Hello everybody!! I know, you are SO surprised to see anything new on this site. It's been so long since I've written that you probably gave up reading it months ago. I'm glad you're back, and I'm glad to be back also, though I don't make any promises to you. All I truly know is that my two daughters-in-law update regularly and keep me up to speed with their lives and their kids - aka - my grandkids. And for that I am TRULY grateful. It makes every day that I can't see them more bearable.

Hmm . . . where to start. I'll begin with the kids at home . . .

Jonathan received his mission call to the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission and is due at the Sao Paulo MTC on November 18th, as long as his visa goes through on time. Say a prayer for him. We are busy buying suits, pants that are narrow enough but long enough (he's 6' 3 1/2" and still growing), and all the short sleeve white shirts in his size in two JC Penney stores. He is excited to get a few weeks of bow hunting in before he actually leaves. We will miss him, but are so proud of the choices he is making and totally support him as he prepares to serve the Lord.

Remington made the varsity soccer team and is at a game or practice every day. He comes home exhausted and hungry, . . . and lately frozen too. He is up early every day for seminary, and consequently he enjoys what little sleep he gets and dreams for extra hours in the night so he can catch up on what he needs. Soccer will be over in a few weeks, and hopefully he'll use whatever time he gains from that for homework and rest.

Rosemary opted not to do a sport this fall and won the job at the library. We thought she was up against some tough competition. We heard that about 30 kids applied, and at least 6 were slated for interviews. I don't know what happened to all the other kids, but Rosie came out on top and now works 10 hours a week. She was delighted!! And she is already bored. It's not an exciting job shelving books all night. I know she'll appreciate the paycheck and the steady hours and getting out early on weekends - but that hardly makes up for the lack of fun in working at a very small town library. Oh, well, at least it's close to home and only for a couple of years.

Hunter joined the bowling team last year, and has signed up again this year. He bowled througout the summer too. He likes individual sports and having a good time with friends, and this seems to fit the bill. Depending on the day, he can do very well, or not so good at all. This summer I went with him on his birthday, and he bowled a 198 game. Pretty good game for him! His team (he and Zac Smith) beat out the undefeated team!! It was a great night for bowling, every time I asked him to get a strike - he did it. If I wasn't watching and he didn't get all the pins down, I'd tell him he needed to pick up the spare, and he would. We had a blast.

Madison is in 4th grade this year. She is busy with American Heritage Girls and also Achievement Days. She lives crafts and is constantly doing something with her hands. Lately it's making hats on a circular loom. We found the rubbermaid carton with tons of yarn and the other 4 looms, so she is in heaven. She's working on a blue scarf at the moment.

I'm tired of paying high prices for school pictures. So, Rosie and I took the camera and shot some photos of Madison and Rosie. Here are a few. Maybe I'll actually get some of these printed out and up on the wall, and a few at dad's office. The ones there haven't been updated in about 3 years.

Wishes and Dreams come true

One of my favorite people has become what I always wanted to be - a successful person!! Years ago we had a sweet wonderful gal and her husband move into our ward and start a family. They were here only a short time, but we fell in love with their family and have sort-of stayed in touch through the years. Most of the news we have received back and forth has been passed by her mother who still lives in the area. We've both gotten busy with our lives and kids, and more than a few years have passed. I knew she was writing a fun 'parenting' column once in a while for a newspaper and had been a bit successful. I was proud of her, and wondered how she accomplished all that she did with her 4 very busy boys. Little did I know she was well on her was to achieving a dream she had, and one I held at one time too. So, if you'd like to check out my successful friend - and maybe attend a book signing in your area - click on the link below and see how dreams can come true. Way to go Julie, I'm so proud of you.

www.julieberrybooks.com

Am I crazy??

I signed up for a "contest" and this is how it works.

The first five people...to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations:

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make :)
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done within a year (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be
5. I reserve the right to do something really fun

Here the catch: if you choose to do this, you must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Joel's Disney

I really don't like my picture taken - so I'm making faces.



Outside the condo - minutes before we left for NY. I look relaxed and refreshed. Nice Vacation!!




Played with my kids.




Still kept in touch with work - or played games. Can't get me away from my i-phone, even at Disney World.

