Missing October/christmas time

MISSING OCTOBER
I found the missing October, Don and I went to Utah to visit family, and while we were there we were given snuggies for our birthday. they didn't fit in our suitcase so my brother's family, who had driven to Utah took them home with them. I asked him to find all the things he could do on a road trip with a snuggie. Here is what you can do......
Hug your sister at the airport...


Visit the Dam in a snuggie, and take a Dam/ snuggie picture.....

Hug a tree in a snuggie.....you can't tell the tree from the snuggie.....

Story time snuggie.......Sleep in a snuggie........

Pump gas in a snuggie.......

Drive in a snuggie........

Hitchhike in a snuggie....notice the dirty laundry......

It was a fun October...

CHRISTMAS TIME

Hello people who read this. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and will have a great New Year!! And to those who got "THE" phone call from a missionary far away, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed mine. This Christmas was nice, with Hanna living with us now it was also fun to see the excitement on her face when she opened her gifts. Santa brought her a Pillow Pet. She wanted everyone to get a Pillow pet. She was sad when none of us got one. We had the family over for breakfast, it is fun to have family around. When the nieces and nephews were little, we had a crazy house. now it's my grand kids who are little and it's even crazier. I'm not sure how much longer the breakfast tradition will last when my brothers start having grand kids.

Have a great rest of 2010..

looking forward to 2011, (as a child I never thought the earth would still be around this long.)

Saying Goodbye and Hello

We are saying goodbye to the sister missionaries who have lived in our home for the past 20 months. It has been the best experience ever. Our home has been extremely blessed and so has our family. We have loved each and every one of the them. We now have friends from all over the world.
We are saying HELLO to our children Jon, Mallory and Hanna who will be living with us while Jon finishes up school at ASU! We are grateful we have a home that can house them at this time in their lives. We are looking forward to having our family all in one state again.
More later.

The diving lady

People, how many of you know of the diving lady motel on main and Lindsey?

Well it fell down in Oct. after a big storm. In the paper Sunday I read that they are going to try to restore it but it is going to cost big bucks. They are going to make and sell t-shirts to help fund the process. The shirts will be 17.50 with 15% going to the restoration project.

You can pre-order at iheartmesa@gmail.com or the web site is http://www.iheartmesa.com/

In the paper they also said that Surf N Ski on main will sale them. I'm buying 2.

When my family would drive to grandma Cluff and West, from Paradise Valley to Central and Safford, we new we were going in the right direction when we saw the diving lady motel. There was no freeway, we had to drive on main street the whole way. It took a lot longer to drive then, then it does now.
Grandma's house was stable for me, just like the "Diving Lady Motel" sign is stable to me and Mesa. Just thought I'd get the word out.

ONE YEAR!

Taylor has been on his mission for one year today. It has gone by so fast. We have been so blessed as a family to have him serve.

Where Did October Go?

I'd tell you if I knew.

It's Birthday Time again

Today September 23rd is Don's birthday, and tomorrow the 24th is Mallory's birthday! Mal and my other girls celebrate their birthdays all week. Don just one day. The girls have a lot of fun with that. I wish them both a wonderful day with family and friends, and for them to know how important they are every day to us.

My husband is a wonderful man and priesthood holder and a great example of how a father and husband should be. He is fun/funny and he makes me laugh. I'm so thankful we are an eternal family.

My Baby is 20

Yes, it's 9/11. the day after the BIG one for me. but 20 years ago I was in labor on my birthday and had this crazy wonderful person the next day. I think he was 6lbs 7oz I don't remember because I was out cold. C-section. He has been a good friend of mine since the day he was born.

He loves sports, he plays softball (church) soccer,(red mt. high) football ( Red Mt, Stapley Jr. and Shepard.) basketball (church) Golf.(fun) extreme skipping, skateboarding, and his favorite, Volleyball all four years at Red Mt. High school. His big sister Kim made the shorts he is wearing in this soccer picture. Taylor even was ok with me being his soccer coach for a few years in a row.

