Pie Party 2013

Another successful Pie party. good food and good friends. We had lot of pie and lots of people which in combination make it one of the best nights.
Momma Sheri would have been so happy with how it all turned out.

Life is good!
MCC

Thanks Kids!

For my Birthday/Mothers Day I received 2 tickets to see Michale Buble in SLC from the children.
It was a great night. Would recommend his concert to everyone. It was a delight. He performed for 2 hours. As a solo singer this is a lot of hard work.  His opening act Naturally 7 wasn't bad either, they are an a`capella group but even better, their specialty is the instruments and they have a killer base. I love that they even pretend to play the instruments sometimes.
Back to Michael. Gary and I had great seats. We were surrounded by the BYU young marrieds including a 2 month old baby who was nursed during the performance. As part of the concert we sang Happy Birthday to an 83 year old lady so I guess you could say he was appealing to everyone form 1 to 92......

Fun night and a great break.

Today I have been making fruit pies and crust and freezing them to help me out come Tuesday night.
I studied it out and found that fruit pies are the best to freeze prior to baking and freezing will aid in the cooking of the bottom crust. Hopefully no soggy crust.

Life is good.
MCC

And the Projects Come A Tumblin' Down

Monday I was looking for projects to keep me busy and now I am overloaded.
We have been planning a kitchen up date for several months now and it is finally going to happen.....in February, but hey the prep to get everything cleaned out and ready for it is huge. It all requires me to make so many other decisions as well since my whole kitchen family room is one big space and while the kitchen designers have the whole kitchen area figured out as part of the re do we have to re finish the floor as well which is into the Family room, so if I am going to remove stuff I should figure out what I want as a final look instead of bringing it all back.

 Back splash, Counter tops and Cabinetry(color, not style)

Let the clean it up and throw it out begin. As I decorate for Christmas I need to have the undecorate plan in place. Oh I also need to pick paint for the Family Room and Kitchen, (they were afraid of the picking  a paint color for me since I like color).......snowball effect is happening. I knew it was all coming but signing contracts makes it all real.
Happy Christmas, Birthday and Anniversary to me!  I am excited but a bit overwhelmed.

Life is Good
MCC

Wednesday Weigh-In...Still

Yes the Weight Watchers is still happening. No I am not doing as fantastic as Megan and Laurie....but that is okay. Those two are wonderful and so supportive and inspirational.
I have 20 more lbs. to lose to reach my goal and then 6 weeks of maintenance to go lifetime at Weight Watchers......this is so hard, especially during the holidays. So I have decided that for the the next 7 weeks while I will try my hardest to be good, count my points, eat healthy and exercise, but my goal is to lose or maintain...no gain. I figure that going forward is always better than going backwards.
I am learning that one bite or half a serving taste just the same.  I am also learning to focus on my meal and savor my food.
One of the the other things WW has taught me this time is to make the choice once...as in decide to not indulge and buy it at the store thus saying no and making the decision once not every time I open the cupboard and see the food in question. Gary is questioning the bare snack cupboard but it is good for all of us to eat better.

Life is Good
MCC

Snap Out of It!!!

I have been in a funk for sometime now and so to help me get out of it I thought back to when I was not feeling so meh.
One of the things I discovered  was that when I am not so funky I was a better blogger.....
I guess that means I am committing to blog more. I apparently do better when I let the junk out of my brain through my finger tips.
I also haven't been walking outside regularly, so this morning I got out and walked to clear my mind. It was a beautiful morning. I came in feeling energized and ready to go forward.

I also do better when I have projects so I will get a few projects going as well. With the holiday season upon us I guess they won't be too difficult to find.
A project that keeps crossing my mind has to do with Pie ....I think it is some kind of cookbook/remembrance book about favorite family pie recipes and of course the Pie Party.
I have begun taking notes about Pies, stories and ideas so if anyone has suggestions or entries that  I should consider please send them my way.


Life is Good!
MCC

Elder H Call

Finally he sent me some pics...I am so happy to see his face!
Elder Call and Duckworth and Elder Call and Pettet

 In T Shirts made by Sister Whitley from Fulton

CK's Day

we had a fun blessing day for CK! 

Sharing Sheri Event

The 5 Love Languages is the one seminar mom would teach that I always heard the most positive feed back on.  Gary will be teaching it and he also does a great job with it.
I hope we have a standing room only crowd. It is a great message to honor a great lady.

