Christmas Eve

The Party

Emma has a broken leg and Carson signs the cast

The 11 grandchildren who were here

Carson and Brigham

Klara is beautiful!

Riley-Mary with Jesus



A sheep-Klara, the Angels-Charlotte and Zoe, and the Shepherds-Bryce and Carson

We had a really great Christmas Eve party here with our four Arizona families. We had an impromptu Nativity skit and watched the Tabernacle Choirs' rendition of 'The Friendly Beasts'. If you haven't heard the wonderful tenor sing it, you've really missed something! We had a wonderful dinner of 'Prime' rib, baked potatoes, sauerkraut with sausages, green beans and a dessert of meringues with whipped cream and Bratzeli.
Now it's time to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We love all our friends and family very much and wish you many blessings in the New Year. We are also hoping for some babies!

Ingold Christmas Party - Dec 14, 2008

We had a good turnout and lots of fun eating and sledding afterwards. There were so many gifts from many of the family members that I had trouble keeping track of what from whom. Dustin and his wife Eden made lots of 'blocky' snowmen from 4X4's with the help of their kids, who painted. They are really cute! Thanks everyone involved with the planning and cooking! It was great fun!
Kevin, Natalie, Tyler, Hadley and Cole came up from Lehi and Saratoga Springs. Scott and Kari flew up from Mesa, as did I. We had a real taste of a 'White Christmas!'

Snow at grandpa Bruno's

My dad is shoveling lots of snow. I was there to help last Sunday (the 14th). He says he's been shoveling a lot this week too. Monica helped him one day, but he's worn out and tired of so much snow.
I will have to upload the pictures of the Ingold Christmas Party when I get it figured out. Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ingold Christmas Party

Last Sunday, December 14th, I was in Logan, Utah for the Ingold Christmas Party. (Ingold is my maiden name). On Saturday morning it started to snow at 7:30 a.m. By 11 a.m. my dad and I shoveled about six inches of new snow. On Sunday morning we shoveled another 2 inches of new snow. There was some question about making it up Black Smith Fork canyon to the lodge because of snow covered roads. Kevin came up with Scott and Kari, from Lehi. Scott and Kari had been helping her brother with some flooring and were up from Mesa. Natalie's family came as well. It was a lot of fun and there were so many gifts from everyone it was hard to keep track. I just handed out candy canes to the little ones. Dustin and Eden made about 30 blocky snowmen that were so cute. I had to leave mine at Kevin's because it was just too big to take home on the airplane.
After the Ingold party my 'kids' and I went on up the canyon to Hardware Ranch, where the elk gather for the winter and are fed there. However, because the first real snow had come just the day before, they were still on the mountain side and coming down to the meadow. However, we found a good place to sled and it was lots of fun, but VERY COLD!
I rode back to Provo with Kevin, Scott and Kari and had a lovely time with Theresa that night and even went with her to teach a workshop for teenage mothers on Monday morning. We met Melanie and her mother-in-law for lunch, then I went back to Melanie's where Scott and Kari picked me up a few minutes later to go to the airport for home. All in all it was a good time. Thanks everyone for all the work and help!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I took this picture in our front yard today, Dec. 8th at 5:30 p.m. We have awesome sunsets!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving and such a good time staying with Theresa, Kevin, Melanie, Eric and grandpa and having dinner and games night at Natalie's. We thank you all for your hospitality and being such great family!
Now it's time to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS from our house to yours!
Love, Trix (mom)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
Remeber to be Thankful!

Pictures from Surprise Party

If you want to read all about the party and see great pictures, check out Angie's blog at speerchuckers.blogspot.com Angie did a GREAT job planning our family get-together.
Right now Warren and I are in South Jordan visiting our kids and for Thanksgiving. We came to Utah on Friday and stayed with Theresa's family that night and Saturday night. Theresa and I had fun doing some shopping (Robert's). I got to meet Meagan's RM, Steve, but Trey never showed up, so we missed seeing him. After church and dinner at Theresa's Sunday, we visited Natalie and the family in Saratoga Springs and then came to Melanie's here in South Jordan. We did most of the Thanksgiving shopping yesterday. We will be going to Natalie's tonight for yummy lettuce raps. Wednesday and Thursday nights we will be staying at Kevin's and Ashley's, but, most of us will be back at Melanie's for Thanksgiving dinner. On Friday morning we are going to Logan where we will have lunch with my dad a sisters. On Saturday the plan is to have another Thanksgiving dinner at my sister Briga's house. I guess I'll gain my usual five pounds that I usually gain when I come to Utah. It's a hazard that I am willing to deal with. ;0)
Hope you all have a really great Thanksgiving! Love you all, Trix (Mom)