Madi's Disney

My favorite ride in Magic Kingdom was Space Mountain . . . it's an indoor roller coaster - in the dark. I loved the 2 3-D movies we saw. They really squirted water, air and bubbles at us. My favorite ride at Hollywood Studios was the 5 story Tower of Terror. Hunter and I went on it - everyone else was too scared. The picture shows you how tall the building is.

I also like the brand new American Idol show. The girl dressed up as Minnie won in our show. They do about 8 shows every day with 3 different people competing in each show. One person wins each show, and then at night the winners of the 8 different shows compete and there is 1 winner there - and they get a golden ticket to the front of the line of any next real American Idol Audition.

We spent a day with the Martin family in downtown Disney. We ate at Planet Hollywood, played for a couple of hours in Disney Quest - 5 floors of fun. One of the rides, you got to program your own rollercoaster and then ride on it. Hunter's went upside down 10 times. We all went back to our condo, ate up stuff from the fridge and freezer (we were going home the next day), swam in the pool and chased an armadillo. We had a good time. It was like 80 degrees and so fun.

January 2009

So, I haven't posted in forever. Life has just been so busy. Umm, it would be too hard to catch you up on all the details - let's just say that the Steele home is on the go all the time.

Matt, Erin and Ella live in town, work with dad, and pop in to bring us treats and chat. We love having them close by and don't play with them often enough.

Zac & Sarah are on the home stretch at BYU - just starting their last semester before graduation. They just moved into a new apartment - and are adding another grandbaby to the Steele family. We are so excited!!

Savannah will be graduating in April also, and has just started student teaching in Spanish Fork. She'll be working with 7th,8th and 9th graders, teaching them math.

Elizabeth is a sophomore at BYU and has become quite the photographer. She is making quite a name for herself and having a good time at it. She is headed to California to take pictures of her roommates wedding reception.

Jonathan survived the first semester at the Y and is back for more. I was surprised to find that he grew another 2 inches during the 4 months he has been gone. Needless to say, we bought him some pants that fit. We enjoyed having he and his sisters home for Christmas. They filled up the house with luggage, chatter, laughter, late nights, movies, games, christmas goodies and plain old fun.

Rosie and Remington stay so busy with their lives that we hardly ever see them. They are busy with soccer, both indoor and out, skiing, school, homework, church activities, jobs, and friends. Their day starts when it is still dark - heading out for seminary. Since we pick up a girl in the ward, we leave the house around 5:40 in the morning. While they are at seminary, I walk with another mom - good days and bad. It's crazy that when we finish our walk and return to the church to pick up the kids, its still dark outside. Something abby-normal about being up THAT early. Then it's off to school and all their activities. If they do have an occasional afternoon free - they are often found passed out on the couch in the living room.
Remington is turning into the typical teenage boy - reminding me how many days it will be before he gets his permit (we're down to 19 now), and eating everything in sight. Which just means he will be another very tall Steele boy.

Hunter is the 'rebel' of the family, as his dad calls him. He is taking spanish at school (the other kids took french- except for Rosie), and if you can believe it, he has taken up snowboarding - instead of the family tradition of skiing. He loves it. It's a completely different sport than skiing - and he's still trying to get the hang of it. He did borrow Rem's skis last week and enjoyed them for an evening. I got the dreaded phone call from Bristol Mountain on monday evening. "Your son has been hurt - you should come down and take a look at him." I hurried down to the ski patrol lodge and found him impatient to get back on the slopes. He had fallen on the hill and continued to snowboard, not realizing that he was dripping blood down his face. They took him into the ski patrol lodge, bandaged up what they could and called me. I drove down, peeled the bandages off, assessed the abrasion, applied antibiotic ointment, patched him up and sent him back out to the hill. There is just no stopping a determined little boy. He really was fine. The next morning his face looked better, but had swollen some - so I think he's working on a bit of a black eye. I took these photos, but he kept closing his eye so that it would look much worse than it actually is (don't say I said that).

Madison had a birthday in late November - and received ski lessons as her present from mom and day. She started them this past Saturday - and can't wait until the next saturday when she can ride the ski lift and go down one of the actual ski trails. She is excited to be doing the same thing as her big brothers and sister. She is very excited for the next week when she can ski with mom and her best friend and cousin Anna.

So long for now, I hope to be better at blogging this year.