever!

I have a happy farmer on the world's smallest farm.
And if my farmer is happy...I'm happy.
Happy Mother's Day.

Perfect day for a hike

The weather forecast was for a high of 47° up Mt. Charleston and I was expecting it to be cold.
I hate being cold.

But I obediently transported Young Women up to Mt. Charleston
to hike the Mary Jane Falls trail.But the forecast was wrong...it was beautiful.
Perfect for hiking!
We had a great time
...even if no girls from my ward even showed up.The girls found a shower cap in my car
(that another story)
so we toted it up the hill for photos under the "Falls."
But the "shower" didn't show up in the photos.
Fun any way!

Oh Brother...

Monday about 4:00 my brother Craig calls...he rarely calls...I'm suspicious.

They are in Vegas for the hardware show and thought they'd come by after they got their booth set up...he's in Vegas several times a year and never comes by to see us...I'm very suspicious.

There is someone he'd like us to meet... now I'm excited.

He's getting married! (his wife Ellen passed away 3 years ago.)

Susan is wonderful...it will be great having a new sister-in-law.
(They were in the same ward..he asked to be her home-teacher...subtle!)

Maybe we will see Craig more often now...Well, probably not.

Susan, Craig, Dustin (Craig's son), Amy (Dustin's wife), and the Tobler folk.

But we sure had a fun evening....Thank goodness for hamburgers in the freezer, half of a watermelon in the fridge...and incentive to clean up my house really really fast.

A Fairy-tale Job

I love a creative challenge.
So I was excited when Celebrate Kids,
the company Steph works for, asked me if I could make the Disney Princesses costumes
...to look like the ones at Disneyland.
Of course I can do it
...at least I thought I could
...well I'd give it my best effort.

We started with Snow White....the costume they needed the most. So after combining two patterns, designing a sleeve and a few other details... a lot of hours...a few steps forward and a few stupid mistakes

....I came up with this.

The corset lacing is on both sides so the dress will fit a range of sizes.

Steph was my model and guinea pig as we figured out how to make it easy enough for a would-be-princess to get dressed by herself
...in a car.
It is worn with a hoop (didn't get a picture with the hoop on) to give the skirt a lot more fullness
It was so fun to create.
And they liked it...alot.

Next Princess...Cinderella.
But first I have to make two bridesmaid dresses.

Happy Birthday Kimberly

Happy Birthday to our Alpha Daughter-lin-law.

It's a hard position to hold and you were very brave to be the first
Fair Maiden to join this Tobler Clan
dominated by noisey, stinky, Tobler boys.

We are so glad you did.
Your bravery, happy deposition and survival helped convince other Fair Maidens that they to could survive and thrive in the Tobler Clan
***

Our Ode to Kimberly...

Today there is cause for Great Celebrations and rejoicing in all the lands near and far…

For on this day, not so long ago (at least not to the more ancient ones),

in the land of Apples & Onions a Fair Maiden …a princess was born.

She was beautiful to look upon

and was blessed with the love for all creatures.

This Fair Maiden also loved the written word

and filled her mind with much knowledge.

One day Fair Maiden met a Fairly Handsome Knight

At the great castle of the Red Lion where both were enslaved.

Love blossomed

And the Fairly Handsome Knight brought the Fair Maiden

To his not-so-great-land full of other fairly Handsome Knights

But this land was barren of fair maidens.

This new land…full of knights and barren of fair maidens was

A frightening place for the Fair Maiden.

But her love for the Fairly Handsome Knight was strong.

Her love for the Fairly Handsome Knight was so strong

that it endured a great separation

While the Fairly Handsome Knight fought evil in a land far away.

When he returned from his great crusade

The Fair Maiden and the Fairly Handsome Knight were married.

This brought great joy to the Rulers of the land barren of fair maidens.

For now they had a Fair Maiden in the land that loved Dark Chocolate.

So today there is much rejoicing in the lands near and far

For on this day, not so long ago, a princess, a Fair Maiden, was born

And we all Love that Fair Maiden …very very much

….and for Happily Ever-after.

It's a...

Check here for the big news.

We conquered Lone Mountain.

for our Family Home Evening.
All right, it's not a real big feat...about a mile round trip.It's not a real beautiful hike...it's basically a big rock.But it was good exercise and beats running on a tread mill.And the view was pretty cool.

A Pleasant way to Spend a Saturday Evening

Some old guys in the ward like to cook...Dutch oven cook.
And Karl is one of them.
So once or twice a year they get together and cook...
and call it a High Priest Social.

The food was great.

The company was good.

It was just a really nice evening.

Congratulations Rachel...we're so proud!

Salt Lake City 1/2 Marathon
April, 17, 2010
Our Rachel Tobler came in
4th!!!
out of 2882 Female finishers...

Time: 1 hr 21 min. 56 sec.
Pace: 6:15
Rank over-all: 19th (both men & women)

(the picture is actually from the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon in Dec.)

An Enchanting Evening of Elegance & Refinement

...maybe not, but it sure was fun.(Croquet?)

Once again I'm in the Young Women (but it's been years and years ago). And once again I pulled out an old favorite activity...the Victorian Tea.
I wasn't sure how this group of girls would like it. Except for one particular young women, who should have been born in 1890, the rest of the girls didn't seem to have the vison or be overly excited. But dear Leah Claire had costumes for us all, was very concerned about authentic details (she insisted that the event was Edwardian, not Victorian. But an Edwardian Tea just doesn't have the same ring to it.) and she worked so hard to get everyone there.

All the girls came and had a blast...from the past!

Strawberry or Peppermint Tea? Milk!

Charming!
Etiquette in practice.
Working on Grace and poise (and balance).

Refinement?...2010 kept re-surfacing.

Lovely.

Thanks Leah Claire

Thanks also to Steph and Jessica (Steph's cousin) who showed up on the door step, surprised to see a Tea party, were whisk way by Leah Claire and put in costume, and became the "Scandalous Relatives".
They added so much fun, washed every piece of china and helped deliver girls home!
Thanks!

Saturday's Adventure

took us around the mountain to the back side of Mt. Charleston for a bluegrass festival in Pahrump, NV. This was the band's second year playing there and they had a great time playing for a small (100+) but enthusiastic audience. It was a windy day which raised havoc with the microphones and the hats...but at least this year it was a warm wind.Tuning up the just before their performance.

Presenting Aspen Ridge.

It's been a Pea Pickin' day

I swear you can pick all the peas, turn around once and there are more peas ready to be picked.

Now to find some good pea pickin' recipes.

Good-bye Florida

For my last day in Florida we decided to have fun...again.
We drove Chad's commute for his new job...which is at Patrick Air force base...which is on the barrier island. The gate to the base is across the street from the beach
...so instead of playing lunch time soccer now Chad can play on the beach.

His work is also minutes away for Coco Beach so we went there to play.Spring Break on Coco Beach...crazy!
Cutest little beach family.

"Higher Daddy Higher!"

Kite watching

Beach Art
Then we finished the day with homemade pizza on the BBQ grill. Chad's dough mixing methods
...I'll keep using my Bosch
...thank you!This was clean out the fridge pizza and it was yummy!

Sunset from Chad's front yard.

Such a fun time...it was hard to say "Good-bye"