At the event we will also be announcing the Sheri Cole Scholarship for a Theatre/Dance/Choir student at BHS.

Happy Birthday Gary!

It's my honey's Birthday today!

We always come up with some kind of adventure to celebrate the day....that is what is nice about summer; stuff to do.  This year like so my other years we are off to the Northern Utah Parade of Homes.  No we won't do all the homes in one day but we will start today.
 Tonight we are off to dinner then to see Spamalot at the Ziegfeld in Ogden; bonus is that our nephew Aaron is Lancelot in the show.

Love you Gary! You are my hero, my calming hand, my reason, my hope and joy.
I am planning on many, many more birthday celebrations with you!

MCC

Wednesday Weigh In- Weight Watchers

Well I have jumped in and joined back up with Weight Watchers...and not just the on-line version, but the go to the meetings and be weighed version.
Laurie wanted friends to go with her to help her loose the baby weight. Megan jumped at it as did Laurie's mom Karen and I said okay I am in (Mom would have loved this and joined with us).....so Saturday morning.....yes I got up early. We signed up!  To me this whole thing is now a competition...that is the Cole/Butters coming out.... I want to be the best and loose the most, the fastest. I know that is not what it is all about, but hey what ever motivates you.
The Weekend was a mess, but Monday morning I began in earnest, really watching and tracking my points......every food has a point value (even the LaffyTaffy that kept calling my name and begging to be eaten...they are 1 pt. a piece) and you are given an allotment of points for the day.
The Tracking has never been easier since they have a whole on-line tracking and calculating app. I totally love the app. It makes this whole thing a whole lot better. I can look up in an instant food point values and decide if I want to eat it...... The whole on-line support in addition to the meetings is awesome.....https://www.weightwatchers.com/
The best thing about the WW points thing is that most fruits and veggies are free points so you can fill up on them if you are still hungry.
Today I have had a heck of a time getting my points used since I have eaten so many fruits and veggies, and I am stuffed.
I can do anything for the next 12 weeks and then I am going to re-evaluate this diet choice. I will probably keep going since it is the closest to what I do when I truly diet.
When I began for real to lose weight 5 years ago it was a good thing. Today I am 80lbs. lighter than when I began and I have kept it basically off...there have been a few 5 to 10 lb. gains but I have really kept it under control by weighing everyday, exercising and paying attention to what goes in the mouth. I have set 10lb. goals, because you can only do it a bite at a time and I didn't gain it all in one big gain so what makes me think I can loose it that way? My goal is to loose another 30 lbs. This is very doable......

Let the games begin!

MCC

Tubby With Awesome

It is summer and we thought it would be fun to do the sprinklers, however it was a bit chilly so we had a tubby party according to Captain Awesome!

Here is a month old CK or Superman!

Love being a Grandma!

we need a real pool.........

MCC

ELder Call

Yes he is a winner!
The t'shirts were made by a member for them......

Habits and June

June- Summer- Family- Fun
 Yeah for June! It is time to discover a new normal, new opportunities, and to experience new growth, personally and for the family.

The garden is finally planted thanks to J & L and their greenhouse veggies. No, my garden doesn't have a big variety this year but it has been planted with the fixings for salsa. I also planted some squash and a few melons. I hope they all work out.
Now for a few flowers......

We don't have a lot of big plans for this summer, besides doing the usual Bear Lake and a few family parties. I might just have to create some summer fun stay-cations or mini- cations to keep us all happy and doing things together.

HABITS
Yes it is true, you create new habits in 21 days..... not necessarily good habits, but habits all the same.
After a long month of doing a different routine, I thought no problem, I can jump right back in to my old ways (even though I neglected them for 31 days)......yikes, not so fast...... It has been interesting trying to get myself back up to speed with my diet and exercise and my household and theatre routine, they have all suffered. But that is okay, I wouldn't have traded the past month.
Anyway the biggest challenge with beginning again is that I am not up to speed. the learning curve isn't has steep as when I first began, but I am not as good as I was.......the muscles ache again, the pantry isn't stocked so I go for the easy high calorie junk, and the menus need re-working. Eating out all the time isn't as good or glamorous as I once thought it would be.  And my house needs a good dusting and de-junking. I have stacked  and stacked knowing that I would eventually put it all away. Eventually is now.....
I think that while I am re-forming the habits I will sneak in one or two new things I need to be better at, after all I don't think my brain will notice or resist.