ABSOLUTELY THE BEST

Warren and I had the ABSOLUTELY BEST SURPRISE EVER! Alisyn and Eric came down Saturday afternoon and about 4:30 they said they were taking us out to dinner for our combined birthdays and 45th anniversary. We were told we were going to Bucca de Beppo, which is a family style Italian restaurant that our kids just love. It was wonderful for them to be taking us out, BUT . . . . . when we got there we were introduced to the cooks, the waiters, the bar keepers and politely shown the direction to the restrooms as if we were celebrities! Well, as we came around the corner there was a huge table set and ALL 9 of our kids were there (five of them from Utah) and several of the spouses. WHAT AN AWESOME SURPRISE! OUR KIDS ARE JUST GREAT! I know that for several of them it was a big sacrifice to make the trip. Ron and Justin even came back from their deer hunting expedition for the evening. I will post pictures as soon as my kids send me some. For sure as we walked up to the table there were lots of flashes from cameras going off. Warren and I were even given HUGE pieces of red velvet cake for dessert. It was all YUMMY! Thanks so much to all my kids and especially to Angie, who I think had a very big hand in planning the whole thing.

Enrichment Blues

Don't let the 'busy' troll get you! I found this troll in the woods while camping.


O.K. I am a total idiot for taking on this calling again. I've been involved with Enrichment (Homemaking) at least five times and you'd think I'd learn:( I'm telling you all, go with your gut feelings and stick to it! You know best what works for you. I went into this with the deal that we would collect money by a cut-off date and absolutely not go around collecting overdue money or calling and calling and begging for money with the result of getting stressed over late orders of materials and being out HUNDREDS of dollars because people didn't pay on time. My leader doesn't have the heart to stick with deadlines, so we are enableing people to keep using us this way. I'm sick of it. You'd think these women were being asked to give up one of their children. Don't they realize it takes money to buy supplies? Also, why couldn't we call it Super Saturday? It doesn't change what we are doing!

Alright, enough of that! I had to vent. Please forgive me and pray that I'll have more patience AND MORE MONEY. :)

Love all your blogs. Keep on keeping me updated!

bathing beauties

This is just to prove I wasn't always so out of shape! I'm the one standing on the wall of the 'swimming pool'. Don't laugh, just smile!

Ingold and Schmid photos

New Post - Old Photos

My Grandma and Grandpa Schmid at Glacier National Park

Trix, Esther, Grandpa Schmid and Eva in our Swiss dirndls for a festival.

Bathing beauties, Trix, Monica and Briga in the home 'swimming hole'.

Every year my mother made us all Easter dresses. This is about 1959. From the back are Esther, Mom and Dad, Trix, and in the front are Briga, Eva and Monica.

These are the new emigrant 'cowgirls'. This was the year we moved to Logan and bought the old house on 674 East 700 North. The girls are, from the left, Eva, Esther, Briga, Mother and Trix.

I will always treasure the memories and the photos! Check them out!

Neck Shots

Sounds like a funny title, huh, but I had six injections in the nerves on the right side of my neck. This is a pre-requisite to having a procedure where the nerves in my neck will be burned with radio frequency if it works with the temp. shots. I feel pretty good right now, but I'm not sure where this is going yet. I need to check in with the pain clinic tomorrow and get more feed back. I'll keep you all posted on that.
Today would have been my mother's 95th birthday. My dad said he put flowers on her grave last night.

