Oh Well, No Pictures

I have sat down to post a blog with pictures 4 times now. Every time I try to upload pictures, the whole thing crashes. I give up!

A lot has happened in the last 4-5 months and they are all wonderful and exciting.
Ken came home from his mission. We were lucky enough to go and pick him up in Florida. It was a great experience to meet people that were special to him on his mission. We were also privileged to have breakfast with Pres. and Sister Newman, Ken's mission President and his lovely wife.
I even got to see an alligator up close! It sure is beautiful there.

Then when we got home, Ty and Cami, Tori and JennAdam came from UT and we had a great family reunion. It really doesn't get better than that!
It was so nice to be together. We had great meals, heard great stories, played in the park and gathered in the bishops office to participate in Noah receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood, heard the boys sing in Church......the list goes on and on of cool stuff.
You can see some of the pictures I wish I could put up, on JennAdam's blog.

I then found out that I am going to be a Grandma. Although Meg and John have two darling boys (that I have wished so hard to meet!) and it's been fun feeling a bit like a grandma, I'm so happy for Ty and Cami. I love hearing how things are going and I know they are going to be great parents.
If you want to see some major cute boys, check out Meg and John's blog link. They are such a darling family and I am so impressed with all the things they do.

Then Ty and Cami came for Thanksgiving. Tori came too, by train. I'm happy to say we get to keep Tori this time!
We had a great visit with them, even though poor Cami was a bit under the weather. Morning sickness and smells of all the cooking must have been a real trial, but she is a real trooper and didn't let on.

Though I'm was very happy for Ken, it was hard to see him go. He left with Ty and Cami to go to UT. He starts the winter semester at BYU. He has been staying with Steve's mom and has been a great example of service. Grandma is going to miss him very much when he moves into his dorm at BYU on Friday.

We had a very different Christmas this year. After not receiving any of our deposit from our old land lords (a very frustrating and saddening situation that we had no way of countering) our funds for Christmas were gone. So, I started crocheting my little heart out and looking for a way to make it a nice Christmas.
I can't tell you how grateful I am that my children are so good to get homemade things.
We were even blessed to have members of our ward take what we made to our family in UT. Shipping is a killer!
Anyway, we had a great Christmas. I am soooooo very blessed to have such good kids. They are a sorce of great joy and happiness.
I was so glad to see how the kids have recieved Steve's first book. I was so excited about it and figured they would like it, but I didn't realize how much. Everyone may not agree, but MY family rocks!

Hope you all have many blessing to count. That this coming year brings you joy, blessings that are looked for and not looked for. I hope you are able to see the hand of the Lord in your lives so that you know how much He loves you and is helping you to grow and learn.
May we all cherish each moment, and see the light that shines for us even in the darkest hours.

Karen

A Poem by Cubby

I still have a lot to catch up on, but in the mean time, here is a neat poem that Cubby wrote the other day.

A New Winter

I smile
as my nose
grows numb
and starts
to run profusely
because I'm still
having fun
my frigid lips
release
an icy breath
of steam
that rises
and evaporates
into
nothingness
I hear
the quiet swishing
of sleighs
rushing sliding
down the hill
I stoop
and dig my
fingers into the
soft white layer
surrounding
us but I am
hit
with a
tight ball
of snow
I giggle
as I throw
one in return
our laughter
greets
a new winter

Tori Turns 18

Well, our pretty Tori turned 18 in October. She got a lot of pink, which seems to be her new signature color. Her other being bright green. She got some hot pink duct tape to give her duct tape shoes a new coat of color. Turning 18 is a special thing and though we would have liked to make it a big deal, we weren't able to. Her main present was being presented with an opal ring that had been her grandmother Cummins's. Tori and my (Karen) birth stone is opal, so it was a special thing to pass on.

Fun with Horses and Aunt Janelle

Janelle (Steve's youngest sister) took Noah, Tori and Cubby to our nieces place in Lehi and let them let them ride, Georgia, a sweet horse that Janelle had been teaching Tori how to ride while she had been staying in UT. She has become a major fan of riding horses and wanted Noah and Cubby to have a chance to have some of the fun she had been enjoying.
They all seemed to have a great time, except maybe Janelle because she probably didn't get much of a chance to ride. Thanks Janelle!!!!