Now, he is on a church mission in Uruguay, South America. He has been serving for almost 11 months. The time has gone by fast. He loves the people, and is learning the gospel, so he can share it to the fullest.

The teen years are gone for him now. But I know he is just as happy if not more so because of the choices he made as a teen. Happy Birthday My Son.

My name is debbie and I'm 50....

That's right, today is the 50th anniversary of my birth. It started with eggs and bacon that were made by my wonderful husband. Then off to work where the kids, teachers and staff all made me feel special. They also spoke louder, so I could hear them better, and helped me find chairs to sit on because I was looking older. lol
When I got home I found items of 50 around the house. 50 stickers, 50 cho. chips. 50 paper clips. A book on what I should do before I turn 50. (To late) Thank you to all you dear people who wished me a happy day with 50 something-or-another. My Mother sent me 25 two dollar bills.
Don and I went to a movie, we saw "Takers" it was a interesting movie. Much better then some of the comedy's we've seen lately. We actually walked out of the last two comedy's we saw. Any way, When we got home there was a house full of family. My kids had planned a BIG sandwich party. My Brothers, my sisters, my grandma, my aunt and uncle, my cousins, nieces and nephew, my dad, my parent-in-laws. my kids and Mallory and Hanna on Skype were all there to greet me and the door with a big surprise! We then went down stairs and they had me sit in the wheel chair, and I opened up 50 bags of items. You know how long it takes to open up 50 bags of things? I received some fun stuff. I'll post pictures next time. Then back up stairs for the Ice cream cake. What a fun day! I love my family and thank them for making the day special. Thank you for all the text's I received during the day and the emails from family and friends. Thank you Don for being my husband.

Self "A" steam

First of all Happy 75th b-day to grandma Crandell! We had a fun party!
Saturday night Don and I went to the singles branch "Minute to Win it" activity.
I usually sit back and watch but tonight I thought I would join in on the fun. So when they started counting off for teams I joined team 7. On the team was also Don and a single guy named Rich. He was one of the girls in the branches "special" friend.
First up, ME to play the " get the cookie off the forehead and in to the mouth" I wasn't first but I wasn't last so team 7 is still in the game.
Second, Don's up, he had to suck M&M's from one bowl with a straw and put it in an other bowl. He came in second.
Third game, Riches turn. He had to blow up a balloon then with the air in the balloon move 15 plastic cups off the table. First place for him!
Fourth game, My turn. put 3 M&M's on two pencils tied together with hemp cord that you put around your ears, bend over, and pull the cords end to lift the pencils up to your mouth to eat the M&M's. Almost first but wasn't last. we are still in the game.
Fifth game, 4 teams are still in the game, Don' s turn. He has to pull all the crate paper out of the roll by waving his arms or twisting around. he came in third we are still in it to win it. What the IT is we do not know.
Sixth game Rich is up, it's the pull the tissue out of the box with one hand, he came in second.
Game Seven, I'm up. balancing 5 apples on top of each other. Winner, Winner, chicken dinner!!!
Last game, Don's up and Pres. Keeling. They need to pick up 6 Penna pasta's with a piece of spaghetti. Don forgot his glasses and can't see the holes in the pasta so I stand behind him and tell him when he is close to the pasta hole. TEAM 7 is the WINNER of Minute to win "IT"
What did we win you ask?
100Grand candy bars. not bad for two 50 year olds and a 20 something or another.
Always bet on Crandell

I have been TAGGED!