Scott's Halloween Party

Last night (Saturday) we had a very nice time at Scott's and Kari's annual Halloween Party. Every one of our local family were there except Anita and Emma.
Kari and Scott went all out on decorations and Scott even cut some of his cartoon character's and Halloween stuff in his fire barrel. The kids all had lots of fun running around and chasing each other.

Kamden's famous 'trick'

Angie and her little boys were here on Thursday. Kam had a little bathroom need, removed his damp pull-up and went to the bathroom. When he came back in the buff, I told him to go get his pull-up so we could put it back on. He calmly walked out to the patio, where we were having lunch, and chucked the pull-up at my head. I said, "hey, dude!" to which he answered, "Oh, you got a headache?" What a crackup that little one is !

Send off Sleepover

On Friday and Saturday we had a send off sleepover for Hadley and Cole. They will be leaving tomorrow, (Sunday, Oct. 19th) for their new home in Saratoga Springs, Utah. We will sorely miss them and Natalie and Tyler. Jeff's kids were not able to to come. We REALLY missed them. On Friday evening the kids came. They were so thrilled to be together that all 'planned' activities were delayed and the kids just played house, tag, hide and seek, etc. We even had an impromptu wedding. The girls found flowers in the play room. That prompted a 'wedding' complete with oversized T-shirt wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. After a couple hours of play, we had sloppy joes and then made and decorated Halloween cupcakes. I think maybe some of the kids ate more cupcakes than they decorated and others just wanted to decorate and not eat. Grandpa played Shoots and Ladders with Carson and Cole, but the girls were too busy playing house to want to play any games. Later we put on movies to calm the kids (and grandma) down so we could all get some sleep. By 7:30 in the morning everyone was up and ready to go again. Grandpa left with Scott to help Tyler load up the trailer. I made pancakes for breakfast and Klara and Carson very graciously brought in all dishes from the patio and helped clean that up. There was more tag and hide-and-seek going on for a couple hours, then we made Halloween cards and a big mess. We had to clean up all too soon so we could go to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch and get Klara and Charlotte to the airport to meet Ron by 1:30 for their ride home (Ron was working); Carson had a ball game at 2:15 and Riley had voice lessons at 2:00. Hadley and Cole had a party at their great-grandma's about 3:00 and I dragged home dead tired but feeling good that the kids had so much fun.
I have to thank Warren for helping me so much Friday night. I got really sick (I think from my flu shot) and I really needed his help. THANKS SO MUCH! We will surely miss Hadley and Cole at our future cousins' parties. Thanks to all of you who made the effort to come. We had SUCH a good time.

Send off for Hadley and Cole

Camping and Utah, Fall 2008

Camping and Utah

We had so much fun camping with Natalie's and Jeff's families the end of September! I bought small clip boards and mechnaical pencils for all the kids and we had a great scavenger hunt. On the list were: animal bones, animal tracks, animal poop, oak leaves, mushrooms and other stuff. The kids did very well and even found animal bones. I have to admit I 'planted' some along the game trail we took, but the kids also found several additional ones. We loved playing games and sharing meals. I took hikes everyday with the kids and adults that chose to participate. Oh, what fun and Oh how MUCH I will miss Natalie and her family. If you don't know, they have sold their home and will be leaving for the Alpine area of Utah (near Lehi) on or about October 20th! YES, THAT SOON! Of course we wish them all the best.

I flew to Salt Lake October 1, the day after I came home from camping. I rented a car and spent a day and a night with Melanie. Theresa met us for lunch on Wednesday. We saw a cute haircut and I told Melanie I wish I knew someone that could cut my hair like that. She said she knew just the person, her beautician; called her, got me an appointment for 8 a.m. on Thursday, before my departure to Logan and walla, new do. I like it. My hair just wasn't attractive long and I knew it. I went to Logan to spend five days my dad for his 88th birthday. On Friday my sisters, Esther, Briga and Monica, as well as my dad and his friend Ernst Blaser, who turned 90 the day before, went to Wendover, Nevada for the day. Eva didn't want to go with us. As usual Esther did very well at the slots. She bet about $15 and came home with over $800!! All but $50 of that was won on the penny machines! I bet $16 and came home with just under $40, my dad lost the $3 he played, Briga was down about 12 cents, Monica came home with about $62, I think. Ernst chose not to play. He had fun just watching. We also had a fabulous lunch while we were there. Saturday after the morning conference session we drove to the Girls Camp in Logan canyon, even though it was raining. You can see the wonderful colors.
I love conference and am sad it it over. Sorry I didn't get pictures of my dad and sisters, but no photos allowed in the casino and when we got back it was late and the last thing on my mind was taking pictures. Maybe my sisters will have some later, but I don't think so.
I got home last night and this morning (Wednesday) I had to be at the surgery center is North Scotsdale for my second epidural in my neck. I spent most of the day resting and very relaxed.
Sorry this got so long. Love you all so very much!