I will have to think on it all...time to keep forming good habits.

Awesome making me smile...puddle jumping!

MCC

The Circle of Life

In the past 2 weeks we have experienced the circle of life with the birth of our second grandson CK, and the passing of momma Sheri onto the next phase of the plan....what a bitter sweet time.  My emotions are bigger than words can express.....

We didn't know if Mom would see CK on this side of the veil or not, but on Tuesday May 14, Mom told us that she had a dream (She never remembered her dreams) and that the baby was coming today. At 3:00am May 15 baby Call arrived.  He is so precious. Great Grandma didn't get to see him in person, but through facetime she saw him and talked with Jordan and family. When I asked her later if this was the baby she saw coming, she told me yes he was..... I want you to know, that I know Great Grandma Sheri visited with CK after her passing. I was sitting with Laurie while we were waiting for news from the Hospital about Captain Awesome's concussion. It had been a day since moms passing, life was tender and a bit on its side. I got a frantic call from Laurie that Jordan was taking Captain Awesome to the hospital, he had been hit in the head with a rock and passed out  ran to be with Laurie and sent Gary and the other Grandparents to the hospital. I was praying for Angels to attend Ry at the Hospital on my drive to their home. While we were waiting we were so nervous and upset,  wanting to here more about his condition, talking too much about dumb stuff to keep our minds from awfulizing, Suddenly little CK began grinning and almost cooing at someone in the room, he wasn't even looking at us.....Instantly Laurie and I were at peace and both commented that the angels were attending. I then said and not just any angels our angels with the addition of Grandma Sheri. As I said that CK became even more animated and smiley. I know she was with us and Jordan said he knew she was with them at the Hospital as well. (Grandma Karen confirmed to me that she too called for our Grandma Sheri Angel to attend them). And all is well!

 

Mom's passing was too soon, but indeed a blessing. We had the wonderful blessing of not only spending last precious days with her reminiscing, planning and saying until we meet again, but we had the opportunity of serving her through the violent ordeal of vomiting to eliminate waste, and administering her IV and medication every few hours. 
I learned so much while serving mom, about unconditional love, compassion, mourning and even a small glimpse of what it must have been like for our Savior during his time in Gethsemane. It was truly and awesome opportunity to serve and to love my mom. I wouldn't have traded this experience as hard as it was sometimes for anything.

I know the days may be harder with out my number one cheerleader physically by my side to push me along, but I do know that she is still there for me, as one of my new angels, wanting the best and expecting the best from me.

Momma Sheri's funeral was a goodbye party, it was a celebration of her wonderful life and a notice of her opportunity to move forward into immortality. If you were to measure a persons earthly existence by those in attendance at her funeral, she was a wealthy woman! She loved unconditionally and was always looking for the best in others. She was the 'you can do it lady.' She never met anyone that she didn't inspire to be their best. She was every one's biggest fan. And apparently everyone was her biggest fan in return...you give love away, you get it back 10 fold.

At her funeral I spoke of the way to show her my love and honor her memory was to be more like her. She was a builder of people, a lifter of souls. She lived, laughed and unconditionally loved.
I know mom had no regrets of consequence.  She made sure she was right with people and right with the Lord.

Mom's testimony of the Gospel was so strong, she was a living testament. Like the stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon said  "we did not doubt, our mothers knew it." My mother knew it too. She told me in one of her last coherent moments that "it is true, it is true, The Gospel is true!"

and so life goes. we are born to die, that we may live again.

I love you mom!

Until we meet again!

Singing one last time for Grandma Sheri

Dad the great at his sweethearts side.

yes, my heart is too full, the words aren't enough, but the spirit comforts me and I know it is until we meet again.