8 Books I recommend:

1. The Book of Mormon

2. The World According to Mr. Rogers

3. S.O.R. Loser by, Avi

4. The Essential 55 by, Ron Clark

5. The Hymn Book

6. Thoughts of A Grasshopper by, Louise Plummer

7.Running with Angels by, Pamela H. Hansen

8. Standing for Something by, Gordon Hinckley



8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Tia Rosa's

2. Mesa Fro Yo

3. Golden Spoon

4. any where my husband takes me

5. Pirates

6. Filaberto's

7. sonics diet grape limeade on a hot day

8. Mesa temple cafeteria



T.V shows

1. Project Runway

2. Drop Dead Deva

3. Covert Affairs

4. Next food Network Star

5. Chuck

6. Cake Boss

7. House

8. Wipe out



8 things I Love about Spring

1. Not sticking to the car seats

2. No burning fingers from the seat belt the steering wheel

3. Baby Quail running around

4. Cooler weather

5. Opening the house doors for the cool air

6. Cute sweaters

7. Cooler Recess

8. New Plastic flowers in yard



8 things to look forward to

1. Taylor coming home

2. Grandchildren

3. Our Mission

4. Paying off the House

5. Vacations that you have to use a passport for

6. The CD of Pictures that Taylor gave to a returning Elder to give to us

7. finding time to post this


8. Tillman's Baptism


8 things on my wish list

1. I

2. Wish

3. For

4. Joy

5. beyond

6. comprehension

7. for all

8. people



8 things that happened yesterday

1. R.S. Visits

2. V.T. changes

3. Work

4. Tested children

5. Temple

6. Hemmed my Temple dress

7. Wrote and mailed no contact letters (r.s.)

8. Met the 5th grader who lives in the old house on Hope



8 people I tag

1. Kim

2. Mal

3. Erica

4. Amy

5. Andrea C.

6. Susie

7. I don't think any one else reads this blog

8. so if you do you are tagged too.

Back to Work!

I went in to work today to haul my books and stuff to the classroom that will be the reading lab.
It was a mess with extra stuff from other classrooms, so day one, tomorrow will be a full day of finding a place for the stuff. The summer went by fast. Which is weird because when the kids were small and going to school, summer went by slow. lol if you have kids you know why.
This week I will have the wonderful opportunity of helping out at my niece's wedding reception.(sat) She got married in SLC two weeks ago. I'll take pictures of the food table( I'm helping with) and post them later. Don and I are going to see "Joseph and the dream coat" at the palms on Friday night. I'm excited to see it and have a nice evening with Don. Last week we watched Eve and mia while Erica was at girls camp. It was so fun to get to know them, and give them hugs and kisses from grandma every day. The night time's weren't bad ether. They both slept great. I'm blessed to have room for them. Speaking of grand kids and school. the oldest will be in 2nd grade. Time sure has flown by. The next one will be in 1st. Crazy! Hope every one has a great FIRST day of school.

Just a Peek at Vail

First here is an up-date on my Family tree in the little room where the grandkids play. the next step is the fruit with the family names on it. Now for the peek at VAIL ...

Where R we

we are in
Vail Colorado, it is beautiful the weather is great. having a great time.
more later

What's been going on around here?

No, it's not popcorn popping on the Apricot tree!

The Family Tree project in the little room is coming along. I have the tree painted here. Looking at it now it looks like I need to make the middle branch a little thicker.

I've painted on the green leaves outline. It looks like cauliflower or broccoli. I will be sponging in the green some time this week.

For the 4th of July I made a firework bracelet that I wore to church. I can also wear it on Fridays to work, for spirit day. Our school colors are red,white and blue.

We drove to St. George to deliver Sis. Mancilla's extra baggage that would not fit into her suitcase for her flight home from her mission. on the way back we stayed in Veges. The only thing I like about Veges is the Dancing waters. If it was cooler outside I think I would have loved to plant myself down in one location and just people watched, and make up stories about them. Any way we stayed at the Balies(sp) hotel. In the room was one of these 5 above. Does anyone really know what it is used for and how to use one? And if its for men only why don't they use them?

We traveled the Dam road, which took forever, but we got to say Dam a lot when we were talking so now we don't need to say it any time soon. So that is what's been going on around here. We are now getting ready to drive to Vail Colorado in a 16 passenger van with the Kids and grand kids. We did this last year when we drove to Park City. It was a lot of fun being with the family and playing car games and getting to know each other better.

Happy Birthday Nathan

Today is Nate's 25th birthday. I told him yesterday that he'll be half of me. After having two girls I was excited to have a boy. I prayed that he would be a strong yet gentle and loving boy, and he is. He always tried to do whats right and when he was corrected he obeyed. He is a good example to his brother who is 5 years younger and would follow Nate around a lot. Nate is a great Dad and a wonderful husband. I couldn't have asked for more. He is the sweet boy who has become a great man. Happy Birthday Nate!