Sounds of Sea World

San Diego

Sea World and San Diego Zoo

We had a great anniversary trip to San Diego, however, not without a little problem. While I was driving between Gila Bend and Yuma my right rear tire sidewall decided to just blow up. There was still lots of tread on the tire, the sidewall just gave out. It was a little scary! I nice young man in a pick up truck stopped to ask if we needed help, but Warren said he could handle it on his own. Then a Highway Patrolman stopped to make sure none of the passing vehicles came too close while Warren changed the tire. Thankfully we had a full size spare. We got to Yuma just fine and had to spend a bundle there for a new tire. After lunch we were back on our way. Thursday evening, after checking in to our hotel, we strolled around Old Town San Diego. It's always interesting to go there.
On Friday we spent the whole day at Sea World. It's always amazing to see the Killer Whales (which are really LARGE dolphins) do their tricks. The dolphins themselves are also amazing. In the evening we went to Black Angus for our anniversary dinner. I love the fried zucchini! or I should say the cucumber dip!
On Saturday we went to the San Diego Zoo for the whole day. It was exhausting for me, but so enjoyable. I especially love seeing the pandas, koalas, lesser kudu and other unusual animals. We also rode the sky ride and took the bus tour, twice.
Sunday we went back to Sea World for the second day of our pass. We just revisited our favorite shows and animals. Dad also go to ride the Journey to Atlantis roller coaster and got wet. After going to our room to freshen up, we went back to Old Town for a little stroll and some FUDGE.
Monday we drove home, without incidence this time. We're home safe and sound and I'm glad to be back.

San Diego

HAPPY 45TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!
Yes, it's been 45 years on the roller coaster, but most of the time we have been on the top of the 'ups'. We are enjoying a few days in San Diego. Yesterday we went to Sea World and today we're headed off to the San Diego Zoo - YES, dad agreed to take me to the zoo. You may know he generally hates zoos! Photos will follow in a couple of days. Love to you all!

Camping, etc

We spent another week on the rim. This time Natalie and her family were camping nearby with the Tiffanys. On Sunday Angie and her family came up for the day and Natalie's family came over to our camp. In spite of some very heavy rain Saturday and all night, we had a marvelous time. The RZR got totally coated with mud, so dad spent three hours on Labor Day cleaning it and running the trailer totally out of water. On Saturday we also went to Pine for the Labor Day craft sale where I bought this beautiful handcrafted napkin holder. I thought the man probably had a laser cutter because his work was so detailed, but he said he cuts everything by hand.
I also had an unique experience. Warren asked if I wanted to go out looking for elk in the RZR one evening, but I decided to stay at the trailer. I saw an 5 point deer buck when I looked out the window of the trailer. We never see deer, so that was a real treat! I took a picture so Warren would believe I had actually seen one. He only saw three elk :)