Tori's Coin Ceremony

It's started with Ty. The night before he left to work at a dinner theater in Pennsylvania, Steve pulled a 1878 silver dollar from his pocket and told Ty it was an executive decision maker. It was something to help with those decisions that aren't major and don't need Heavenly Help or parental advice. I mostly missed this exchange. It was a last minute thing between Steve and Ty.
Then, when Jenn was heading off to the Army, Steve pulled out one for her. I thought it was cute and she seemed to think it was pretty special.
Then, when Jenn came home for medical reasons, she told me how she would go to sleep, holding that silver dollar. She would be holding it to get strength from her father during a very hard time. In the morning, when she woke up, she would have the design of the coin imprinted on her palm.
It was then that I realized that "the coin" meant a lot more to the kids than I realized.
Then, when Ken was leaving on his mission he got his and I paid much more attention to the significance of it, and I remember all of us getting a bit teary.
So, when we went back for Ty's graduation,
it had been decided that Tori would be
staying in UT, at least for an extended time.
So, Steve decided that Tori was now a grown up and on her own, in that sense.
Here are the pictures of the "pacing of a coin" to Tori. It was a very special moment and more explination went with it, and as a result, more emotion was felt and shown.
I'm so grateful to an inspired husband that thought to give one to Ty, and thus start a tradition that has become very important to us and our children.

Post Grad Party!

Ty was the head BBQer at his Graduation party, and I'm glad he was. The Hot Dogs and Hamburgers were cooked to perfection.
We had great food, great people and a lot of fun! The best ingredients for a wonderful party!

Grandpa Cummins watches to see that Ty is doing a good job.
My dad has been a great BBQer for a long time. Nice to see that Ty inherited his skill!

Tori and Aunt Janelle.
Jenn, Adam and Grandma Kenworthy
Cami and Janey
Grandma and Jenn
Steve and some yummy food!

WOW WEEEE!!!

What a super cool life! So much has happened lately: it's really hard to begin. I will just do several short posts because doing all the pictures in one post would be a nightmare!

The steamroller action of our life really started picking up with the graduation of our oldest son, Ty.
He graduated from BYU with his bachelors degree in Anthropology. Soon he will be going on to graduate school and working hard for another 4+ years. He's really good at what he does and is being recognized by people in his field for the interesting and good work he is doing. I love to hear him talk about the things he has learned and what he is interested in. Fascinating!

The pictures aren't in any kind of order, but we have our cheering section of very proud family members (starting at the left, we have Noah, Me(Karen), Cami, Cami's sister- Janey, Cami's mom -Paula, Cami's dad -Roger, Steve, Cubby and Ty's Grandpa Cummins (Mel). Tori took the picture.











An extraordinary couple! Ty and his proud wife, Cami. (I love this picture!)

Ty walked the walk!
A very sweet, loving and supportive wife, Cami and her sister.
Grandpa Cummins, parents and Ty.
Very cool! This was a special occasion that we were very grateful to be able to attend. We were also grateful that most of the family was able to be there for the ceremony, that Grandpa Cummins was able to be there as well as Cami's parents and sister.

WUT UP! From Utah

Hey Guys! It's Tori!! (I hope you haven't forgotten me already) Sending you a HOLLA from Utah. I'm having a blast out here so far, but I miss the family and my dogs out in Longmont. But I'm especially enjoying pestering Shawn again, just like old times. *sigh* We went up to Bridal Veil falls and took some pictures. Here are a few of them, just to kind of let you see what I've been up to!

We found this empty/kind of creepy old building, so we took some pictures... who wouldn't? It was pretty cool.
You can't really see very well, but if you look close, you can see my face hidden in the bushes. I look like a fugitive or something. It's awesome.

Yes, the spray paint DOES say LOVE SHACK. It's totally gross in there too, with all kinds of garbage and cobwebs and junk. Yuck. But still cool enough to have it's picture taken. I mean come on, it says LOVE SHACK!

Me. Chillin. On a rock. Doesn't get much better than that.

Hanging out on a branch above the river, looking awesome!

Happy Anniversary All Around!

Today and tomorrow are anniversary days.

1st -Today marks one year for Steve working at the Longmont Public Library!
Happy Anniversary Steve!
We've meet great people here, we are in a great ward and it beats the heck out of being unemployed.
2nd- It's also been a year since I started my low to no carb diet to get my diabetes in line.
It's been going really good. I feel a lot better, I've gone from being on 9 prescriptions to 1 with another at 1/4 of the dose. I've lost 44 lbs and I plan on continuing my journey to being healthier!