Here's what we did for 29

Well, the day started out by Don hiking the wind cave trail. no thank you not for me. We then went to the "egg and I" for breakfast. Don told me that #29 is the new furniture year, so we went yard sailing looking for old outdoor furniture which will be new for us. We even went to Goodwill 1/2 price Saturday. lots of people were there but no outdoor stuff. At 11am the TFC bank was having customer appreciation day. so we went there for a free lunch of Hamburger's, slaw, and cake and Pepsi. YUM! Then off to the movie's. We saw "KILLERS" with what's his name and whats her face in it. It was a cute movie, but I don't like the way they have to add dialog that does not need to be in it. But it was a funny show. It entertained us. After the show, off shopping still looking for the furniture. We found some at "Big Lots" Yea! It looks real nice on the back porch.
Don also planed for us to go to the "Broadway Palms" dinner theater. We saw the Show, "I Love a Piano" it was allot of dancing and singing to and by songs from Irving Berlin 51 songs to be exact. to tell you the truth I had a little headache after all the singing and dancing.
Any who (as Taylor would say) the day was wonderful spending time with Don. Next year I get to plan it. #30, I don't know if I can do as good of job as Don does. It could be that we go back to IKEA

29 years

Today is our 29th wedding anniversary! Don has a wonderful day planned.
more later.

My Big Brother's Birthday

The fella next to me in the BIG glasses is my big brother Dennis. Today is his birthday. He would have been 52 years old. He died April 8th 1993. he was 34 years old. When my children were little and easily amused we would drive to Utah and visit my mother for part of the summer. One summer we were there for a whole month. This gave us the opportunity to visit with Dennis and his family. Funny story, after we had been home for a bit after visiting with Dennis, it was time for Mal and Kim to visit the Dentist, usually they did not like this but this time when I told them that we were going to the Dentist they were all excited. Their hearts were broken when they found out it WAS the dentist and not Dennis. they got the two names confused. Any way, when we visited we would take our kids to the Hogal Zoo in SLC and visit the dinosaur park up Ogden Canyon. The girls would play and Dennis and I would visit. He was a stay at home Dad which was a good thing because he spent allot of time with his daughters. He was their girl scout leader, and PTA officer at their school. and knew how to do their hair just the way they liked it.

During the summer he would work as a landscaper and mow many a yard. He was the only sibling who lived in Utah, he thought AZ was too hot. When I got married he came down to AZ for the wedding but promptly drove back up to Utah. He couldn't take the heat. My other two brothers live here in mesa. It has been nice to have them around. We miss him but know we will be with him again. Happy Birthday Dennis!

some pictures

Erica's Melee 6 months old

Us with the birthday boy Easton he's 6 now

Easton is as tall as his brother was at 7 years

Who is who, we have brinlee and eveie in this pic

brin is 4 and eveie ie 2

the last day of school

This is what I did on the last day of school. Above is a picture of a book binding machine. Today I only had 75 books to bind. so I stood at this machine for 2 hours binding books that 5th grade needs for next year.

The copy machine and I are tight! sometimes I even sweet talk it into doing what needs to be done. Today I was coping masters of work books that the district will not be buying for the school because of budget cuts and also because the maker of the workbook doubled the price for each book. from 5 to 10 dollars. sad day. But thank you for all who voted for the 1% tax raise. It will help with buying the copy paper to copy the books we can't afford.

Then I hide behind the wall and watched children come out of the cafeteria to make sure they walked and not run. I have been doing this every day this year. I would place myself in different locations so the kids could not see me but I could see them. What fun it was watching them look all around trying to fine me. But they were thinking about finding me and not about running. By the end of the year they were trained not to run. If they did run I blew my whistle and they had to go back to the doors and touch them. If they did not and they kept running I would find them on the playground and ask them to go touch the doors. I would wait until they were on the farthest part of the field. I know I'm mean. I never yelled at them.