Coyotes in the Draw

We went back to Happy Jack last Sunday, going to Blue Ridge branch for church on the way up. Each afternoon at 3 o'clock we heard such a ruckus just down the draw from us. There must be quite a pack of coyotes down there. It seems it was feeding time for the pups at three because we didn't hear anything from them until then. At that time we would hear a lot of high pitched yapping. Then it was quiet again until 10:30 or 11 p.m. when the whole pack seemed to go hunting. There was so much howling and barking and yapping. Finally on Tuesday evening Warren took the RZR down and 3/8 of a mile from our camp he came across the coyotes and scattered them. I was at the camp and what a chaos I heard! The dogs scattered in every direction, even though Warren only actually saw one. I could hear them scatter and then howl to one another. It was such an adventure! I can tell you, I was so happy to be sleeping in a trailer and not a tent! On July 4th weekend when Natalie and Tyler camped with us in the same spot we saw one coyote casually lope along the side of our camp, just taking his time. It made Tyler a little nervous that it didn't seen to be afraid of us! I don't blame him.
We had Meagan here with us for a few short hours and ended our visit with a brunch this morning. Kari, Anita and the kids, Angie, Justin and their kids and Natalie and her kids came. We had a good time, but I think it was a little noisy for Meagan. We are a bit much when we all get together. Scott was on a MIA outing with his ward and Jeff and Tyler had to work. We missed Zoe too. She had an activity day.

Pronghorn Antelope

I'M HOME!

After four whole weeks on the road, we are finally home again. Warren could sell the house and stay on the road forever, but that's definitely NOT for me. I love being home.
A quick explanation of the slide show posted last. I had spotty Internet on the road, so here's the explanation. While we were in Lander, Wyoming we found out there was this unique feature just six miles up the canyon from there. It is called 'the sinks' and has been know about for many hundreds of years. The large river, Popo Agie (ashee) with huge boulders comes down the canyon and then totally disappears into a large cave. It re-emerges 1/4 mile down the canyon, seeping out along the bottom of the mountain. Not too many years ago a test was done to see if the same water comes out that disappears up river. It took the dye over two hours to show up 1/4 mile down river. The theory is that there are unknown numbers of shafts and tunnels underground that the water swirls around before coming back out. Very interesting!
We saw so many Pronghorn antelope throughout Wyoming and at Martin's Cove we saw two deer with their fawns. We also saw another deer at Rattlesnake Pass. The missionaries told us seeing a deer is a big deal, but antelope aren't anything to talk about because there are so many of them.
We drove from Lander, Wyoming to Springville, Utah on Thursday. On Friday Theresa, Melanie and I made apricot jam at Theresa's house with apricots from her very loaded tree. On Saturday Warren went off-roading with Kevin and spent the day with him. I spent some time with Theresa, but she was very busy doing yard and house stuff with Tom, so I went back to the trailer for a much needed nap. Saturday night we all met at Pizza Factory (Theresa, Melanie, Eric and Kevin and their families). After dinner we went to Theresa's house for root beer floats. On Sunday Warren and I drove as far as Jacob's Lake, where we spent the night. Monday we drove home. YEAH!

To Mormon Trail Sites

My Yellowstone bears.  They live in the trailer.

The Firehole River

Warren at the Firehole River

The majestic Tetons

On the way to Lander, Wyoming

going to Lander, Wyoming

In Yellowstone Part

The Teton's of Idaho

 Devil's Gate

 Entrance to Martin's Cove

 In Martin's Cove

 Martin's Cove marker

 Independence Rock

Independence Rock

Independence Rock

 Mormon Trail marker

Wagon tracks still mark the prarie. 

 PoPo Agie River Sinks.  Here the rive disappears into the ground.

 The river sinking.

Splint Rock on the Mormon Trail

The Yellowstone and Teton pictures are from Sunday and Monday. I am near Lander, Wyo.
Today, Wednesday, we spent 11 hours on the road. We drove from our camp spot to the site of the Willy handcart company rescue on the Sweetwater River. This is also the site of the sixth crossing of the Sweetwater. Then we drove to Independence Rock and walked around that for a total of about 2 1/2 miles. Along the way we saw Split Rock and Devil's Gate, two famous landmarks. Devil's Gate was NOT where the pioneers crossed, it was just a landmark. However, they did cross next to Devil's Gate in a pass called Rattle Snake Pass. The bottom of Devil's Gate is the Sweetwater River channel. Then we went to Martin's Cove. This was a very spiritual and emotional experience. On one side of the cove the dead were laid and covered with branches because the ground was so frozen. But before the men of the burial detail could get back to the campground part of the cove they could already hear the wolves digging up the dead. What horrible things those saints had to endure.
In a few days we will finally be back home for a little while.