It Has Been A Long, Long Time

It has been a very long time since I have blogged, and there have been many wonderful things that have happened in the past few weeks. I want all of my family to know that I have enjoyed spending time with each and everyone of you. I am posting a few pictures to represent some of the adventures we have had. I wanted to share a picture of Grandma W. first. This was taken in July. She was having an OK day, and I think she looked good. She just had her 88th birthday on Sept. 1st. Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma. She is loosing weight now, and maybe not doing as well . Deb went with me to visit with her Tuesday. Thanks Deb.

We had a great family party on the 18th of Aug. It was a celebration of many things. We welcomed home Deborah and Stephen from China. We said "Good-bye" to Dan and Angie who moved to Moscow ID. the next day. We wished Josh and Deena "Happy Anniversary". We also wished myself, and little Ellie "Happy Birthday". We welcomed Ginny here, from China, to live with us. And we said "Glad you are here" to Rachel and her kids. It was a great time with food and games, and the Skokos' brought back presents for all from China. The little girls are posing with their new umbrellas. All the gifts were fabulous......mine was a real pearl necklace and earrings. Very nice!!!

Good food, fun and company

Rachel would be heading back to Lubbock TX.

Dan and Angie would be leaving for Moscow ID.
Glad that they could see and visit with each other before they went.

We are glad to have Deb and Stephen back. They had a good experience there in

China. Welcome home!!

We are happy to welcome Ginny in our home. She is here straight from China and is a graduate student at the University of Utah. A real joy to have around. She has cooked us some Chinese food, and loves to learn and do new things. We have had her on the bikes, playing tennis and on a hike as well. We are glad to have her be apart of us.

Good family times!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just had to include the Snoasis :)

The 19th, Dad and I drove up to Logan and helped to pack up the last of Dangie's stuff into the cars and trailer. Then off we went to Moscow. Lots of gas, stress, and hours later (16) we arrived at their new apt. I think it is very cute and know that they have made it cozy and comfortable. We spent a few days with them and got to see the university campus and walk around Moscow. I love the cute houses and think it is a great little town. We went to a couple yard sales on Saturday, and we went to the Farmer's Market. We will look forward to visiting again. We love you Dan and Angie!!!!

This was one packed trailer!!!!!

When we got home, we had Jake and Annie here. And so we were off again. This time to So. Utah, with Josh and Kids and Deb and Stephen. We had a 5 day camping and family history trip. I know that others have already posted information about this trip, but I wanted to share a few pictures, and add that it was such a great time. I was so thrilled to have family together once again. Love it!! Love it!! Love it!!

This picture is at Newspaper Rock. Everyone is trying to be one of the drawings on the rock. Very impressive!!

We camped in some beautiful spots, and enjoyed having our tent trailer along. But we were sure glad that Josh had his truck. He drove that truck in and out of some pretty tricky spots. And we would not have gotten some places without it. Thanks Josh!!

So glad that we could all do this!! It will always be one of those great memories.

Lastly, Deb and I had the opportunity to bring out the Snoasis machine and help the "Hale Family Theatre" throw a Hawaii party for about 600 people. We had a good time serving up ex-small cones with 8 choices of flavors. It was fun to see the smiles on people's faces and have them enjoy our little treat. I could do this every once in a while. Thanks for helping Deb. Hale Theatre is going to be kind enough to give us season tickets as a thank you. Good deal for us!!!!

Dad and I are very excited and looking forward to meeting up with David and Becky and boys next week in Yosemite, California. The fun just goes on and on.

4th of July week celebration

We have had some good times with family the last few weeks. So good to have Jake and Annie around for a few days. We enjoyed a family walk in the Crestwood Park. This is a park by our house that we did not even know was there until a few months ago. Don't even know what is under your nose sometimes.

One of the neat things we have done this summer is attend the Callister Reunion in Oak City. This was a fun time for those there, and our boys played a big part in having Grandma Callister there by "Skype". Most of those there had a chance to visit with her "face to face" using Skype. What a great treat for her. This is the first reunion she has missed in 75 years. Josh, Dan, Angie and I took a side trip to the cemetery to visit family grave sites. This is Joseph Platte Callister's. We are learning a lot about him from Jacob's and other's great interest in his life.

OK, So Dan and Angie gave me an early Birthday present this year. We went to a Peter Cetera Concert in Logan. This is kind of a scary picture, but we are there together enjoying the music and good company. For those who don't know Peter Cetera, he was a part of the wonderful group "Chicago" one of my very all time favorites, before he decided to go off on his own. He sang many wonderful Chicago songs, and some great ones of his own. Loved it!!!!!! Dan fixed us all dinner before the show and so it was a very awesome evening . Thanks again Dan and Angie.