MCC

Sheri Butters Cole (Sharolyn) passed away May 21, 2013. She forgot to breathe in. "I love life, life loves me!" she said. 2 years from her initial cancer diagnosis, she now says farewell. Sheri was born May 9, 1939 to Grant and Eulala Butters. She married the love of her life, her rock, her sweetheart, Lyle Cole on June 9, 1959, they have spent 54 years together with eternity still to go. We celebrate a life lived with grace, beauty, and style that she exhibited to the end. She was a builder of people, a lifter of souls, an example to us all of how to live, laugh and unconditionally love. She touched so many of us with her passion and energy; she shared her talents and gifts everywhere she went. For you it may have been dancing for her in 30 years of musicals at Bountiful High, or in dance lessons in her home studio, or as one of the many hundreds taught life lessons and time management as a professional trainer with Charles Hobbs and Franklin Covey. Did you work with her in the Sweet Adeline's or Beehive Statesmen? Or in one of the many choirs she has choreographed or directed? Did you watch her dance across Utah with the Sheri Cole Dancers? Or hear her singing with her Mother and Daughters in the Cole-Collection? Or as the drama teacher at Davis High School or as the choir teacher at Bountiful High? Were you a student, or one of her families with Washington Online? Did you carry a banner as an LDS Young Woman in the days of '47 parade? Or were you part of her LDS mission to Scotland? Perhaps you witnessed one of her 4th of July spectaculars at Rice Eccles and Spring Mobile Ballpark? Or one of the many amazing Relief Society lessons she faithfully taught? Better yet, maybe she was simply your friend to comfort you in times of need and give you that boost of positive energy she had for everyone. Did you see her in a show? She loved the theater. She directed, danced and performed in shows too many to count. She spent genuine time with each of us, building us, teaching us, and was always everyone's biggest fan! She loved us all!
She lived to have a party and would make up reasons if she had to. The legendary Thanksgiving pie party, Halloween doughnuts, and summer scones brought family and friends together. Her favorite role and best party was as loving wife and mother to her family. Bear Lake on the beach will never be the same without her, but we will never forget how she loved spending time with us there. We will never forget the Christmas records playing all year round, sitting with her at parades, puzzles on the dining room table, family talent shows and concerts, her love of learning, always the latest books, The Color Code, family nights at pine view reservoir, The Love Languages, road trips in the Pace-Arrow, her beautiful paintings, and living in "your essence." She was a one of a kind - an original.
She is survived by her devoted husband Lyle Nelson Cole, children Marcie and Gary Call, Melinda and Wayne Welch, Adam and Christine Cole, Elizabeth Cole and Allison Dennison, Angela and Guy Brown, 20 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Also survived by her brothers and Sisters Darlene and Jim Ostlund, Lynette and Lynn Poulter, Stephen and Mary Butters, Diane and David Hill, Bailey and Christie Butters, Brad and Karen Butters. Preceded in death by loving parents Grant and Eulala Butters and brother Grant Michael Butters.
We know she is returning to our Heavenly Father with honor!
We will never forget her legacy of unconditional love; her remarkable style, beauty and grace and her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are all better for having known her. A life well lived.

We love you Sheri!

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 29, 2013 at the Woodland Hills LDS Ward, 640 South 750 East, Bountiful, Utah. A viewing will be held Tuesday evening from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m at Russon Brothers Bountiful Mortuary, 295 North Main, and Wednesday morning 9:45 - 10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment-Lakeview Cemetery.

Happiness is Being a Grandparent

We were lucky enough to spend Friday night with Captain Awesome our Ry guy. We hadn't had dinner so we thought it would be fun to take him out to get something to eat and then some Ice Cream!!!
We were not disappointed it was way fun and funny.
It all started with the installing of the car seat in to my car. On Sunday when we were putting the car seat in the car I said "oh crap" and Ry told me we don't say that....Grandma was chastised and will now watch what she says...so back to Friday night; when we were putting the seat in on Friday he reminded me that I  shouldn't say 'oh crap' but say 'oh my goodness'.  He then told me that daddy sometimes says 'oh crap'.........  Got to love him.

We asked if he wanted to go to Five Guys or Pace's... He chose 5 Guys it was which was great with me. He had already eaten dinner but we knew he would like fries and a drink...however he wanted fries, a cheese burger and a wyemmamade (lemonade).  We went with fries, share grandmas cheese burger and wyemmaade. Wrong he wanted his own cheese burger and he wouldn't take mine. I knew he wouldn't eat it so we compromised with cutting my burger in half..... he didn't eat it.

Anyway all was well, we promised ice cream at the yogurt place next door. He kept telling us he wanted chocyet.  All was well we got our yogurt cups, but no chocolate...really. So after a scene we convinced him that we would go to a place with chocyet ice cream.  Then the fun began. We have forgotten about drips and messes. We were so glad we decided that we had to eat at DQ and didn't go through the drive thru.

 We ended the night with a bath, and Finding Nemo!

Happiness is being a grandparent.
MCC