After surveillance I went to the playground and monitored the playing. This young lady in the wheel chair was going on her 4th broken bone this year. She broke this leg by jumping into her swimming pool from the roof of her house. unfortunately it was in the shallow end of her pool.

When I got home I was able to see grand babies. this is Rigden and Amiela. They are both 6 months old.

And here is Evelyn and Hanna. Mal and Jon drove from Utah to visit family for a week. It is good to have them with us. I woke up Friday morning at 4:30am and went and worked out. The last 24 hours have been great. Hope you all had a great last day of school and a great first day of summer!

Oh what do you do in the summer time?

Elder Crandell and Elder Ellsworth at a Burger King in Montevideo it was a happy day for him!

Its The last week of School/Work, YEA! I have enjoyed my job for the last 12 years. Working at the old neighborhood school has been great. I get to see old friends from the ward and watch the first graders become 6th graders. I will stay working until Taylor comes home then work for 3 more years after that. The money I earn will be for our church mission. We'll only be 54 years young and ready to serve.

This summer I would like to accomplish a few things.

Clean each up stairs room from head to toe and nook and cranny. (wash all mini blinds) Get rid of stuff we don't need and use the stuff we have, in a fun way.

Did you know the bathrooms still get dirty even when no one uses it?

I would like to see more color on the walls. I don't know how Don might feel about that.

I would like to try my hand at putting a fun mural of some kind on the wall of the up stairs play room, or maybe those vinyl pictures.

I would like to go to the gym every day and still go to the Temple once a week.

Swim more, shop more, go to the library, read more, go to the movies more.

I miss planning for summer with the kids.

Happy summer

Happy Mothers DAY!

It's mothers day tomorrow, Shout outs go to my Mom and to Don's Mom.
Hope you have a great day and that you feel the love.
For my mothers day we are getting THE phone call at 1pm. I can't wait to hear his voice. I have missed it. We are also going to drive to Central and spend the night at my Aunt Cloene's then go to the Temple open house on Monday. It will be a great mother's day weekend.
Don got me a lap top computer for mother's day. Now I get to spend some time learning how to use it. Happy mother's day to my daughters, Kim, Mal, Erica, Amy. Thanks for being great mom's for our grandchildren.:)

Help me find the...

RECIPE!
I'm looking for my recipe for cheeseburger casserole. I think I put it on my blog, I can't remember. I want to make it for the missionaries next time they are over for dinner. First person who can find it, in all my old posts, can come over for dinner too. Thanks for helping!!

This makes me happy

Putting a puzzle together. I started this one in November and finished in April. When I go to my mom's house to visit, she always has a puzzle on the table. I enjoy the relaxation of putting a puzzle together. Now that this puzzle is complete It's going to my sister-in-law who also likes to put puzzles together.

I realized I love to have fingernail's polish on. After this color I had blue on. Have you seen the people with black polish? Well i know why they keep it black. Once a dark color in on your nail it's HARD to get off. I had GREEN on during march and today I have gold. Are my hands looking old?

Happy Birthday to Hanna!!

Two day One of our grand-daughters has turned two . Her parents were living in the basement at our house at the time of her birth, so I feel a special bond two Hanna. And I think her first word was debbie:)

Her uncle Taylor calls her CHEMO because she had no hair for a long time. She has hair now.

We are so glad that she is in our family and that she has a mommy and a daddy that love her two pieces!! Papa debbie love her two!! Happy Birthday Hanna!

Happy Birthdays two you's

Happy birthday to Kimberly Crandell Willis! Today she is 28 years old and she doesn't look a day over 19. Even Taylor's friends thought she was their age, and wanted to date her. We love you.

Happy Birthday to Amy Chamberlin Crandell! Today she is 22. She looks pretty young also. We have been blessed since she joined the Crandell Family, and Nate will never be able to forget his wife's birthday because his sister will remind him. We love you.

We hope BOTH of you have a GREAT day doing what you want to do on your special day! Or in Kim's case WEEK!