Meg and John's Anniversary is tomorrow.
Happy Anniversary you two!!!!!!
So much going on with you these days.
I'm glad you have found a place to live once you move to Iowa.
With a baby coming anytime, you two have your hands full.
How I wish I could be there to lend a helping hand. What we do do and will continue to do is to keep you in our prayers.
We look forward to your little arrival and hearing how all the big changes go.

To all of our family and friends, we love you and appreciate all you have done to get us to this point. We couldn't have made it this far without your love, support and encouragement.
Hope you are all enjoying your summer and you're making good memories with the ones you love!

The Trumphant Return of Noah-Camper Guy

Noah was home for a day and a half from being the Assistant Scout Master for the 12 year Scout Camp.
Then he was off to with some leaders and the other boys his age from the ward to go on High Adventure camp.
He has returned. He has been telling us all about his adventures and it sounds like he had a lot of fun.
As you can see from these pictures, he also got REALLY burned.


The one red spot is where, while caving, he was punctured by a rock.
He has huge blisters from his burns.
I can say that I don't know if I have ever seen burns this bad.......that were done on purpose.
In the picture of just the one leg, you can see that to the right and down from the puncture wound is looks all bubbly and weird, those are blisters.
Aaahhhhhhh!
At least he came back in one piece.
He says that he loved the kayaking. The the caving and all the rest were great too.
They tried a couple of days to catch some fish, but only 3 were caught.
Too bad they didn't have the champion fisher of all time, Mel Cummins (my dad)with them!!!!

Recent Random Stuff: Part III

Any guesses?


Well if you guessed craw-dads, or Craw-fish, then you're right!

Cubby and I (Karen), with hooks on strings, some bait and a bucket, had fun getting them in the canal in front of the bakery.
We had been there working and took a break. The neat thing is, I taught Cubby how to get them, and she was the first one to actually get one. Most all of these, she got. It was a lot of fun and now we will have a craw-dad catching kit in the van. You just never know when we need a break and are in the mood to catch some!
We brought our catch home. I looked online how to cook them, and in the pot they went. They were yummy!
It should be easier next time. The water was higher than usual and was fairly swift.


Here is the last picture I got of Tori before she left for UT. Sure miss that girl! Yet I'm happy for her

that she is having fun and doing fun things.









Cubby turned 14!
Yes, you heard right. Our youngest, Miss Cora Fern, alias, Cubby, has turned 14.













She got a Nintindo DS (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a hand held game system)
She also got a Tinker Bell in a Shoe, figurine.

Then, with money from Grandpa & Lorene Cummins, and JennAdam added to what she has made, working with me at the bakery, she picked out and bought a bike. It's a nice one and she really loves it.

Recent Random Stuff: Part II

One afternoon, a few weeks ago, we had a short downpour and then we were treated to the most beautiful rainbow any of us had ever seen. The colors were brilliant and each band of color was bold and easy to see. It was truly amazing! This picture doesn't even come close!






I can touch my nose with my tongue!
What's your super power?
















Here's the girls, bright and
early, just before we loaded
them up and took them
to the church to head off for "Trek".
















Then here they are when they got back. Tori was bright red. This picture really doesn't do it justice.











Here's the only picture I got of Cubby. She was being silly with an old pair of my glasses, but you can see her pretty red nose. That's about all that was burned on her. Tori, on the other hand, will have a farmer tan for a long time to come. Hee Hee

Recent Random Stuff: Part I

A day in the life of Noah.


First he plays some guitar.





Plays, I mean, works in the kitchen

Then some more guitar. That about sums it up!

Of course he writes some great music, eats a lot of food and gets the mail.
One very busy guy!

Oh yes, and I love him!!!!!!



















____________________________________________________________________




"No, you can't have
the phone. I'm
expecting a call."




"I'm going to wait just... a little longer"



"I'm.........still.....waitin..Zzzzzz"



















Now these are some "REAL" hot dogs! It's been averaging
91 during the day in the house. That's with the swamp cooler on high.


I guess she had been waiting for a while. You can see some food in one of the food bowls, but that one is Krickets. She wont eat out of Krickets bowl. Weird dog!


_______________________________________________________________
Here's Cubby with her amazing K'Nex creation. A gun that folds up and really shoots. She's pretty amazing!

Bad guys, BEWARE!!