A blurry picture of Peter Cetera, but the best I could do. Very good concert. He still has the voice....even though he is about 65.

The 4th of July weekend made for some fun family times. Because Jake and Annie were here, we planned time together. You can see that one of the things that happened was Ping Pong. Dad was in heaven to have his 3 boys there playing with him. This almost never happens. He said that they were pretty evenly matched as well.

We had our monthly Family Home Evening On the 4th of July. We missed having some of the regulars (Deb and Stephen), but had Jake and Annie there. We even had Jake give the lesson. He did a great job...thanks Jake. Amy and Tom brought some extras with them. Amy's brother was visiting from New York State with his wife and 4 children. It was fun to have them with us. We celebrated Andrew's birthday as well.

My three boys together. Handsome (if hairy) boys!!!!!

We bought a big box of fireworks and Caleb was the official lighter, and he did a great job. The fireworks were especially good we all felt. Lots of oohs and aahs. Good times!!!

On the 5th of July we all went up to Brigham City to see Jake play with some of the lokalgrown band members. He was wonderful of course, and it is always fun to hear him play. We have had a busy last few days, and are looking forward to some more good times in a month or so. Deb and Stephen will be coming home, we will maybe get to see Rachel and kids for a couple of days, we will move Dan and Angie to Moscow Id, go on a family history trip to So. Utah with Jake and Annie and others that can go, and we are excited also to be going on a trip with Catherine and Jim to some of the highlights of So. Utah. Sounds like another fun blog entry. We love all of you so much and are grateful for the Joy you bring into our life!!!!!

We took a trip to Moab/Arches, this last week. What fun we had with Dan and Caleb, Samantha, and Andrew. It was actually Angie's idea, but she ended up not being able to go with us....we missed you Angie!!!!! We camped by the Colorado River and the first night we ate very Yummy foil dinners that Dan made for us.

Next morning, bright and early, we hiked up to Delicate Arch . The kids where such good hikers!!! They where filming a movie there that morning and so we had to wait a few minutes till it was OK for us to be by the Arch. The filming crew got 10 min. and the public got 10 min. It worked out OK....the kids were ready to move on in that amount of time anyway.

Andrew, Sammy, and Caleb by the Arch. Such a pretty view. A nice way to start the day!

We had a good time camping in our tent trailer. We slept everyone in there except Caleb...he had his own little tent cause he sleeps better alone. It was nice to have the trailer....I loved it.

We did another hike in Arches and then everyone was very tired and very very hot. We just wanted to get cool. so close by the camp site was a nice sandy spot, and everyone but Maureen jumped in and had a blast cooling off in the Colorado River. This was one of the best parts of the whole trip.

The tent trailer was our only shade for a good part of that day. So with a breeze coming in the windows, we played some fun games. We played a fun one that Dan brought and Sammy won every time.

Next day we drove to Dead Horse Point. What a beautiful place! I had never been here before and I was very impressed. It is kind of like a mini grand Canyon. Awesome! The kids loved playing on the rocks by the visitor's center and trying to catch lizards.

One of the last things we did was to take a side trip (about 2 miles off the road) to see some dinosaur footprints in the rocks. Wow this was very cool. Everyone in the picture is standing in one of the footprints. In this spot you can see 3 sets of different dinosaur prints, and they say there are more. According to Dan, these were not even discovered till about 30 years ago. The kids thought this was very cool. We want to thank Dan for coming even though Angie was not able too, and Josh and Deena for letting us take the kids. It was a fun three days.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

This post is mostly for Catherine and Jim. We watched your fun video from Las Vegas..... and the kids loved it and watched it over and over. They wanted to share one that Derid put together for Christmas. Enjoy

our trip to Oregon

We had the best time in Oregon with Jake and Annie!! It rained pretty much the whole time we were there...that is why it is sooooo green and beautiful. We were lucky enough to have Angie along as well. The five of us went to Crater Lake and stayed in a very cute little old cabin for one night. Crater Lake had about 10 feet of snow, the wind was blowing and we about froze. But it was so pretty and amazing. Luckily the cabin we stayed in was not as high elevation so no snow there. We saw some beautiful stuff and on the way home stopped in Jacksonville..an old town with many little tempting shops. We also stopped for some homemade Raspberry Rhubarb Pie and Jam. YUMMY. We had lots of fun just hanging about Jake and Annie's home visiting and playing games. What great hosts they were to us.

Aunt Catherine and I have been having a good time since she arrived here last Monday. We have seen Grandma and had a good visit with her, done some shopping, watched some movies and created with the sculpy clay. Look out, you all may recieve more key rings in the future :) One thing we also did was visit Grandpa down in Venice. We were so excited to see how nice the place looks since we had the big tree in front removed, had a sprinkling system put in, layed sod, and other great details done. It looks great!!!!! We are no longer the eye sore of Utah. It is so great to have a sister to share these things with. Love you Catherine!!

callister comfort food.

I don't really like to cook, but lately i have been trying to motivate myself to be less lazy about it and just do it. So, I am determined to begin cooking more- i guess it IS part of my job description whether i like it or not. So, I am starting by going through the little cookbook mom gave me several years ago. I am actually enjoying making food that i remember as a kid ( and teenager). Here are two items that you all may recognize. The joy of eating and sharing these "callister comfort foods" takes away some ofthe bite of cooking.

love you all

rachel

just stopping by

i know there are some people who don't have access to my blog but check this one ( catherine:)- so i trhought i would stop by and share some pics. this morning derid brought ellie in with this shirt on- i am glad that jim's creation gets another chance to shine. we are enjoying lubbock. it isn't green- it isn't lush- but there is a quiet crispness to the air. it is fresh and the sky is brilliant. my little family will definitly thrive here. love you all. if you want an invite to my blog then give me your email address. rachel_ure(at)yahoo(dot)com

Alex's Birthday Party

Tom and Amy and Melonie Christmas Party

Kristin and Rachel at the Christmas Party

Stevie, Andrew and Dan at the Christmas Party

Angie, Alex and Caleb at Christmas party

Samantha, Derid, Tayson and Stephen

at Christmas party

Deena and Deb, Chriatmas party

Christmas party

Christmas party

Christmas Day

Anniversay Family Dinner

I am finally updating my blog. A lot has happened the last two months. We had a birthday party for Alex on the 21st of November. Her birthday is the 23rd. We had most of the family that live around here there for the fun. She is 16 yrs old now and will be driving soon. We hope that she drives to our house often.

We had a great Thanksgiving feast with much of the family here for that. We have decided to have our celebration on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with the hope that less conflict with other family time will be better for all. It turned out to be a great idea and we will make that our tradition. We enjoyed the company of the Josh and Deena Callister family, the Dan and Angie Callister family, the Stephen and Deborah Skokos family, and the Tom and Amy Callister family. We ate good food, played some games and watched a bit of the Utah/BYU football game.

December brought us some additional visiters. The Derid and Rachel Ure family. Derid had graduated from Ortho school and will now be starting to work in Lubbock TX as an Orthodontist. We had the joy of spending some good time with them in December. Alex had the opportunity to sing in the chorus for the Christmas production of "The Forgotten Carols" . We went to see that at the Cottonwood High School, and it was very good. Loved to see Alex singing on stage. We had our annual Christmas party on the 12th this year. It worked out really well. We had 4 of our 6 children and their families there and would have had no one had we done it on Christmas Eve. So we are willing to break from tradition and have more of the family there...it is kinda what it's all about. We had the same people there as we did on Thanksgiving but added the Ure family and Kristin. Sooo much fun!!!!! The day started with a "Surprise" party for Derid. His family came down from Idaho and we met at the Macaroni Grill resturant for lunch. We told Derid that we wanted to take he and Rachel out for lunch to celebrate his graduation. When we got to the resturant, most of his family, and alot of ours were there to surprise him. After, we all came to our home and were able to bless their little baby Ellie. It worked out so nice to have all that family there together for that.

Our actual family party started with a trip to Grandma's Rehab to visit with her and to go caroling down the halls. It is fun to do and see the excitment on the faces of many of the residents. Some join us in their wheel chairs and walkers. Thanks to Dan for playing the guitar and getting the music together for that. We came back home and ate yummy food and played some traditonal Callister games......candy bar game, decorating gingerbread houses, What Were You Thinking (Christmas style), and of course the Chimes. We exchanged true white elephant gifts and all had a good laugh at those. Good time!!!!

Chritmas Eve Von and I went for a wonderful snowshoeing hike in Little Cottonwood Canyon on the Red and White pine trail. Amazingly beautiful!!!!! That evening we had Tom and Amy and family over for dinner and some games. Christmas day was fun because we had visits from Josh and family and Stephen and Deb. We played Apples to Apples ( a new kid favorite) and a new game that Stephen brought into the family "Bang".

On our Anniversary the 27th, we had family with us again. Family home evening with everyone in town but the Ure's...they were still in Idaho. But on the 29th we had a wonderful time in the Jordan River Temple as a celebration of our 35th anniversary. We (Josh, Deena, Stephen, Deb, Derid, Tom, Amy, Von, Maureen) did sealings as a family and that was a very special experience. A little side note to this is that Deborah wore my wedding dress in the Temple that night.

As you can tell the last 2 months have been awesome and blessed with lots of family time together. We know that everyone is busy, and we hope to see most of you in this year. Have a great 2010.